The Last Will and Testament | ||||
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![]() Cover art by Travis Smith | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 11 October 2024 | |||
Recorded | February – March 2024 | |||
Studio | Rockfield Studios (Monmouthshire, Wales) Angel Recording Studios (London) Hammerthorpe Studios Flowcreations Studios The Tower Studios (Stockholm) | |||
Length | 50:52 | |||
Label | Moderbolaget Reigning Phoenix Music | |||
Producer | Mikael Åkerfeldt Opeth Stefan Boman Dave Stewart | |||
Opeth chronology | ||||
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Singles from The Last Will and Testament | ||||
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The Last Will and Testament (stylised as The last WILL and TESTAMENT) is the upcoming fourteenth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth, set to be released on 11 October 2024 through Reigning Phoenix Music. [1] [2] It will be the band's first studio album since In Cauda Venenum (2019), marking the longest gap between studio albums in their career, and its first release with drummer Waltteri Väyrynen, who in 2022 officially replaced Martin Axenrot after his departure the year before. [3] It also marks the return, at least to some extent, of death metal elements such as death growls since Watershed (2008), as well as being their first fully conceptual album since Still Life (1999).
The album is a concept album set in the post-World War I era, unfolding the story of a wealthy, conservative patriarch (who is infertile) whose last will and testament reveals shocking family secrets. The album begins with the reading of the father's will in his mansion. Among those in attendance are three siblings, twin boys and a young girl, who, despite being an orphan and polio-ridden, has been raised by the family. Her presence at the will reading raises suspicions and questions among the twins. The twins are the result of a donor procreation. During the reading of the will, the twins find out that they are not related to the patriarch, and consequently they are left out of the will The girl is the patriarch's only child by blood and so she is his true heiress, although she is the daughter of the patriarch's maid. [4] [5] Nearly all songs on this album start with a section symbol and a number next to it in their title, except for the closing track "A Story Never Told".
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "§1" | 5:56 |
2. | "§2" | 5:33 |
3. | "§3" | 5:10 |
4. | "§4" | 7:00 |
5. | "§5" | 7:29 |
6. | "§6" | 6:03 |
7. | "§7" | 6:30 |
8. | "A Story Never Told" | 7:11 |
Total length: | 50:52 |
Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. The band incorporates folk, blues, classical, and jazz elements into its usually lengthy compositions, as well as strong influences from death metal, especially in their early works. Songs may include acoustic guitar passages, Mellotrons, death growls, and strong dynamic shifts.
Paradise Lost are an English gothic metal band. Formed in Halifax, West Yorkshire in 1988, they are considered to be among the pioneers of the death-doom genre and regarded as the main influence for the later gothic metal movement. Bands that have cited Paradise Lost as an influence, or have covered them, include My Dying Bride, Anathema, The Gathering, Amorphis, Cradle of Filth, Katatonia, Moonspell, Lacuna Coil, HIM, Nightwish and many others. As of 2005, Paradise Lost have sold over two million albums worldwide.
Lars Mikael Åkerfeldt is a Swedish musician. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of progressive metal band Opeth. A former vocalist of death metal supergroup Bloodbath, he was also guitarist for the "one-off" band Steel, and part of the collaboration Storm Corrosion with Steven Wilson.
Bloodbath is a Swedish death metal supergroup from Stockholm, formed in 1998. The band has released six full-length albums, two EPs and two DVDs depicting their performances at Wacken Open Air and Bloodstock Open Air. The group consists of Martin Axenrot (ex-Opeth), Anders Nyström (Katatonia), Jonas Renkse and Nick Holmes.
Deliverance is the sixth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. It was released on 12 November 2002. It was recorded between 22 July and 4 September 2002, at the same time as Damnation, which was released five months after this album. The two albums contrast starkly with one another, purposely dividing the band's two most prevalent styles, as Deliverance is considered to be one of the band's heaviest albums, taking on a heavier and more brutal death metal-inspired sound, whereas Damnation experiments with a much mellower progressive rock-influenced sound.
Damnation is the seventh studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. It was released on 22 April 2003, five months after Deliverance, which was recorded at the same time. Damnation is the last Opeth album to date to be produced by Steven Wilson although he did mix two future albums, Heritage and Pale Communion. Mikael Åkerfeldt dedicated both Damnation and Deliverance to his grandmother, who died in a car accident during the time the albums were being recorded.
Ghost Reveries is the eighth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. It was released on 29 August 2005. It was their first album after signing with Roadrunner Records, and first album since Still Life (1999) to not be produced by Steven Wilson.
Jonas Petter Renkse is a Swedish musician in the bands Katatonia (1991–) as lead vocalist, founder, songwriter and formerly as drummer ; in Bloodbath (1998–) as bassist, founder, songwriter; and in Wisdom of Crowds (2013–) as co-vocalist.
Erik Martin "Axe" Axenrot is a Swedish death metal drummer, best known as the former drummer for progressive metal band Opeth (2005-2021). Since 2004, he is the drummer for Bloodbath. Known for his intricate playing style, his drumming has been highly praised by Opeth members and fans, with Mikael Åkerfeldt calling him "a joy to play with." Axenrot has also been jokingly referred to as The Lord of the Rings character Legolas by band members and fans.
The Roundhouse Tapes is the second live album and video by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. The CD was recorded on 9 November 2006 and was released on 23 October 2007 in the US, on 5 November in Europe, and on 20 November in the rest of the world. A two-disc DVD version was released on 10 November 2008, and includes exclusive menu music written by Mikael Åkerfeldt and Per Wiberg. The title is a play on the name of Iron Maiden's first release The Soundhouse Tapes, as well as the venue where the record was recorded. Åkerfeldt said, "The Roundhouse concert will always be a very memorable gig for us for many reasons, but most importantly it caught the band at the peak of the Ghost Reveries tour". This is the final Opeth release with Peter Lindgren.
The discography of Opeth, a Stockholm, Sweden-based progressive metal band, consists of thirteen studio albums, four live albums, three box sets, three video albums and seventeen singles.
Watershed is the ninth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. Released by Roadrunner Records, Watershed is the first studio album by Opeth to feature guitarist Fredrik Åkesson and drummer Martin Axenrot, who replaced longtime guitarist Peter Lindgren and drummer Martin Lopez. The artwork for the album was made by Travis Smith in collaboration with Mikael Åkerfeldt. It was the band's last studio album to contain death growls or any death metal elements until 2024's The Last Will and Testament.
The Candlelight Years is the second box set by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. It compiles their first three albums Orchid, Morningrise, and My Arms, Your Hearse, originally released on Candlelight Records. Although the albums have been released before, this was the first time they have been collected in one set. It also marks the first time the albums were released in Japan.
Storm Corrosion was a musical collaboration between Swedish musician Mikael Åkerfeldt of progressive metal band Opeth and English musician Steven Wilson of the progressive rock band Porcupine Tree. Åkerfeldt and Wilson began a longstanding musical partnership in 2001 when Wilson produced Opeth's fifth studio album Blackwater Park. The two began writing together for a new project in 2010, releasing their self-titled only studio album in 2012 through Roadrunner Records.
Heritage is the tenth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. It was released on 13 September 2011 through Roadrunner Records. The album was recorded in early 2011 at Atlantis Studios in Stockholm and produced by Mikael Åkerfeldt, engineered by Janne Hansson, and mixed by Steven Wilson. It takes on more of a progressive rock sound, something the band had wanted to do for some time, resulting in a stark contrast to the progressive death metal sounds of their past albums.
Pale Communion is the eleventh studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. The album was released on 26 August 2014 through Roadrunner Records. The album was produced by Mikael Åkerfeldt and mixed by Steven Wilson. Pale Communion is the first album with keyboardist Joakim Svalberg after the departure of Per Wiberg in 2011. The album sold 19,090 copies in its first week of release in the United States, debuting at number 19 on the Billboard 200.
Grand Morbid Funeral is the fourth studio album by Swedish death metal band Bloodbath. It was released by Peaceville Records on 17 November 2014.
Sorceress is the twelfth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. The album was released on 30 September 2016 via record label Nuclear Blast and the band's own imprint Moderbolaget.
In Cauda Venenum is the thirteenth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth, released on 27 September 2019 through Moderbolaget and Nuclear Blast. It was released in two versions: a Swedish-language version and an English-language version. The band toured in support of the album throughout 2019 and into 2020. At 67 minutes and 57 seconds, it is the band's longest studio album. It is also the band's last album to feature drummer Martin Axenrot before his departure in 2021.