Erik Martin "Axe" Axenrot (born 5 March 1979 in Linköping, Sweden) is a Swedish

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, fe ...

drummer, best known as the former drummer for progressive death metal band Opeth from 2006 to 2021. Since 2004, he is the drummer for

Bloodbath Bloodbath is a Swedish death metal supergroup from Stockholm, formed in 1998. The band has released six full-length albums, two EPs and two DVDs depicting their performances at Wacken Open Air (in 2005) and Bloodstock Open Air (in 2010). The ...

. Known for his intricate playing style, his drumming has been highly praised by Opeth members and fans, with

Mikael Åkerfeldt Lars Mikael Åkerfeldt (; born 17 April 1974)Mikael Åkerfeldt
, Op ...

calling him "a joy to play with." Axenrot has also been jokingly referred to as ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 c ...

'' character

Legolas Legolas (pronounced ) is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is a Sindar Elf of the Woodland Realm and one of the nine members of the Fellowship who set out to destroy the One Ring. He and the Dwarf Gimli ...

by band members and fans. On Blabbermouth.com, Mikael Åkerfeldt stated that Axenrot completed his drumming parts for eleven tracks on the Opeth album ''Watershed'' in just seven days. Nathalie Lorichs, who performed vocals on "Coil" on Opeth's ''

Watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

'' album, is Axenrot's girlfriend.

History

Martin Axenrot's first band, Triumphator, formed in 1995 and made two records ("The Ultimate Sacrifice" EP and full length "Wings of Antichrist"). Martin Axenrot was only involved with Triumphator's demo "The Triumph Of Satan", released in 1996. He left Triumphator after the demo’s release. In 1999, Axenrot became a member of Witchery and Nifelheim. In 2004, he joined

as their new drummer after Dan Swanö who continued in the band as one of the guitarists and songwriters. He met

Mikael Åkerfeldt Lars Mikael Åkerfeldt (; born 17 April 1974)Mikael Åkerfeldt
, Op ...

sometime after 15 February 2005, when Peter Tägtgren quit

and Åkerfeldt came back into the band again to replace Tägtgren. Axenrot commented on meeting Åkerfeldt, stating "I knew Mikael Åkerfeldt because of the Bloodbath project. I met the other members a couple times because I played festivals with other bands at the same time as Opeth. Sweden is too small to not know every band here. Everybody knows everybody." On 29 August 2005,

Martin Lopez Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

of Opeth, had to leave the band again temporarily due to his illnesses. With Opeth searching for a temporary drummer,

Patrik Jensen Patrik Jensen (born 24 November 1969) is a Swedish guitarist and co-founder of the bands, The Haunted (1996-present), and Witchery (1997-present), and also the former guitarist of the bands Orchriste (1987-1990), Seance (1990-1995) Satanic Slaugh ...

suggested to Åkerfeldt that his bandmate in Witchery, Axe, fill in. Åkerfeldt knew Axe a bit from being bandmates in Bloodbath, but going on Jensen's reference, Åkerfeldt got Axe to play with Opeth for five tours. On 12 May 2006 Axenrot officially joined Opeth, as Lopez never returned to Opeth after deciding to focus on Soen. In 2010 Axe, together with Opeth bassist Martin Mendez, was performing together with the late Jon Lord and an Orchestra in Nidarosdomen, Trondheim, Norway. 16 November 2021, after 16 years with the band, it was announced that Axenrot had left Opeth due to "conflict of interests" (his Bloodbath bandmate

Nick Holmes Nicholas John Arthur Holmes (born 7 January 1971) is an English singer, best known as the lead vocalist of British gothic metal/doom metal band Paradise Lost (band), Paradise Lost and Swedish death metal band Bloodbath. History and style Holm ...

said in an interview that Axe decided against taking the

Covid-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19). Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, an est ...

);

Sami Karppinen Sami Kristian Karppinen is a Finnish drummer. He is the drummer of Swedish heavy metal band Therion (1998–2001, 2017–present), sound engineer and producer in Modern Art Studio, and session drummer. He has been working as drum tech for Theri ...

has filled in for the North American tour with Mastodon.

Equipment

Axenrot is endorsed by DW Drums, Sabian cymbals, Evans heads and Pro Mark sticks.

References

External links

Biography at drummerszone.com

Interview by drummerszone.com

Opeth official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Axenrot, Martin 1979 births Living people Opeth members Swedish heavy metal drummers Witchery members Bloodbath members 21st-century drummers