In the dimly lit theatre of progressive metal, Opeth has long played the role of master storyteller. With their fourteenth album, The Last Will & Testament, they’ve crafted something that feels both like a haunting homecoming and an audacious leap forward – a record that materializes from the fog of a sepia-tinted 1920s nightmare, where death metal growls dance with flute solos and family secrets unravel in sinister whispers.
The Swedish prog-metal veterans have spent the better part of fifteen years exploring the mellower territories of 70s-influenced progressive rock, stepping away from the extreme metal elements that defined their earlier work. Now, five years after In Cauda Venenum, they’ve returned with what might be their most ambitious work yet – a concept album that not only reintroduces Mikael Åkerfeldt’s legendary growls but pushes even further into uncharted progressive territory.
Set against the backdrop of an inheritance reading, the album unfolds like an Edgar Allan Poe story reimagined through the lens of HBO’s Succession. The narrative follows the reading of a deceased patriarch’s will, with each section revealing new layers of family dysfunction and dark revelations. To help bring this gothic tale to life, Åkerfeldt has enlisted an unlikely dream team, including Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson (providing both narration and flute), Europe’s Joey Tempest, and even Åkerfeldt’s own daughter Mirjam.
The album’s structure itself is a statement of artistic intent. Seven of the eight tracks are marked simply as numbered paragraphs (§1 through §7), lending the proceedings an air of formal documentation that contrasts beautifully with the emotional turbulence within. The opening pair of chapters hit like a welcome shock to the system – particularly §2, which masterfully blends evil yells, mellow respites, and foreboding narration that echoes the psychedelic occult vibes of 2016’s Sorceress.
New drummer Waltteri Väyrynen proves himself a perfect fit for Opeth’s labyrinthine arrangements, particularly in the dynamic complexity of §4 and §5. The middle section of the album represents its dramatic peak, where the story’s secrets begin to surface, and the music responds with appropriate grandeur. §5 stands as perhaps the album’s finest moment – a masterclass in tension and release that somehow manages to incorporate handclaps without sacrificing an ounce of its dramatic weight.
What’s most impressive about The Last Will & Testament is how it manages to be both the band’s heaviest work since Watershed and their most sophisticated. Despite clocking in at just over 50 minutes – making it one of their shorter albums – it’s remarkably dense, with more ideas packed into its runtime than some albums manage in 70 minutes. The death metal elements emerge naturally from the narrative’s darkest corners rather than feeling like fan service, while the progressive elements have never been more fully realized.
The album closes with “A Story Never Told,” the only traditionally titled track, a gorgeous ballad that recalls the melancholic beauty of previous album closers like “All Things Will Pass” and “Faith in Others.” It’s a reminder that for all their technical prowess and conceptual ambition, Opeth remains capable of disarming beauty, featuring what could be mistaken for a David Gilmour-worthy guitar solo bathed in golden 70s warmth.
In lesser hands, this combination of death metal aggression, prog rock ambition, and theatrical storytelling could have resulted in a messy pastiche. Instead, Opeth has created something that feels both cohesive and revolutionary. The Last Will & Testament stands as proof that even after three decades, they remain capable of surprising us – and perhaps more importantly, surprising themselves.
While this album might not wholly bridge the divide between fans of their death metal era and their progressive period, it offers something more interesting: a glimpse of what happens when a band refuses to be bound by either their past or present. They’ve created an album that feels both intimately theatrical and expansively ambitious, proving once again why they remain one of metal’s most vital and versatile voices.
‘The Last Will & Testament’ Tracklist:
01 – §1
02 – §2
03 – §3
04 – §4
05 – §5
06 – §6
07 – §7
08 – A Story Never Told
The Last Will & Testament is released via Reigning Phoenix Music on 22 November 2024
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