“Mikael Åkerfeldt’s growls sound suitably deep… he hasn’t lost any power. And there’s much more than menace to his performance”: Opeth’s The Last Will And Testament

Opeth – The Last Will And Testamen.

It’s been a long wait for new Opeth music. In the five-year interim between releases, the band have switched record labels, leaving Nuclear Blast for Reigning Phoenix Music, and there’s a fresh face on the drums as Waltteri Väyrynen replaces Martin Axenrot.

Yet despite the newness of these changes, musically, The Last Will And Testament feels somehow very old-school for the Swedes. Mikael Åkerfeldt and his bandmates have crafted a full-blown, unabashed concept album – a format they haven’t explored since Still Life way back in 1999.