Opeth‘s Martin Mendez is on my screen…he’s cradling his Sandberg signature bass in his arms the way only us bass players can understand, it’s like a security thing…I totally get it. In the background there’s a Fender bass hanging on the wall and just behind him sits a Fender 610 speaker cab with a Darkglass amp on top of it. It looks like a lounge room. Actually, looks like MY kinda lounge room…

Hey Martin! “Hey man!”

Where are you- looks like an interesting room. Fender on the wall- bass cab and amp…. “Ha! (Laughs) That’s a cheap one-that’s my daughters’ guitar! I’m at home in Barcelona. It’s usually pretty hot here- right now it’s winter and pretty cold but not as much as Sweden”.

That’s your signature Sandberg bass you’re holding yeah? “Yeah-just practising a little bit”. (Laughs)

You must be happy with the way the new album (The Last Will And Testament – number on The Sentinel Daily Top Thirty Album Chart for a whopping twelve weeks) has gone. “Yeah”. (Nodding)

You have an amazing cross section of guests on the album-including Jethro Tull‘s Ian Anderson,  Joey Tempest (Europe) and Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics– all people you guys knew? “Well, in the case of Dave Stewart we’ve worked with him before- he’s done arrangements with strings and recordings with us before. Ian Anderson I know Mikael (Akerfeldt– Opeth singer/guitarist/mainman) has kind of been chasing him for a while I think since Heritage (2011 album), trying to get him as a session musician. This time luckily we got in touch with him and he
agreed to be on the record. It’s unreal, you know, its amazing- the great job he does, you know? It’s such an honour to have him. And as for Joey Tempest, he knows Mikael, he’s Swedish as well so yeah…”

Was it a long process doing this record? “Well… the formation (basis) of the recording was at Rockfield Studios in Wales, then we did some additional work in our home studios. I know Mikael records all the vocals in his home studio and Joakim (Svalberg) recorded almost all of his keyboards, mellotrons and organ parts in his home studio as well. And Frederik (Akesson) did his solos in his home studio so, you know, a different approach to how we used to work but it think it was good because they could start really (early on their parts) before we went to Rockfield Studios. They had time to do their parts with no stress, no time limits, which was good. And then we had more time for the rest of the music- drums, bass and rhythm guitars, everything, yeah. At Rockfield we’d have the demo-and we’d isolate the parts- and play what was there- start with the drums and do my bass after that- I’d play with the real drums, live, etc That’s the way we did it”.

What gear did you use on the album? “It was really easy for me- usually different basses looking for what works for the songs but this time I ended up using only my signature bass-the Sandberg 5 string – I used it on the entire album. That went through a Fender Super Bassman amp into a Darkglass cabinet, and then also running into a Darkglass amp running through a Fender 8 x 10 cab. Which was a happy mistake! The studio tech mixed them up and when the recording was finished I realised it-but the sound was so good! I also used a lot of distortion on the bass, compared to the past, and that was the natural distortion from the Super Bassman amp. No pedals in the studio. I don’t tour with those amps any more but I love the sound. And for the first time I didn’t even change strings-I kind of like the sound of older strings- a bit more round sounding, which I really like, and combined with the distortion it really helps the bass to step up in the mix you know? So pretty easy this time”.

And when you tour? “I’m playing EBS amplifiers-I started using them on the last tour we did, in America, and they are available to me in Australia or anywhere else I need them, they’re really good on that. And it’s always pretty much the same amps. And I take my Signature Sandbergs, five and four strings. But I also have my pedal board-I have two different distortions, reverb, delay pedals, envelope filter and a wah wah sometimes. Its not a huge rig so I can pretty much take it anywhere I go… the other guys have different rigs-European set ups and Flying rigs. They have more stuff”.

Who got you playing bass, inspired you to start? “Well, my father was a bass player. He stopped playing when I was young but he kept a bass at home- and I remember when I noticed the instrument at home, I was… eleven maybe, and I asked him to show me how to play. So he showed me a little bit, the first kind of things, you know, in the beginning it was hard, I was little, my hand was small, it was very difficult”.

Do you remember what the bass was? “Yes! The brand was Klira. It was a German replica of a Hofner Beatle bass-which was good because the neck was pretty thin! So for me it was perfect. And it was semi acoustic so I could hear it because we didn’t have an amplifier. So then I grew up and wanted to play metal. (Smiling) I wanted a black bass…so I sold that one and bought a really cheap black bass”.

Gotta be black! “(Laughing) Yeah that was very important back then!”

And what music were you getting into? “Yeah-I was already listening to lots of different music-tango, anything that was on the radio really. But once I discovered metal- maybe at thirteen years old, I wanted to play that style, I really liked to be a metal musician. And back then it was really difficult for me to play that style- I thought it was impossible- to have to play that fast. I kind of jumped from Metallica and Guns ’n’ Roses to Morbid Angel you know? Nuclear Assault, Obituary, death metal. The sound was so new to me, so different, and I thought- how do I manage to play this now?! I didn’t know how to make those sounds, I didn’t know anything about amplifiers, distortion. It was an interesting time”.

And you’re a finger style player right? “Yeah, finger style. But I actually started playing with a pick on this album. On some songs. Sometimes switching within the same song”.

So you’re on a break right now yes? “Yeah”.

And you kick off touring again soon? “Yeah, next year, February it’s gonna be Europe, then America in April-then the Summer season festivals in Europe, then after that maybe America again then Australia and Japan. We’re also doing a few festivals in South America which is new for us because we usually do our own shows, but this time we’ll do them-actually with Judas Priest and Scorpions, and Europe, which is something that we’ve never done before. It’s gonna be fun”.

Along with being out on the road for so long, your shows are also pretty intense-pretty long-how do you prep for that? “Yeah, of course, we have to look after ourselves, have to be in shape, I’m not crazy for… you know, which is bad for me (smiles) but I’m not into training a lot. I pretty much just try to be healthy all the time. There’s a lot of waiting and travelling, it’s not easy on the body to take all of that. Once we’re on tour we try to take some nice walks during the day to kind of refresh our heads, not be in the venue all day, practise for a few hours before the show to get in good shape, warm up. And then give the best we can on the night. That’s our focus. The show. Takes a lot of energy. It’s good. And fortunately these days the tours are shorter compared to back in the day- we would be out for two months, then back home for two days, then going back out for six or eight weeks again. Whereas now, the maximum we do is three weeks, which is pretty much the perfect length. You don’t get burned out. So it’s pretty good”.

The long break (2019 to 2024) between albums, was that due in part to COVID shutting us all down? “Yeah, usually we have about three years between albums anyway but yeah, this time it was because of the pandemic. Those two years…we started touring in early 2019 for that album (In Cauda Venenum) but only made it to about two months and the pandemic happened and we got locked down. After that two years we did the rest of the tour we had planned. So that’s why five years this time for a new album”.

Well the album certainly has been well received, you’ve managed to chart all around the world, quite high in some countries-you must be happy in this day and age where people generally simply stream. “Yeah, it’s amazing, we’re really happy with that yeah”.

Even with that, record sales being what they are today, merch must be a great help on the road these days for you as well, yes? “Oh yeah, definitely, it’s maybe one of our biggest incomes. It’s really very expensive to tour today. The money you make from a show pretty much just about covers the cost of keeping the machine going on (to the next show) you know? So merchandise is really one of the biggest incomes we have yeah”.

You’ve been to Australia quite a few times now and are coming to Australia again in November 2025. “Yeah many times-I don’t know how many now but- I think 2000 was the first time-the Enmore Theatre in Sydney”.

The shows are already selling out-including two nights at the Sydney Opera House-sold out a year in advance. (Shaking his head) “Yeah, its insane-its amazing”.

You’ve played the Opera House before yes? “Yeah we have done, once before”.

You’ve been with Opeth a long time now. Are the relationships within the band still strong? “Yeah, I started with Opeth in 1997… And oh yeah, yeah, we love each other. We…of course we’re work colleagues but we’re friends you know. And that’s very important. To spend so much time being on tour and recording and whatever else there is to do I could never imagine having bad feeling or a bad relationship with the guys, spending so much time together. I don’t think I could make it. Fortunately…I love those guys. They’re my friends for real”.