Opeth: The Last Will and Testament

I became an Opeth fan in the mid 2000’s when I discovered Blackwater Park. I was hooked by the interesting guitar lines, the strong vocals (both growled and clean) and ultimately the juxtaposition of light and dark moods. In the time since I've become somewhat of a diehard fan, enjoying everything that they have released. This includes the most recent string of albums which are highly influenced by 70s progressive rock and have polarised sections of the fanbase due to the absence of Åkerfeldts much revered growled vocal style.

The release of their 14th studio album, The Last Will and Testament, has been hyped by the MAGA followers (Make Åkerfeldt Growl Again) and the metal community in general. The early pre-release singles rung in the return of the death growls (ie. §1) to considerable fanfare. Not withstanding the growls, the other notable aspect of the album is that it is a full-blown concept album about the reading of a patriarchs Last Will and Testament. It's a really interesting concept that ties nicely into Opeths ghostly cover art aesthetic. The plot laid out in the reading of the will contains plenty of twists and turns to compliment the breath of musical styles Åkerfeldt and co. have weaved into the tapestry of the album. The final plot twist at the end, veiled in closing track 'A Story Never Told' is akin to the 'Open Your Eyes Nicholas' moment from Scenes from a Memory, or the ghostly twist at the end of Ayreon's Theory of Everything release.

Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) plays both flute and contributes an almost spoken word style narration to sections of the album. The Jethro Tull influence throughout Opeth's recent run of albums is very strong, so the collaboration should come as no suprise. Allowing myself to stay on the topic of Tull I'd say this album reminds me somewhat of their album A Passion Play. Both albums are very musically dense and not particularly song-oriented. Like the Tull I'm sure there will be fans that rate this as their best ever album, and there will be some fans that would prefer more concise songwriting. I'm in the former camp as I absolutely love the approach on this album. Having said that, I am a rare Dream Theater fan who enjoyed The Astonishing for the scale of the undertaking and for snapping them out of their usual formulated approach to writing albums. I'm a sucker for when a band goes 'all in' on a concept even it that means the individual tracks are unlikely to feature on a 'best of' at the end of their careers. Little touches like the lyric sheet looking like an old Will and Testament document enhance the experience on this release too.

Musically The Last Will and Testament contains hundreds of brief highlights but it is difficult to single out 'best' tracks. All of the 'paragraphs' on 'The Last Will' are like musical vignettes that contribute to the overall album and storytelling as opposed to being concise individual songs. They'll often get a heavy riff or groove going, but quickly snap into an ambient, forlorn, pastoral or hymn like interlude. This might be Opeths most complex release. All 5 members demonstrate serious virtuosity with the lead guitar playing of Fredrik Ã…kesson being particularly notable. Ã…kerfeldt and Mendez deliver killer parts as they have for a long time. The retro key tones and playing of Joakim Svalberg are also very tasty. The drumming from newcomer Waltteri Vayrynen fits the band's sound like a glove. However more notable than individual brilliance it is the interplay between the 5 of the members; the album is executed brilliantly. Opeth manages to touch on a lot of the hallmarks of their sound yet they have created a relatively unique release in the context of their discography. You'll want plenty of repeat listens of this album before you can truly digest what they've done with this release.

Much will be made of the return of the growls, but for me this album has more in common with the recent run of 'prog' albums than it does of the bands zenith period of song-oriented progresive death metal. However, the juxtaposition of Light and Dark which originally drew me into Opeth is very much alive and well on this release. With all that said the most exciting aspect of the album for me is the way they have gone 'all in' on a full-blown concept album. Opeth has done concept albums before, but nothing that i think prioritises the concept to the extent that they have done with this release. This is undoubtedly one of the best albums I've heard this year and will be at the pointy end of many end of year lists.

Track Listing
1. "§1"
2. "§2"
3. "§3"
4. "§4"
5. "§5"
6. "§6"
7. "§7"
8. "A Story Never Told"

Added: November 23rd 2024
Reviewer: Chris Reid
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 836
Language: english

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