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, feat ...

drummer, best known as the former drummer for progressive death metal band

Opeth Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal/rock band from Stockholm, formed in 1990 by lead vocalist David Isberg. The group has been through several personnel changes, including the replacement of every original member; notably Isberg in 1992. Mikael ...

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 gro ...

. Known for his intricate playing style, his drumming has been highly praised by

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 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 children's boo ...

'' 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

's '' Watershed'' 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 Witchery is a Swedish blackened thrash metal band formed by former members of Satanic Slaughter in 1997. The current lineup consists of guitarists Patrik Jensen and Rickard "Rille" Rimfält, bassist Sharlee D'Angelo, vocalist Angus Norder, a ...

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 Alf Peter Tägtgren (born 3 June 1970) is a Swedish musician, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He is the founder, main songwriter, lead vocalist, and guitarist of death metal band Hypocrisy as well as the industrial metal band Pa ...

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 Austra ...

of Opeth, had to leave the band again temporarily due to his illnesses. With Opeth searching for a temporary drummer, Patrik Jensen 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 Soen is a Swedish progressive metal supergroup. Their debut album '' Cognitive'' was released on 15 February 2012. History Initially formed in 2004, it was in May 2010 that the formation of Soen was announced. The original lineup consisted of ...

. 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 and Swedish death metal band Bloodbath. History and style Holmes formed Paradis ...

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 e ...

); Sami Karppinen has filled in for the North American tour with Mastodon.

Equipment

Axenrot is endorsed by

DW Drums Drum Workshop, Inc. (also known as DW Drums or DW) is an American drum kit and hardware manufacturing company based in Oxnard, California. Current products by DW include drum sets, snare drums, and hardware. History Drum Workshop was founde ...

Sabian Sabian may refer to: *Sabians, name of a religious group mentioned in the Quran, historically adopted by: **Mandaeans, Gnostic sect from the marshlands of southern Iraq claiming John the Baptist as their most important prophet **Sabians of Harran, ...

cymbals,

Evans Evans may refer to: People *Evans (surname) *List of people with surname Evans Places United States *Evans Island, an island of Alaska *Evans, Colorado *Evans, Georgia *Evans County, Georgia *Evans, New York *Evans Mills, New York *Evans City, ...

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