In the clip below, The Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins weighs in on the new Opeth song, "§1".
Hawkins. "Opeth have just released their 14th studio album, The Last Will And Testament. I'm reviewing the first track, which sees the return of the growl...."
The wait is finally over and Opeth's 14th studio album, The Last Will And Testament, is now available worldwide via Moderbolaget / Reigning Phoenix Music. To celebrate this release, the Swedish prog legends are now sharing a lyric video for the song "§4," which can be found below.
Opeth frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt comments on the track, "'§4' is an oddball song, just written by instinct. I'm not a clever guy when it comes to writing music. People call us 'thinking man's metal,' I think that's laughable. I listen to music from so many different genres, it's impossible to me to stick to one genre. I find the idea boring to try and belong somewhere, we're a bit all over the place, and I think this song shows our diversity. For '§4' I was inspired by something called 'twelve note music,' which I think is a classical term, where you're supposed to play twelve notes und you cannot repeat a note twice. I heard some of that music by classical pianists playing, and it sounds wicked, it sounds evil, it sounds really strange - so that inspired the initial guitar theme. There's a melodrome theme in the beginning, it just sounds odd, like it doesn't fit in, almost like a free-form jazz solo or something like that. But it quickly kind of lands in an almost traditional metal theme with a common response type death metal vocal that has a stereo double-tracked normal vocal response.
"I can't remember what happened during the writing process, but I reached a point where I just stopped and felt, 'ok, time for something strange!' We ended up with a flute solo by Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, which was kind of an accident in a way, because I asked him to do a narration, not flute. As he was doing the spoken word bits, he asked me 'do you need a flute solo?' I was like, 'yes, please!‘, while I didn't really have a part for a flute solo! I had to shuffle through the songs quickly in my head before he would change his mind. I had him on the hook, of course I was gonna find a piece! So, he played almost like a common response type flute solo in '§4.'
"This is a great song with the ending piece being one of the more evil pieces of music I've written in a long time: it sounds really menacing, sick almost!“
Opeth's fourteenth album was written by Mikael 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 main man 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 A Testament is gripping from start to finish, jaw-dropping inside and out, representing some of Opeth's finest material to date. Just as Opeth welcomed many into its distressed arms over the years, the Swedes again deliver on the promise that great music always tells a compelling story—this time with growls.
Order The Last Will And Testament here. Album cover by Travis Smith.
The Last Will And Testament tracklisting:
"§1"
"§2"
"§3"
"§4"
"§5"
"§6"
"§7"
"A Story Never Told"
"§3":
"§1" (Radio Edit) lyric video:
After conquering North America this past October, Opeth will embark on a headlining tour throughout Europe and the UK starting February 9 of next year. The full itinerary can be found below. Tickets here.
Tour dates (w/ Grand Magus):
February
9 - Helsinki, Finland - Ice Hall
11 - Stockholm, Sweden - Cirkus
12 - Oslo, Norway - Sentrum Scene
14 - Copenhagen, Denmark - DR Koncerthuset
15 - Hamburg, Germany - Docks
17 - Cologne, Germany - Palladium
18 - Berlin, Germany - Tempodrom
19 - Munich, Germany - Muffathalle
21 - Paris, France - L'Olympia
22 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - AFAS Live
23 - Brussels, Belgium - Ancienne Belgique
25 - Bristol, UK - Bristol Beacon
26 - London, UK - Roundhouse
28 - Birmingham, UK - Symphony Hall
March
1 - Manchester, UK - Albert Hall
2 - Glasgow, UK - Barrowland
