In a new interview with United Rock Nations, OPETH guitarist/vocalist Mikael Akerfeldt discussed the band’s upcoming album, “The Last Will And Testament”which will arrive on November 22 via Reigning Phoenix Music/Moderbolaget. Speaking about his decision to include growing vocals in the recently released first single from the LP, “§1”, Åkerfeldt said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I wanted to try it out. I had been thinking, and we had been talking in the band that we should, maybe we could try and see what happens if we write something that’s slightly heavier. And I felt I wanted to try and see if I could write music and fit that type of vocals on to new music. And I hadn’t done that for many years… It’s been a while. So I wrote a few parts and tried the death metal vocals, and it sounded. awesome. Besides, it also provided a different voice to this character in the story. It became an asset that I didn’t really have the need for, but now it was an asset that actually could be beneficial for. the whole concept, for the whole record. It sounded awesome too.
Last month, Åkerfeldt addressed the fact that OPETH fans have reacted positively to his return to growing vocals on “§1”telling “Coffee With Ola”: “I don’t have social media. Obviously, the record is not out yet, so I haven’t read any reviews, but I’m on YouTubebelieve it or not, every now and then, so I’ve seen some comments and videos, ‘Oh, my god, OPETH is back. Michael‘s back,’ that type of thing. And yeah, there are some screams on there. And it’s cool that they appreciate it. It’s also slightly annoying.”
Elaborating on why he finds it “annoying” that so much of the focus has been on the fact that he is growing on an OPETH album again, Michael said: “I choose not to get upset. I’m an old guy. I decided I’m just gonna take in, like, ‘You love it? You love that I do that stuff? Fine. I’m gonna be happy about it. But it’s also, is that all we are? We’ve done four records in a row without that type of vocals, which people have liked, but it’s been… It’s so much focus on the screams, I almost feel like I wanna troll, just do a shit record, like really shit, obvious shit, with great screams and see what they think.”
He continued: “But I’m really happy with the record. The screams sound really good. They fit this music and the concept of the record. So, all in all, I’m happy.”
When host Ola Englund noted that there are “a lot” of growing vocals on “The Last Will And Testament”, Michael attend “Yeah, maybe it’s 50-50, maybe more. But it was fun doing it again. I hadn’t done it on an OPETH record for quite some time. ‘Watershed’ was the last [album] with that type of vowels. I wrote the songs. I started with the one called ‘Paragraph One’ [‘§1’]. So I tried some screams to see if it fit with the music, because I hadn’t written music with the intention of having that type of vocal for a long time. So I didn’t know if it was gonna work, but it sounded great to me. So I was, like, ‘Okay.’ Besides, it’s a concept record and it gave a voice to that main character in the story. So that felt, like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna try.'”
Regarding the concept for the new OPETH album, Michael said: “People heard that first song, ‘Paragraph One’. It starts with footsteps leading up to a door. A door opens and then off we go. And a patriarch, a father has died. He’s a rich, conservative, stern old fucker who’s passed away and the album starts when his children, his three children, arrive to attend the reading of his last will and testament, basically to see what they’re, so to speak, getting. And then throughout the album, through his testament, all the lyrics are written as if they were written like a proper testament, with paragraphs, which explain the titles, or the lack of titles. And throughout the reading, he will reveal secrets about himself mostly, but many of these secrets will immediately affect his children and kind of turn their lives upside down. And then there’s a twist to the story as well in the end.”
“The Last Will And Testament” was written by Åkerfeldtwith lyrics conferred with Klara Rönnqvist Fors (THE HEARDex-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 OPETHwith 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 flutist and JETHRO TULL mainman Ian Anderson. Not only do Anderson‘s signature notes fly on “§4” and “§7”I have narrated 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 Akerfeldtis 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 whom the family has 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 you have 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 Tempestfrontman 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 Akerfeldtguitarist Fredrik Akessonbassist Martin Mendez and keyboard master Joakim Svalberg on “The Last Will And Testament” is new drummer Waltteri Väyrynenwho 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, DC, Atlanta, New Orleans, Austin, Denver and more.
Photo by Terhi Ylimäinen
