In a new interview with Australia’s Heavy, OPETH guitarist Fredrik Åkesson spoke about the musical direction of the band’s upcoming fourteenth studio album, “The Last Will And Testament”, which will arrive on November 22 via Reigning Phoenix Music/Moderbolaget. he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “It kind of resembles the old OPETH and the more proggy OPETH — last four albums kind of thing — in a more restless, compressed direction, and also step forward, I think. The songs are slightly shorter, but they have more ingredients than ever — a little bit like the modern-day society, even though the theme of the album takes place in 1920s, which is apparently quite some time ago. If you listen to [OPETH‘s fifth album, 2001’s] ‘Blackwater Park’, certain sections are dwelled upon quite long, and that’s different with this album. There’s quite a lot of action — it’s an action-packed album. There is also what’s a big part of OPETH‘s sound — it has kind of the yin-and-yang thing. You have a really heavy section, then you have something more melancholic, beautiful-ish type of foresty sound as well.”
Asked about the description of “The Last Will And Testament” in an official press release as OPETH‘s “darkest and heaviest record” in decades, Fredrik said: “I love that. Yeah, it is really dark. And that was the one of the goals, to make it really dark, but it’s also, at moments, really beautiful, I think. But beautiful can be beautiful in a dark way as well. But it’s quite evil-sounding, yeah. And we like that.”
Regarding whether he and his OPETH bandmates sit down and make a list of goals that they want to achieve with each album before they start writing, Fredrik said: “I think it kind of comes as it goes. Of course, the direction of the album is — usually [OPETH frontman] Mikael [Åkerfeldt] says, ‘Oh, this is gonna be the most darkest album ever.’ That’s a common thing. And to a certain point, I think we achieved that. But I think when we’re [in the middle of writing], we just focus on one song at a time, just try to do the best [with each song]. And not necessarily looking at all the songs at once, just take one thing at a time, basically.”
“The Last Will And Testament” was written by Åkerfeldt, with lyrics conferred with Klara Rönnqvist Fors (THE HEARD, ex-CRUCIFIED BARBARA). “The Last Will And Testament” was co-produced by Åkerfeldt and Stefan Boman (GHOST, THE HELLACOPTERS),engineered by Boman, Joe Jones (KILLING JOKE, ROBERT PLANT) and OPETH, with Boman, Åkerfeldt and the rest of OPETH mixing at Atlantis and Hammerthorpe Studios in Stockholm. The strings on “The Last Will And Testament” were arranged by Åkerfeldt and returning prog friend Dave Stewart (EGG, KHAN) and conducted by Stewart at Angel Studios in London. Not one to miss a beat, visual artist Travis Smith returns to the fold, crafting his 11th cover, a haunting “photograph” reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick‘s infamous “Overlook Hotel” photograph. Miles Showell (ABBA, QUEEN) also revisits mastering and vinyl lacquer cutting at Abbey Road Studios in London.
Åkerfeldt rolls out the red carpet for storied flautist and JETHRO TULL mainman Ian Anderson. Not only do Anderson‘s signature notes fly on “§4” and “§7”, he narrates on “§1”, “§2”, “§4”, and “§7”. Joining Anderson, EUROPE‘s Joey Tempest lends a backing vocal hand on “§2”, while Åkerfeldt‘s youngest daughter, Mirjam Åkerfeldt, is the disembodied voice in “§1”.
“The Last Will And Testament” is a concept album set in the post-World War I era, unfolding the story of a wealthy, conservative patriarch whose last will and testament reveals shocking family secrets. The narrative weaves through the patriarch’s confessions, the reactions of his twin children, and the mysterious presence of a polio-ridden girl who the family have taken care of. The album begins with the reading of the father’s will in his mansion. Among those in attendance is a young girl, who, despite being an orphan and polio-ridden, has been raised by the family. Her presence at the will reading raises suspicions and questions among the twins.
“The Last Will And Testament” is also the band’s most fearlessly progressive. A concept album recounting the reading of one recently deceased man’s will to an audience of his surviving family members, it brims with haunting melodrama, shocking revelations and some of the wildest and most unpredictable music that Åkerfeldt has ever written.
The follow-up to 2019’s widely acclaimed “In Cauda Venenum”, “The Last Will And Testament” is set in the shadowy, sepia-stained 1920s. It slowly reveals its secrets like some classic thriller from the distant, cobwebbed past, with each successive song shining more light on the stated machinations of our dead (but definitely not harmless) protagonist. The emotional chaos of the story is perfectly matched by OPETH‘s vivid but claustrophobic soundtrack, which artfully winds its way towards a crestfallen but sumptuous finale. Masters of their own idiosyncratic musical domain, OPETH have never sounded more unique.
“The Last Will And Testament” is destined to be a milestone in OPETH‘s illustrious recorded history. The band’s first out-and-out concept record, it features guest cameos from JETHRO TULL legend Ian Anderson and Joey Tempest, frontman with Swedish rock gods EUROPE. Only one of the album’s eight songs has a title: closing ballad “A Story Never Told”. The rest are simply labeled as numbered chapters in this slowly unfolding saga of deceit, recrimination and betrayal. Enigmatic, unsettling and immersive, “The Last Will And Testament” is a turbulent, prog metal tale like no other.
Making his recorded debut alongside OPETH‘s long-established lineup of Åkerfeldt, Åkesson, bassist Martin Mendez and keyboard maestro Joakim Svalberg on “The Last Will And Testament” is new drummer Waltteri Väyrynen, who joined the band in 2022.
OPETH will embark on a North American tour this fall. The trek, which will kick off on October 11 in Milwaukee, includes stops in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, New Orleans, Austin, Denver and more.
Photo by Terhi Ylimäinen