Five years have passed since ‘In Cauda Venenum’ and Opeth are back, with a concept album nonetheless, while Mikael Åkerfeldt’s growls have returned for the first time since 2008’s ‘Watershed’. Personally, I quite enjoyed the beautiful ‘Heritage’ who had marked the start of the ‘full Steven Wilson’ era of the Swedes. The records that followed though were a little less convincing, showing some signs of fatigue and idea recycling.
‘The Last Will and Testament’ proves that this break from recording did Opeth some good. Although still lacking when compared to the band’s peaks in the 2000s, it is a record with narrative and musical cohesion. Its strong moments have very little to do with… death metal, especially since there are really no riffs that go in that direction, but rather are ‘hidden’ inside the instrumental parts of ‘§4’, the eastern melodies of ‘§5’, or the lead parts on ‘A Story Never Told’. It may be that a new Opeth release isn’t the “stop the press” mega-event that it was at some point, but I do believe ‘The Last Will and Testament’ will fuel more thoughts and conversations that their last two or three releases did.
