Born on: 18.07.1972

Fredrik Åkesson is a Swedish heavy metal guitarist. He is a current member of Opeth. He is also active in Krux, Monsters of Metal and Talisman.
Fredrik has been playing guitar since the age of 12. His early musical influences include Michael Schenker, Uli Jon Roth, Yngwie Malmsteen and George Lynch.
Marcel Jacob, founder of Talisman, did some auditions in 1992 to find a new guitar player, because Jason Bieler left them to play with Saigon Kick and he finally decided to hire Fredrik who was 19 years old at the time.
He spent almost four years with Talisman and after five records decided to leave them for a heavier outfit. Åkesson, Mats Levén, John Levén and Rickard Evensand formed a band called Eyeball who would later change their name to Southpaw.
In 1998 Fredrik was part of a couple of releases: Southpaw's debut album and Naïve by Clockwise. He also recorded with Clockwise a version of Journey's classic "Send Her My Love" for a tribute album that never saw the light of day.
In 2003 he returned to record and tour with Talisman. They worked on two new studio efforts: Cats and Dogs (2003) and 7 (2006) plus a live album called Five Men Live (2005) which was released on DVD as World's Best Kept Secret.
In 2004, Åkesson filled in for Tiamat's guitarist Thomas Petersson on tour and was part of The Church of Tiamat DVD release in 2006. He also recorded with Sabbtail their second album Night Church, again with Mats Levén.
Åkesson co-wrote with John Norum a couple tracks Norum used on his Optimus album: Nailed to the Cross and Forced, on which he played some guitars too.
Fredrik also played with melodic death metal band Arch Enemy from 2005 to 2007. He was recruited to Arch Enemy when original guitarist Christopher Amott took an 18-month break from music, from September 2005 until his return in March 2007.
Åkesson also played on the Krux album II, released in 2006.
In 2007, He played on the Sweden Rock Festival with the band Krux featuring Mats Levén, Peter Stjärnvind, Jörgen Sandström and Leif Edling.
On May 17, 2007, the progressive death metal band Opeth made an announcement that they would be replacing Peter Lindgren with Fredrik Åkesson. His first tour with the band was during the Progressive Nation Tour with Dream Theater and Between The Buried And Me.
In 2008, Opeth released their latest record, Watershed. All the songs were written by Mikael Åkerfeldt apart from "Porcelain Heart", which was co-written with Åkesson.
Endorsement
Fredrik Åkesson had an endorsement arrangement with ESP Guitars which continued into 2007. He also had his own signature model. Since joining Opeth, Åkesson switched to PRS Guitars with Marshall JVM 410 amps and cabs. In the "Porcelain Heart" videoclip he can be seen using a PRS Mark Tremonti Signature guitar. As of 2009, Fredrik has switched to Blackstar Amplification, using the Series One 200. In addition to his Blackstar amps, Fredrik also uses Fractal Audio's Ax FX effects processor.In 2011, PRS guitars produced his signature model PRS.
Name: Fredrik Åkesson
Instrument: Guitar
Birth date: 18th July 1972
Lives in: Stockholm-Sweden
Status: In Relationship
Family: My son Tim and girlfriend Sofie
Equipment: PRS guitars, Jim Dunlop pics, strings 10-52 and pedals, MXR pedals, Blackstar Amps and Cabs, Fractal Audio AX FX ultra, Planet Waves cables
Previous/other bands or projects: Talisman, Southpaw, Archenemy, Krux
Website: www.myspace.com/kfredrikakesson
Influences: Mikael Schenker, Uli Roth, Richie Blackmoore, Yngwie Malmsten, Frank Marino, Shawn Lane, George Lynch, Robin Trower, David Gilmoore, Mark Knopfler, Eddie van halen.
Bands: Judas Priest, Dio, Iron Maiden, Accept, Rainbow, Deep purple, Thin Lizzy, AC/DC, Kiss, Led Zeppelin, Rush, Metallica, Megadeth, Testament, Pantera, Death, King Diamond, Entombed, etc
Drinks: Beer, red wine, water, shnapps.
Eats: Vindaloo, Lab gai, Sushi, Gazpatcho.
Favourite Opeth song: Black water park
Playlist May 2008:
Judas Priest - Stained class
Testament - The formaition of damnation
Jethro Tull - Aqualung
Mastodon - Blood mountain