Sörskogen

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Sörskogen (meaning the southern woods in Swedish) is a Swedish progressive rock project Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth and Dan Swanö started for fun. Both musicians are known for their wide musical interests. The project was supposedly named after a town where Mikael practiced with his first band Eruption in the late 1980s. Sörskogen is heavily influenced by 1970s prog rock bands, Camel to name but one. Not much is known about the project, save a few references made by Mikael in interviews.

Only one track entitled Mordet i Grottan (Murder in the Cave) has appeared on the net (with Mikael's permission), though a few more are rumoured to have been recorded. The vocals are sung in Swedish by Mikael. Dan Swanö played drums, bass and keyboards while Mikael Åkerfeldt played the guitar parts and provided the vocals. According to some hearsay, a music video has been created to Mordet i Grottan by Fredrik Oderfjärd but never released.

Interestingly, Mikael never decided to make a proper release, in spite of very professional production and promising material. Some of the ideas from Mordet i Grottan were later reworked by Mikael Åkerfeldt, who borrowed the chorus that later appeared in a song on Opeth's album Damnation, To Rid the Disease.

Rumour has it that three other tracks recorded are: Stupet (The Steep Stone), Den första Maj (The First of May) and Byan. Dan Swanö said himself that there were no other songs with Sörskogen than Mordet I Grottan. But a rumour is a always a rumour.