Peter Lindgren (born March 6, 1973) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former guitarist of

progressive death metal Technical death metal (also referred to as tech-death) is a musical subgenre of death metal that began and developed in the early- to mid-1990s, with particular focus on challenging, demanding instrumental skill and complex songwriting. Techni ...

band Opeth.

Musical career

Lindgren joined Opeth in 1991 as bassist for a show, but ended up switched to guitars. As explained in "The Making of Deliverance and Damnation" on Opeth's live DVD ''

Lamentations The Book of Lamentations ( he, אֵיכָה, , from its incipit meaning "how") is a collection of poetic laments for the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. In the Hebrew Bible it appears in the Ketuvim ("Writings") as one of the Five Megillo ...

'', lead-playing duties were based on ease of Mikael Åkerfeldt's vocal delivery and which of the two might want a given solo more. If Åkerfeldt was having trouble with a solo, he would hand it over to Lindgren, and vice versa. In March 2004, Peter and

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

were both ranked #42 out of the 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of all time by Guitar World. Throughout his career in Opeth, Lindgren has co-written the music for several songs along with

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

, such as "Black Rose Immortal" from ''

Morningrise ''Morningrise'' is the second studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. It was released on 24 June 1996 in Europe by Candlelight Records and on 24 June 1997 in the United States by Century Black. The recording sessions took place at ...

'', "Demon of the Fall" from ''

My Arms, Your Hearse ''My Arms, Your Hearse'' is the third full-length studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth, released in August 1998. It was the band's first album to be released simultaneously in Europe, through Candlelight Records, and in the United ...

'' as well as "Dirge for November" and "Blackwater Park" from ''

Blackwater Park ''Blackwater Park'' is the fifth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. It was released on March 12, 2001 in Europe and a day later in North America through Music for Nations and Koch Records. The album marks the first collaboratio ...

''. In May 2007, Peter Lindgren announced that he had left Opeth due to the rigors of life on the road as a touring musician and that he had lost his enthusiasm for playing in Opeth. Both Lindgren and Åkerfeldt said that the split was amicable. Lindgren was since replaced by

Fredrik Åkesson Karl Fredrik Henrik Åkesson is a Swedish heavy metal guitarist. He is a current member of Opeth and is also active in Krux, Monsters of Metal, and Talisman. Biography Åkesson has been playing guitar since the age of 12. His early musical i ...

Personal life

Lindgren holds degrees in engineering physics at

KTH Royal Institute of Technology The KTH Royal Institute of Technology ( sv, Kungliga Tekniska högskolan, lit=Royal Institute of Technology), abbreviated KTH, is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH conducts research and education in engineering and technolog ...

and literature at Stockholm University. Since his departure from Opeth, Lindgren was working as an IT consultant and senior manager in Stockholm and has so far stayed out of public eye.

Influences

Lindgren became a musician after growing up listening to the band

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

and was also heavily influenced by the Metallica album ''

Master of Puppets ''Master of Puppets'' is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released on March 3, 1986, by Elektra Records. Recorded in Denmark at Sweet Silence Studios with producer Flemming Rasmussen, it was the band's last albu ...

''. He was introduced to '70s

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...

by listening to the band Camel, one of the influences on Opeth's progressive style.

Equipment

;Guitars * PRS Custom 24 * Gibson Les Paul Custom 1974 *Jackson Randy Rhoads *1991

Gibson SG The Gibson SG is a solid-body electric guitar model introduced by Gibson in 1961 as the Gibson Les Paul SG. It remains in production today in many variations of the initial design. The SG (where "SG" refers to Solid-Body Guitar) Standard is Gi ...

;Amplification * Laney VH100R (His amplifier settings/eq were almost exactly like Åkerfeldt's during live performances) ;Effects *

BOSS Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...

GT-5 effect processor

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindgren, Peter Swedish heavy metal guitarists Opeth members Lead guitarists Living people 1973 births Rhythm guitarists Stockholm University alumni Steel (band) members