In a recent interview with Australia's Silver Tiger Media, Opeth guitarist Fredrik Åkesson shared his thoughts on the reception of the band's newest album, The Last Will and Testament. Released in November, the record has been met with enthusiasm from both fans and critics and ended up in a myriad of 2024 best-of lists, including our reader's poll and our selections for the top 25 records of 2024.
"Well, I've seen a lot of really great reviews of it. And, of course, that makes us really happy. And some good album charts as well, here in Sweden and Germany and some other countries," Åkesson said.
The album's delayed release didn't stop the band from previewing two track on their recent North American tour. Åkesson explained. "It's exciting times. We've been working on it for such a long time, and it's been such a huge part of our life, and digesting it and recording it and everything, it's kind of a relief to get it released. We were supposed to release it slightly earlier, so when we did the North American tour we did a month ago or something like that, at least we played two of the new tracks, Paragraph One and Paragraph Three, and we noticed at the time, because we started off the set with Paragraph One, both of those tracks were released in digital formats, so the audience was aware of them, and they worked out really well live."
"And that also gives you a good insight into what the album is gonna be like. And also they were extremely fun to play. It's fun to play new stuff. It's more action-packed in a way. So, yeah, it's all good. And we're happy about everybody likes it and we can't wait to get out there and play more songs from it, really."
When asked about the time invested in writing and recording the album, Åkesson detailed the year-long process. "Well, writing the album took about maybe a year totally, perhaps. I think the first track was done — we got the demo. Mike [Opeth guitarist/vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt] sent me a snippet from Paragraph Seven; that was the first track that was completed. And when I heard it in its entirety, with the vocals, with the growls coming back and everything, I was, ‘Wow, this is gonna be heavy, man. This is really cool.'"
The return of Åkerfeldt's growling vocals has generated considerable discussion among fans. Åkesson explained the reasoning behind it: "We knew about it because that element has been with us all the time because we play a lot of those tracks live. And I noticed that Mikael seemed to think it was fun again to do it, that he was commenting on his own ability in that element of his singing. Like, ‘Wow, that was really guttural this night,' and stuff like that. I could tell just the vibe of him that he was enjoying it again. And that's very important that if we bring the element back, it shouldn't be there as a gimmick. There has to be a reason for it. We knew, of course, there was gonna be a lot of talk about it, but also it suits these songs and it also suits the concept. So it's not just about, yeah, a gimmick thing. And it also makes sense after doing four albums without it. And it's always been a big part element of the band also. But I think it's in a different way."
The creative process began after the band's obligations for their 2019 album In Cauda Venenum were completed, with new drummer Waltteri Väyrynen fully integrated into the band. "So the writing started probably 2022, at the end of 2022, when we were done with all the touring that we were obliged for, that we signed up for In Cauda Venenum that we had to finish after the pandemic," Åkesson revealed.
"But that was a good thing also because we had got to do three tours with our new drummer Waltteri and see how he worked live and get him in the machinery and in the band and get the good vibe, which is so important, amongst each other. So I would say that that's when the writing started. The writing took about a year, but we were starting rehearsing. The first track that was done was 2023 in June, and that was Paragraph Seven. That's when Waltteri could start learning the drum parts. And then during that summer, a lot of the tracks were added on one after the other. And he had to practice for six months before he nailed all the drum parts because the drum arrangement on this album is really intricate. So he had to work his ass off, basically," he elaborated.
Recording took place at Rockfield Studios in Wales, a location steeped in music history. Åkesson reflected on the unique experience: "The recording process started last year at Rockfield Studios again, but this time around in a bigger facility called the Quadrangle where bands like Rush and Queen recorded, and also the last album with Heaven & Hell with Ronnie Dio, the Black Sabbath version of Ronnie Dio. I believe that was Dio's last recording ever. I stayed in the same apartment he stayed in because it's a residential studio. So that was a bit surreal."
"But anyhow, yeah, and then you had the mix after that. So we spent three weeks at this studio in Wales, Rockfield, which is basically you live on a farm in the countryside. So you have sheep and horses and geese. And, yeah, you walk to a close little smaller town called Monmouth, and it's really beautiful, like a fairytale kind of landscape. And you go to the local pub and have a beer and then walk all the way back. There's a lot of time you sit still in the studio, so you need to get out there. And you get fed. We had these two ladies who gave us food every night and they always gave us desserts, like apple pie, but they always put floating cream on top. So we had to exercise a little bit to get our arteries going a little bit," he added.
