OPETH's FREDRIK ÅKESSON Says 'The Last Will And Testament' Album Is Another 'Step Forward'

In a new interview with Andrew McKaysmith of the Scars And Guitars podcast, 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. After McKaysmith suggested that the LP finds OPETH going back to some of the sounds that made the band initially so endearing, Fredrik said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, the element that a lot of people talk about is apparently the growls are back after four albums without the growls. And there was a reason for that because it's a concept album and we wanted to make a heavier album this time around. They're all different, in my opinion, the last four albums, but this time around we had a new drummer coming in and we played more of the old-school heavy stuff. But I wouldn't call it going back. I think this is a step forward — bringing in some old elements, but also bringing in new elements. It also displays the prog era as well, I think, but it's a more compact — the most compact OPETH album, most restless and most intense in a way, I think. The songs aren't as long, but there are not less ingredients in them. They're more — not like TikTok, but they're more action-packed in a way."

Åkesson also addressed the September 2022 addition of drummer Waltteri Väyrynen (PARADISE LOST, BLOODBATH, BODOM AFTER MIDNIGHT) to the OPETH ranks. He said: "[Waltteri has] been amazing, and luckily we got to do three tours with Waltteri before we started working on the album. And he's been so good all the way and easy to get along with, which is also important, of course. But as a player, he's so accurate. I mean, he's an extreme metal drummer — he can play kick drums super fast and he's super tight, he keeps a steady tempo — but he's also very tasteful. The way we found out about him was when he played the track 'The Devil's Orchard', which demands a lot of taste and it's a different type of groove than a typical death metal track or something like that. It's more prog, and he had that element as well, which I would say is probably a bit rare. And he kind of click all the boxes. I think [OPETH] guitarist/vocalist] Mikael [Åkerfeldt] really wanted the drums to be more challenging, more intense than ever on this album. I would say this is the trickiest drums OPETH has written or done before. And he had to practice for like half a year for nailing it. So we asked Waltteri — well, he said on his own that if he only had one month to learn this album, he wouldn't have been able to do it. But, yeah, he's a bit of a vitamin injection for the band because he's a bit younger — or quite a lot younger, actually — and he's good for us. We suck a bit of his blood because he's younger, so we feel more rejuvenated now. Oh, just kidding. But no, it's been all good. New fuel."

"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.