Swedish Progressive Metallers Opeth will release their 14th studio album, “The Last Will And Testament,” on October 11 via Reigning Phoenix Music/Moderbolaget. Following the critical acclaim of the album’s first single, “§1” (Paragraph One),the band is now revealing the second offering from record, “§3” (Paragraph Three). Stream the new single through the YouTube player below:
Opeth frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt comments: “So put yourself in my position for a minute: Your band has this new album. You like it. In fact, you love it! It’s got this elaborate concept running through all eight songs on there. You’ve written it over the timespan of, say, six months, effective time. You’ve invested a lot of passion into putting it together. You’ve recorded it together with your friends/colleagues. You’ve had a good time in the process. Now, said album is on the verge of being released and you’re expected to talk about it. Prepare your audience for its coming. Talk it up! You do want people to hear it, right? You love the album so it should be easy, right? At this point, all you have to do is put together a few words for the new ‘single.’ But you’re confused with the use of the term ‘single,’ as you connect it to the olden days where ‘singles’ often had the word ‘hit’ next to it. And you know that won’t happen! Still you want people to hear it. Your loving ‘fans’ might think it’s awesome. But you don’t want to come across as a salesman. On top of that you’re not a complete self-absorbed asshole who thinks you’ve got the Midas touch (well….). Also you have a bad case of that inborn Swedish modesty, sprinkled with some impostor syndrome. What do you say? ‘§3’ is out now!‘”
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.
“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.
“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.
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.
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.
Pre-Order here: https://opeth.rpm.link/lastwillPR
Tracklist:
01 – §1
02 – §2
03 – §3
04 – §4
05 – §5
06 – §6
07 – §7
Opeth, after the North America tour, throughout October 2024, have also announced European tour dates for February 2025.
Opeth European Tour Dates 2025:
Feb 9: FIN Helsinki Ice Hall
Feb. 11: SWE Stockholm Cirkus
Feb 12: NOR Oslo Sentrum Scene
Feb 14: DEN Copenhagen DR Koncerthuset
Feb 15: GER Hamburg Docks
Feb 17: GER Cologne Palladium
Feb 18: GER Berlin Tempodrom
Feb 19: GER Munich Muffathalle
Feb 21: FRA Paris L’Olympia
Feb 22: NED Amsterdam AFAS Live
Feb 23: BEL Brussels Ancienne Belgique
