There's nothing like tough love. Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen has been on a roll the last few decades, releasing an album every few years. Fellow Swedish metal comrade and frontman of Opeth, Mikael Akerfeldt, is not a fan of several of Malmsteen's recent records, calling them "fuckin' shit." But, he still has love for the guitarist.

The topic came up when Akerfeldt named Malmsteen as one of his top 10 favorite guitarists to Music Radar. "I remember being so proud he was Swedish. The best heavy metal guitar player came from my country…that felt amazing!" Akerfeldt explained.

“People talk a lot of shit about Yngwie… I talk a lot of shit about Yngwie! I hate him as much as I love him. I just want to shake him around, kick him in the ass and make him wake up to something. He is fantastic and he knows it. He has the most beautiful tone of all heavy metal guitar players, bar Fredrik [Akesson]!"

The frontman mentions the video for Malmsteen's song "Sun's Up Top's Down," in which the guitarist is seen driving around in his Ferrari. "That’s not what I think of when I think of blues. It’s pretty horrible," he says.

"His records have been pretty fuckin’ shit for a long time, but the guitar playing has always been great. The last one I loved was Odyssey...After that, he went a bit cheesy and got really bad."

While Akerfeldt does express fondness for Malmsteen, he thinks he should slow things down and really focus on his songwriting more, adding that he doesn't give himself the credit he deserves. "He just wants to carry on playing neoclassical at full distortion. But I still love him," says the Opeth leader.