The wait is finally over and OPETH‘s highly anticipated 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 here: https://youtu.be/kIH7sx4QuPU
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 mellotron 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!’’
Order The last WILL and TESTAMENT here: http://opeth.rpm.link/lastwillPR
Opeth’s fourteenth album was written by Åkerfeldt, with lyrics conferred with Klara Rönnqvist Fors (The Heard, ex-Crucified Barbara). ‘The Last Will & 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 & 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 & 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.
Moreover, OPETH has landed the cover story for Decibel Magazine’s current December 2024 issue! The in-depth interview with the band was conducted by journalist Chris Dick while the photos were shot by Ester Segarra. The issue can be found HERE.
The cover artwork can be found below along with the track listing!
The last WILL and TESTAMENT Track list:
01 – §1 [LISTEN]
02 – §2
03 – §3 [LISTEN]
04 – §4 [LISTEN]
05 – §5
06 – §6
07 – §7
08 – A Story Never Told
After conquering North America this past October, OPETH will head to Australia and New Zealand in November of next year!
The full itinerary can be found below.
Tickets on sale now here: https://metropolistouring.com/opeth-2025/
OPETH Tour Dates 2025:
14.11.2025 NZ Auckland – Town Hall
17.11.2025 AU Sydney – Opera House
18.11.2025 AU Sydney – Opera House
20.11.2025 AU Brisbane – The Fortitude Music Hall
21.11.2025 AU Melbourne – Palais Theatre
22.11.2025 AU Adelaide – Hindley Street Music Hall
24.11.2025 AU Perth – Astor Theatre
Lineup:
Mikael Åkerfeldt – Vocals, guitars
Fredrik Åkesson – Guitars, backing vocals
Martin Mendez – Bass guitar
Waltteri Väyrynen – Drums and percussion
Joakim Svalberg – Keyboards, backing vocals
Special Guests:
Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) – spoken word (tracks 1, 2, 4, 7) // flute (tracks 4, 7)
Joey Tempest (Europe) – backing vocals (track 2)
Mirjam Åkerfeldt – spoken word (track 1)
All Music and Lyrics written by Mikael Åkerfeldt
Lyrical concept by Mikael Åkerfeldt, dramatic consultation by Klara Rönnqvist Fors
Produced by Mikael Åkerfeldt
Co-produced by Opeth and Stefan Boman
Engineered by Stefan Boman, Joe Jones and Opeth
Mixing by Stefan Boman and Mikael Åkerfeldt and Opeth at Atlantis and Hammerthorpe, Stockholm, Sweden
Mastering and vinyl lacquer cut by Miles Showell at Abbey Road studios, London, UK
Artwork by Travis Smith with directions from Mikael Åkerfeldt
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