“Progressive doesn’t mean intricate, it means pushing the boundaries”: Opeth on The Last Will And Testament
Three decades and 13 albums into their discography, there is no doubt that Opeth have always had an exact vision for their sound, and never held back when it comes to attaining it. From their blistering introduction in 1995’s Orchid through to the theatrical 2019 album In Cauda Venenum, fans have come to find a sense of stability in Swedish metal icons’ unpredictability. Now, with their 14th record The Last Will And Testament, the band are looking to reinvent themselves once more.
READ MORE: Heriot on doing heavy their own way: “This is a fresh take on the genre that we all love”
“I felt like I was done with what we captured in the last four records and knew that I wanted to do something else, but I was questioning what that should be,” says frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt, sitting in a Soho hotel alongside lead guitarist Fredrik Åkesson on a recent trip to London. “We’ve never done surveys questioning, ‘What would the fans like?’ and I never go back and listen to what we’ve done in the past. It’s always been about what feels good to us at the time.”
The result? A haunting post-WWI concept album that explores themes of betrayal, heritage and identity, and a sound that sees them both return to their metal roots, while simultaneously reaching new territory.
Upon the release of lead single §1 – the first paragraph of the story – the return of the vocalist’s signature growls that immediately won fans’ approval, marking the first time they’ve been featured since 2008’s Watershed. Yet, as the two talk to us, it becomes clear that there is a love/hate relationship that comes with reintroducing the heavier aspects.
“I have not been completely unaffected by fans who once loved the band saying we suck, I can’t sing anymore and that I’m too old to scream. Part of me was like ‘Fuck you, I can still do it!’ But it did have to come naturally,” Åkerfeldt explains. “Up until now it just didn’t fit with the music that we were writing, and I did fall out of love with the more extreme forms of heavy music.
“At the end of the day, we’ve been a band for a long time and we’re not going to let people’s opinions dictate what we do. That’s never going to happen,” he asserts, before laughing to himself. “But I was very glad to see they liked it!”
Opeth’s Fredrik Åkesson (left) and Mikael Åkerfeldt (right). Image: Press
Bloody Roots
Yes, there may be nods to the band’s roots on The Last Will And Testament, but this is far from an album that relies on nostalgia. Through the sharp right turns in its narrative – inspired in part by HBO series Succession – its unconventional song structures, and contributions from Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson and Europe’s Joey Tempest, this is Opeth’s most progressive album to date, just not in the sense you’d expect.
“To me, progressive doesn’t mean intricate, it means pushing the boundaries. Yes there is prog metal where skilled musicians can play all wiggly-wiggly, and that’s cool, but I just wanted to mix genres here. That was the main thing for me,” the frontman says, gesturing over to Åkesson. “It just so happens that all of the guys on it happen to be fucking awesome players too.”
The unconventional approach was extended into the recording process too. For Åkesson – who joined the band around the Watershed era – this album marked a new way of working. Instead of being present each step of the way, he was only shown part of the tracks and given the task of conveying the feeling that Åkerfeldt had envisioned.
“I only got sent the snippet where I had to play the solo, I didn’t get to hear the rest of the song at first – barring the closing track [A Story Never Told]. For that one, it was more emotional so I wanted to do something that balanced between Ritchie Blackmore and David Gilmour,” he explains. “It was challenging to come up with solos on top of Mikael’s parts, especially on §5, because you had to be switching between modes. But I’m always looking to get better and it did feel like I was reaching a new era in my playing by doing it that way.”
“It’s funny too,” he adds, “because I previously helped our bassist Martin Méndez on his first solo album White Stones and he did the same thing — just sent me snippets… Honestly. Wankers!”
Mikael Åkerfeldt. Image: Press
Single Focus
If Åkesson’s skill as a lead guitarist wasn’t already put to the test there, the two joke that the stakes were heightened once more when the frontman decided that he wanted it to be “a single-coil record”.
“It basically started from the first writing session. I started the whole thing in my studio’s basement and I can barely even stand up in there, so it was a case of ‘Whichever guitar is closest is the one that I’m using’. In this case, it was a Fender Telecaster, Bruce Springsteen-type ugly thing,” Åkerfeldt says with a lighthearted disgust in his voice.
“At first I was like ‘Ugh, I’m going to use this guitar?’ But I started playing and it was fucking awesome! I did all the demos on this Telecaster and ultimately, when I went to the studio, that was the only guitar I brought.”
“Fredrik was asking me: ‘Which guitars are you going to bring? How many PRS? Strats? Gibsons?’, but for me it was just this fucking middle-of-the-road Telecaster!” he laughs. “We started to narrow it down with Pale Communion [2014] because when we were working on Heritage [2011] we brought a silly amount of guitars. Plus after using this Tele, I knew I wanted it to be single-coil.
“It was partly because I had gotten so fed up with typical metal sounds, and partly because I wanted it to be more human. Anyway, it worked because I think the guitar on this record is fucking awesome, but it’s not extreme in any way.”
For Åkesson, an avid collector, however, it becomes clear that this single coil rule was one that he didn’t mind bending, as he begins to rattle off the extensive list of models he utilised for the record. “I had a Les Paul Junior from 1955 which I bought in Ireland way back. That has these very interesting, super aggressive P-90 pickups from 1955,” he says as Åkerfeldt jokingly shakes his head.
“Then I had an SG from 1972, but that was only on the essential heavy rhythms. There was also a PRS Custom 24 with a Floyd that I used for some leads and some dive bombs, and a PRS Tremonti single cut with the Seymour Duncan Frankenstein pickups like Eddie Van Halen’s. I really like those,” he adds, as the frontman jokingly mumbles “Humbuckers…”
“There were Strats in some of the leads too though,” Åkesson insists. “I brought a 70s Strat with the DiMarzio FS-1s, and that was the foundation of the heavy rhythm guitars, so Mikael had his Telecaster and I had that one. Then I had another Strat from 1973. Then apart from some acoustics, there wasn’t much more than that.”
Fredrik Åkesson. Image: Press
Telling Tales
After sharing some more of the gear they used throughout the recording – including a Friedman BE-100 amp for heavy leads, a 1972 Marshall Plexi for solos, a 1980 Boss OD-1 and a Brown Box attenuator with the power choked down – Åkerfeldt begins to recall how it was a sense of instinct that really made the LP come together.
“Usually I struggle to find something to say in the albums. I’m not going to talk about the tax rate or the US election, you know? So with this record, the lyrics and the story rubbed off on how the music was written and they came together almost simultaneously. That was interesting to me and to me and made it feel more complete than some of the work we’ve done in the past,” he shares.
“I will always treat the music with more respect than the lyrics, but in this case the words were a little more important than they were before. Basically, I just trust my instinct. I make decisions quickly and I move on quickly. There are equal amounts between what I throw away and what I keep because I know right away if I like something – even if it’s just two notes.”
Fredrik Åkesson. Image: Press
For some, The Last Will And Testament may be a divisive record. In one aspect, it sees the band pay homage to their grittier roots after an extensive hiatus, yet in another, it is one that pushes the envelope beyond what is expected – even by Opeth’s standards.
“In the end, I know this is a fucked up record, and to a lot of people it might not make sense. Some people may even hate it,” Åkerfeldt shrugs, recalling how he hopes fans will recognise the honesty in the record first and foremost. “In an ideal world everyone would get it, immediately remember all the parts and decide if they thought it was a great record or not.”
“I hope they like it, of course, but ultimately these songs are all created from my own restlessness and from me wanting to surprise myself to an extent,” he concludes. “To me, that’s what makes it interesting, and that will be what makes it stand out in our discography.”
The Last Will And Testament is out on November 22 via Moderbolaget / Reigning Phoenix Music.
The post “Progressive doesn’t mean intricate, it means pushing the boundaries”: Opeth on The Last Will And Testament appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
