OPETH's FREDRIK ÅKESSON On 'The Last Will And Testament': 'This Album Is Special To Me'

In a new interview with Taylor Max TV, OPETH guitarist Fredrik Åkesson spoke about the band's upcoming album, "The Last Will And Testament", which will be made available on November 22 via Reigning Phoenix Music/Moderbolaget. Addressing his pre-release anticipation, he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "For me, it's really exciting. And we've seen some of [the response from the fans and the media], because you guys [in the press] have listened to the entire album. So we get some response. We do a lot of interviews now, apparently, and also we released two tracks [from the LP so far]. And, of course, I'm getting curious. I wanna read the comments.

"I still think it's as exciting as when I joined the band at [2008's] 'Watershed' — I do, actually," he added. "And especially maybe this album, because this album is special to me. They're all good — I'm happy with them all — but this one kind of assembles the old OPETH and the proggy OPETH in a new direction and a step forward."

Asked if he consciously made a choice to make the guitars heavier on "The Last Will And Testament", Fredrik said: "We talked about [that] the guitar should play a bigger role than it did on [2019's] 'In Cauda Venenum'. For me personally, maybe there was a little bit too much keyboards… There was talk about giving the guitars a bit more room, and I'm happy that [OPETH] guitarist/vocalist] Mikael [Åkerfeldt] wanted me to play solos on almost every track. I mean 'Paragraph Two' has a little tapping thing, but apart from that, the solos were super important for me. I kind of wanted to treat them like little compositions within the songs. And this time around, the solos were different, 'cause I did them on my own, so I paid more afterthought to them. On 'In Cauda', I was improvising a few takes in Mikael's studio, but this time around I did it in my little boy room."

"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 the darkest and heaviest record OPETH has made in decades, and it 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.