Band:	Opeth
Album:	The Last Will And Testament
Style:	Progressive metal
Release date:	November 22, 2024
A review by:	musclassia

01. §1
02. §2
03. §3
04. §4
05. §5
06. §6
07. §7
08. A Story Never Told

Has there ever been so much fervour and anticipation ahead of an album’s release due to a change in vocal style when there’s not been a change in vocalist? Opeth’s move away from growling caused an alarming schism in the band’s fanbase, but those growls’ return may not herald what those lost along the way were expecting.

Opeth’s musical journey since the start of the last decade has been subject to endless discussion, some rational, some irrational. By the time of the release of In Cauda Venenum, the Swedish titans appeared to be firmly entrenched in their current direction, and were starting to get a firmer grasp on how to most effectively execute their retro-revivalist take on heavy prog rock. While the title announced for that record’s successor, The Last Will And Testament, was decidedly ominous, any discussion of the potential finality of this release was swiftly superseded by the response to first single “§1”, notable not just for the first appearance of growls since 2008’s Watershed, but also for a markedly heavier sound than encountered on any of the records released in the intervening period. It’s a response that has slightly irritated Mikael Åkerfeldt, but disgruntled old-school fans of the band will learn with this album that ‘Growlpeth’ and ‘Newpeth’ are not mutually exclusive.

The title of The Last Will And Testament refers to a legal document (hence the “§” song titles), and said document serves as the focal point of this record’s concept (a concept that is shaped by spoken word from Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson, who also contributes flute to the album). However, while such a strong conceptual focus harkens back to early albums such as Still Life, when one moves past the initial surprise of Åkerfeldt’s monstruous harsh vocals returning, the music comprising The Last Will And Testament shares far more lineage (or Heritage, as it were) with Opeth’s recent albums than their earlier material.

Although the record’s heaviest moments have a density and tonality not found on the preceding 4 albums, it would be misleading to refer to The Last Will And Testament as a progressive death metal album, as instrumentally it bears little resemblance to extreme metal. Instead of blast beats or double bass rolls, debutant drummer Waltteri Väyrynen (Abhorrence, ex-Paradise Lost) typically maintains the busy, frequently jazzy drumming style employed when part of the band by Martin Axenrot, and the instrumentation as a whole is consistently busy, frenetic and convoluted in the way that In Cauda Venenum and Heritage in particular were. This is Opeth’s recent musical path routed in a darker direction, rather than a reprise of the band’s classic progressive death metal sound.

It's a direction that pays off rather nicely, overall. The aforementioned “§1” is perhaps the heaviest song on the album, and the interchange between growls and cleans, and between chunky heavy riffs and more delicate prog rock meandering, makes for a potent first impression. The range within even Åkerfeldt’s clean singing on the album is impressive, and the drama imbued in his voice in the ‘hiding, hiding’ bit really grabs one’s attention in time for a guitar solo immediately after. On that note, there’s some great solos across the album, whether livelier (“§3”) or more tender (“A Story Never Told”).

There’s a couple of pervasive issues that I’ve had with Opeth’s post-Watershed material. One has been the lack of a compelling overarching tonal feel to replace the loss of the darkly majestic vibe of the band’s turn-of-the-millennium records, and on that front, I find that The Last Will And Testament creates a more compelling atmosphere than its predecessors, perhaps partly due to the heaviness, but also due to the overall layering and production. On the flip side, my frustrations with the band’s ‘over-writing’, for lack of a better word, do remain; Opeth’s retro-prog era has been too often characterized, for me at least, by songwriting that has featured excessive choppiness in the name of convolution at the expense of memorability or emotional resonance, and listening to the likes of “§2” and parts of “§7” inspire a similar response on my part.

It is that issue that makes me appreciate “§3”, which, while not really featuring any standout moments, makes effective and sustained use of a stable core idea and rhythm that Opeth build around. “§4” is also initially a bit more stable, but again turns a bit too choppy not long after; however, Anderson’s flute solo on this song serves as something of a turning point, as the way that this passage and its underlying guitar motif grows heavier is a great moment, as is the following sequence that makes exciting use of panned growls trading off back-and-forth with one another. The growth and progression of “§4” ultimately makes it into my favourite song on the album.

There are other moments of note that I enjoy on the record, whether it be the haunting atmosphere created by the keys on “§5” and the lush balance of melody and aggression in its climactic outro, or the quiet bluesy ending to “§6”. On the whole, there’s quite a lot of things that The Last Will And Testament does right, particularly with the integration of the concept in a way that doesn’t distract from the music despite the spoken word, and ultimately it is probably my favourite release from the band in the past 15 years. With that said, I do have to echo the sentiments of those claiming that the album suffers from a lack of memorability; after a fair few listens, there are very few moments that linger for me, and few songs that motivate me to play the record further than I already have. In some areas it even falls short of its immediate predecessors; despite a pleasantly moving solo, closer "A Story Never Told" is a bit underwhelming when placed next to "All Things Will Pass" from In Cauda Venenum.

Assuming that this is not in fact The Last Will And Testament of Opeth, it is evident from this release that they are very capable of continuing to make impressive and well-crafted music, with or without extreme vocals or instrumentation. However, beyond the basic musical blocks, there was a particular je ne sais quoi to ‘classic’ Opeth that their albums since (and arguably even including) Watershed have struggled to recapitulate or replace with something equally worthy, and for all its merits, I don’t feel that The Last Will And Testament has quite pulled it off either.