OPETH Shares New Single, Reveals 'The Last Will And Testament' Album Details

Swedish progressive metallers OPETH will release their new album, "The Last Will And Testament", on October 11 via Reigning Phoenix Music/Moderbolaget. The LP's first single, "§1", can be streamed below.

Prior to today's worldwide announcement, the album was teased yesterday, exclusively for attendees at Wacken Open Air 2024 in conjunction with OPETH's performance at the illustrious festival.

OPETH vocalist/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt comments: "I love this record. I have to say it (write it). Maybe I'm proud, even? There are some familiar ingredients in there, I suppose. Most of our music has sprung from the same source, so I guess it's not much of a shocker if it's going to sound like 'us'.

"I'm a bit in awe of what we did with 'The Last Will And Testament'. It feels like a dream. There is some coherence and songwriting skills I hope, but what do I know? I tend to favor the strange over the obvious, but I feel like I'm in the minority, and that's fine. So…fair warning! Don't expect an instant rush (as per usual),but if you do get it (have you got it yet?) right away, that's okay too!"

OPETH's fourteenth album 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.

Regarding the record's creation, Åkerfeldt adds: "This is the first record with Walt [Waltteri Vayrynen] on drums. Seeing and hearing him record his bits was otherworldly and what went through my head was something like: How can a human being play this stuff? The older cats (myself, Mendez, Fred and Jocke) did our bits in due time. We did them well (I like to think) and the alcohol concentration in our blood was mostly quite low as the red light was on. We're professionals, you see! Rockfield Studios treated us well and we love that place! Stefan Boman recorded and mixed it all (CAPTURED it on TAPE… kind of…). Miles Showell did the master at Abbey Road Studios and then we (myself and Stefan) took him for a curry in Covent Garden. Travis Smith has done this odd-masterpiece-artwork that put 'clothes' on the music. All in all, we hope we've put together a nice little morsel of information for you to nibble on when it's raining out. Thank you for your time. Thank you for reading. Thank you for listening. Thank you for giving us a respectable past. I'll thank you for our future in the actual future, okay?"

"The Last Will And Testament" is gripping from start to finish, jaw-dropping inside and out, representing some of OPETH's finest material to date. Just as OPETH welcomed many into its distressed arms over the years, the Swedes again deliver on the promise that great music always tells a compelling story — this time with growls.

More than three decades into their career, OPETH have trained their admirers to expect the unexpected. But even by their own standards, the Swedish progressive titans have conjured something extraordinary this time around. The band's 14th studio exploration, "The Last Will And Testament", is the darkest and heaviest record they have made in decades, it is also the 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.

"I have become quite interested in family, and the idea that blood is not always thicker than water," Åkerfeldt explains. "I became interested in how family members can turn on each other. I saw an interview with this guy whose family had all turned against him, over the inheritance, so I wrote a song about that on the last record. The idea stuck with me, and then along came the TV show 'Succession', and I loved that series. That was in the back of my head too. It felt like an interesting topic that you could twist and turn a little bit."

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.

"I knew I could go a bit overboard and wild with the music, a bit heavier and a bit more metal, maybe, because I felt it would fit the concept, which is dark and kind of complex," Mikael says. "You might dabble with the occult in your youth and write songs about Satan, but this felt like I could make a story about real evil, and about human behavior. It felt like the music for this concept should be on the heavier side of things. It's a pretty heavy topic."

Proud adherents to a progressive ethos, OPETH have never repeated themselves, and "The Last Will And Testament" is every bit as revelatory and adventurous as its 13 predecessors. But one thing is undeniable: Åkerfeldt's peerless death metal growls are back, for the first time since "Watershed" in 2008.

"I like to be unfashionable, in a way," grins Åkerfeldt. "So, when it comes to bringing that kind of death metal vocal back, I wanted it to happen when people had stopped caring… and I guess that's now! Maybe it's a bit surprising, but we did some anniversary type shows, and we played lots of old songs, and I just thought that my death metal voice sounded good. There's also been a little push because of our new drummer, Walt. He's a death metal guy. Mendez (OPETH bassist) has been a bit of a horse whisperer, too, saying 'Maybe you should do something heavier this time…' In the end I just thought, yeah, let's give it a try."

"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.

To add to an overwhelming sense that "The Last Will And Testament" is a landmark record for OPETH, its guest stars are of impeccable and legendary quality. Ian Anderson has been making imaginative and influential music for nearly 60 years, both with JETHRO TULL and as a solo artist, and remains one of progressive rock's most revered figures. He joins OPETH here for the first time, performing as the voice of the album's chief protagonist and contributing some glorious flurries of flute.

"With Ian, it's about his voice and just how he is," Mikael explains. "I decided we should have spoken word, and if that was going to happen, the voice should be Ian's. He's like a distinguished gentleman. Everything he says has authority. So, it was just perfect. No one else would have been as good. I felt maybe it was a bit too cliched to ask him to play a flute solo too, but instead, he asked me, 'Do you need a flute solo?' and so obviously I said, 'Yes! Yes, we do!'"

Another legend of the rock world to grace the new OPETH album with his presence and talent is Joey Tempest, singer with EUROPE.

"On the record, Joey does this call and response with Ian, which was another dream come true for me," Åkerfeldt says. "I love EUROPE and I love Joey. We've become buddies over the years. So that was a big thing for me. He also knows Ian and had met him a few times. He's a fan of TULL, so it was cool to have them on the same track. You don't want to have guests that just for the glitter and glamour. You want someone that's going to add something to the record, and those two guys were perfect."

Making his recorded debut alongside OPETH's long-established lineup of Mikael Åkerfeldt, guitarist Fredrik 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. Åkerfeldt is eager to commend his new comrade's immense drumming abilities, while observing that recording drums for the new album was a virtually stress-free process.

"I knew Walt was a great drummer, but I didn't know how good he was," Mikael says. "We're not crappy musicians in this band. We can play. But we sat there at Rockfield Studios, and he just was doing these insane, technical songs in one take. We were almost recording it in real time! [Laughs] He's amazing."

After three decades of dazzling the world, OPETH have made their most daring creative leap yet. "The Last Will And Testament" is a progressive and dramatic triumph, and yet more proof that expecting the unexpected is the only way forward for fans of Sweden's finest.

"It's a restless record for me," concludes Åkerfeldt. "It's an explosion of ideas, which I like. It's a bit shorter and snappier. But I definitely didn't want to rehash anything. The only thing that has come back is some of those death metal screams, but the mindset is still much more forward looking. In typical OPETH fashion, it's not a direct record that you understand and that you love or hate right away. It takes time and if you put that time into it, you might like it… or hate it! It feels like it was written on a whim. Which it was, in a way! I hear things on this album and think, where the fuck did that come from?"

"The Last Will And Testament" track listing:

01. §1
02. §2
03. §3
04. §4
05. §5
06. §6
07. §7
08. A Story Never Told

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