THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT

Review Nº 874

As we know, Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal group founded in Stockolm in 1990. The band is led by singer and guitarist Mikael Akerfeldt despite was founded by his friend David Isberg. Their music can be described as death metal mixed with quiet passages. Often within a single song you will find the interplay of acoustic/electric guitars, as well as clean vocals/growls. Still and all over the time, the death metal influences have steadily diminished or even disapeared.

In a very short time two of my favourite prog bands released two albums, "Parasomnia" of Dream Theater and this one of Opeth. This by itself is a noteworthy event to me. But there are two things that made of this an even most important event. About Dream Theater I'll talk when I published my review here. In the case of Opeth we had the return of growls of Mikael Akerfeldt, an unexpected thing for many of us. But besides that we had also the presence of a new drummer.

"The Last Will And Testament" is a concetual album set in the post-World War I era whose last will and testament reveals shocking family secrets. It spins a yarn based around the administration of the estate of a wealthy man, replete with a seedy lawyer and an imposing patriarch. The twisting tale of family intrigue and deception is narrated across the first six tracks, before culminating in "§7" where the lawyer delivers a reading of the will to the beneficiaries. While this feels appropriately climactic, the final track "A Story Never Told" succeeds this chicanery with a real shocking clarity.

One look at the dark cover artwork of the album can be seen as a return to the old form and style of the band in the first decade of this century. Still, that isn't totaly true. It's by no means the case that Opeth negate the retro reminiscences of their 2010's. Rather, "The Last Will And Testament" can be seen as a successful attempt to bring the various phases of the band into the harmony with one to another. So, anyone who was hoping for a 180- degree turn will be disappointed. Anyone who misses the old Opeth but was also fond of the newer ones will be delighted. And anyone who is prepared to fully immerse themselves in this reading of the will with very powerful loudspeakers will be marvelously intoxicated.

"§1" is one of the heaviest tracks on the album and possibly the most known too. I love the interchange between growls and clean vocals and chunky heavy riffs and the more delicate prog rock meandering. It's a powerful opener, one of my favourite tracks here. "§2" follows a similar feel to that of the previous track. It explores familiar territory, juxtaposing aggressive death metal with mellower progressive elements. Each little movement accentuates the development of the story and music all over the track and album. It provides plenty of reminders that this band knows how to rock. "§3" is an amazing track showing the band at its most propulsive with one of the dizziest prog arrangements that Opeth has ever written. It lays the prog rock on thick with oddball rhythms, stop-start riffs and one of the album's many sleek and shreddy guitar solos. It's probably one of the most accessible songs here. "§4" offers some of most thrilling moments on the album. It ranges from almost completely hushed material to the rageful and bombastic sound so carachteristic of Opeth. Here we're immediately in that exotic prog space that sounds like Opeth and no one else. "§5" is slightly funky and incredibly creative with its Middle Eastern, flamenco and prog. Twangy acoustic guitar, angelic backing vocals and a great rhythmic foundation lay down by Mendez and Vayrynen lend to this track a unique character within the context of the album. "§6" is a track where everything fits perfectly well. These melodies, which we're not used to hearing often from Opeth, are quite prevalent in this album. There's a constant riff change, a continuous shift in atmosphere, yet it never gets boring. "§7" gives the sense the overall melodrama and story is coming to an end, even if the album itself isn't. It trades in the tension of the earlier tracks for something emocionat with big guitar riffs, organ waves and growls, all working together to be catchy. This feels like a fitting climax to such an important document. The real ending track is "A Story Never Told", a pretty ballad carried almost completely by Akerfeldt's beautiful voice. It's a gorgeous track, one of the band's best ballads in their entire career. In the end we have Akesson's brilliant solo to close this amazing work.

Conclusion: This is another amazing work from this band, maybe my favourite prog band at the moment. This guys never cesse to surprise and delight me. It's one of the most agressive and dark albums from the band, not only due to growls and concept. It's varied, well ballanced and produced. I can see some problems with some of their older fans. Probabbly they expected an album more in vein with their older stuff due to the growls. But there's no return to that form. Maybe it can be a kind of a reminiscent of "Watershed". This is a complex and intense album, a technically heavy and prog work, a real tour de force. Despite I love all tracks I particularly highlight the opener and the closer. They're two completelly diferent pieces that show the two sides of the same coin, the balance of the death metal intensity with the progressive sophistication. This is another step forward in their amazing career, another winning bet for the band.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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