If internet chat sites and general music discussion would have you believe there has been a big buzz surrounding the new Opeth release, the likes of which we have not seen for several years.
Opeth have managed to keep their love of the progressive melodies and bring back their more established death metal sound, pre-Heritage, to create a combination that truly thrills and challenges in equal measure.
As with the majority of the band’s work it takes more than a couple of listens to fully get into it. There are many interesting little parts that are not noticeable on first listen but then reveal themselves the more you invest. This is a concept album par-excellence. The story is set in the period following the first world war and revolves around a patriarch whose wife is infertile. His last will and testament reveals shocking family secrets which are explored across the album’s eight tracks.
Frontman, and de-facto leader of the band, Mikael Akerfeld reckoned that the album is “a restless record and an explosion of ideas”. He is pretty accurate with that description and it is proven from the very first track “§1”. There is variety on this album that pulls together many of the divergent paths that Opeth have taken in the past decade or so from progressive rock – to death metal brutality via a dark journey backed by strings and grooves that twist and turn.
This is the band’s first studio album with new drummer Waltteri Väyrynen who replaced Martin Axenrot after his 15 year spell in the band ended in 2021. It is also the first album in five years which marks the longest spell without a album in the band’s career.
The return of the death metal growls are welcome for the vast majority of the fanbase and I fully concur with that. The growls are suitably………….. growly, showing that Akerfeld has not lost his ability to “go deep” in the vocal department. The song titles themselves are paragraphs, hence the numbering system, all bar the closer and ballad “A Story Never Told”.
“§5” sounds as monstrous as “§3” is jazz-inflected rhythmic haunted brilliance. Just listen to it. It will all make sense.
If this is the future of Opeth then the future is very bright indeed.
The Last Will And Testament is out now via Reigning Phoenix Music.
Donnie’s Rating: 9.5/10
