The Last Will And Testament

Description

”The Last Will and Testament” is a concept record of sorts. A restless musical journey in a way mirroring my own relationship with music as a consumer of it," narrates band leader Mikael kerfeldt. "I pick up something here, dismiss something there. I worship and I hate music at the same time. This ambivalence leads me down some type of creative path of my own and then, all of a sudden, a collection of songs has been written. Best case scenario, these songs are good enough to impress the band. Good enough for the ”powers that be” in terms of the industry. Good enough for ”you”?! I love this record. I have to say it (write it). Maybe I’m proud even? There are some familiar ingredients in there I suppose. Most of our music has sprung from the same source, so I guess it’s not much of a shocker if it’s going to sound like ”us”. I’m a bit in awe of what we did with ”The Last Will and Testament”. It feels like a dream. There is some ”coherence" and ” songwriting skills” I hope, but what do I know? I tend to favour the ”strange” over the ”obvious”, but I feel like I’m in the minority, and that’s fine. Sofair warning! Don’t expect an instant rush (as per usual), but if you do ”get it” (have you got it yet?) right away, that’s ok too!". Review: Musikrichtung? "Ja" !!! - "TLWAT" eignet sich für echte Deathmetalfans in etwa so sehr , wie ein Porsche GT3rs für eine 4-köpfige Familie. Dennoch ist es für mich nicht verständlich, wie dieses Album teilweise derart schlechte Bewertungen bekommen kann. Dass Opeth in den letzten Veröffentlichungen kaum noch genretreu unterwegs waren, sollte sich rumgesprochen haben. Auch der extrem verspielte Stil , der selbst die Grenzen bekannter Progressive Rock Bands sprengt, ist ja nicht zum ersten Mal auf diesem Album aufgetaucht. Es kann also keiner behaupten, dass er nicht gewarnt worden wäre. . . . Dann derart enttäuscht zu sein, dass man hier nur einen Stern verpasst, ist wiederum so passend, als würde man sich in nem Michael Bay Film über fehlenden Realismus und platte Charaktere beschweren. Nun zum Album selbst: Wir haben es hier mit hartem Tobak zu tun. Nicht etwa, weil Growls wieder vermehrt Einzug ehalten haben. Die Musik ist kaum wirklich als METAL zu definieren. Würde man die Growls weglassen, würde ich die Richtung als düsteren, teils härteren Progressive Rock mit Folk-Elementen beschreiben. Dass das Ganze weniger auf Headbangen als auf andächtiges Lauschen hin ausgelegt ist, beweist auch die Abmischung der Instrumente. Weniger druckvoll als roh, angestaubt und irgendwie altbacken, kommt der Sound daher. Dabei mangelt es keineswegs an Transparenz und einer gewissen Knackigkeit. Es gibt immer wieder schöne proggy Bass-Drums Momente, die nur so von Lebhaftiggkeit strotzen. Die Gitarren braten teils ordentlich, aber nie auf eine Weise, die eine moderne Härte für sich beanspruchen würde. Schon beim Mix des Schlagzeuges fällt sofort auf, dass die Bassdrum eher wie in den 70ern abgemischt wurde. Zudem benutzt der Drummer Jazz-taugliche Becken und spielt lieber komplex-luftig, als dampfhammerkompatibel. Auf Blastbeats wird sowieso verzichtet. Die Songs an sich sind selten linear, bieten kaum Refrains, die Ohrwurmpotential hätten und ergeben ein Gesamtkunstwerk. Im Opener fällt das Keyboard noch etwas prägnant auf und die Gesangslinien sind teils gut wiedererkennbar. Das war es aber auch schon mit Anbiederei. Hier hören wir einen komplexen, super atmosphärischen Klumpen Musik, der erstmal verdaut werden will. Das Ganze ist aber so authentisch und von solch faszinierender Kreativität und Atmosphäre geprägt, dass man der schönen Düsternis immer wieder und wieder lauschen möchte. Es gibt hier mehr zu entdecken, als andere Bands an Vielfalt während ihres gesamten Bestehens offenbaren. Wer hier enttäuscht ist, der muss sich enrsthaft fragen, ob ein Blick über den Tellerrand nicht vielleicht mehr Befriedigung bringen kann, als Erwartungen erfüllt zu bekommen, nur um später wieder den Kritikpunkt der Stagnation anbringen zu wollen. Review: It's definitely worth the wait... - Sometime in 2022 someone posted a clip of Mikael doing death growls on "The Devil's Orchard" on Reddit. I remember thinking that it could be that he was showing his hand, or at least teasing what he was thinking the next album might have in store for us. The transition to full on prog with all clean vocals never bothered me the way it did a lot of pther older fans. I thought Damnation was both a brave move, and a d---- fine album. I also didn't understand why the proggy awesomeness shocked so many people. I mean c'mon... The previous album was called "Watershed." It was about as subtle as someone calling you and saying they'll be there in two hours to beat the h--- out of you, and opening the door with your guard down. There's also the fact that it had more clean vocals than any another album except Damnation. It also had very interesting songs that often went a different way than you expected them too. Mikael seemed to be reinvigorated. After seeing and hearing Mikael throw in a few growls on "The Devil's Orchard"and look like he was enjoying doing so. Again the direction change for this record didn't exactly catch me off guard. I wasn't sure about the songs though. They definitely sounded like Opeth songs, but different at the same time. For some reason that I could never quite put my finger on, it took a while for their previous album (In Cauda Venenum) to grow on me. "On no" I thought, "here we go again." Every album befor that had made me want to punch the wall and yell "h--- yeah!" I don't want to have to warm up to an album by one of my favorite bands. I want it to be great, and seem even greater every time I play it. Well.... The Last Will and Testament did have to grow on me, the good news is that by the time the last truck ended on my second listen to the album. It started to g for me and I wanted to punch the wall and yell "h--- yeah !!! And those first two singles are completely transformed when placed in the context of the other 6 tracks. Comparing this album to a previous Opeth album is a waste of time. I listen to a pretty wide spectrum of genres and subgenres of music, and I can't think of anything other than an Opeth album that sounds like this one. It would probably be more accurate to say every Opeth album.The weirder parts of In Cauda Venenum come to mind. Maybe a tiny bit of Heritage, a smattering on the dynamics of Sorceress, and occasionally the smoothness of Pale Communion. Blend all of those, and throw in some of the best clean and guttural vocals Mikael has ever done and you kind of have the idea. There is also a complexity at work here, unparalleled by Opeth and almost anyone you can think of. Complex, but not with the tedium of anything I would describe as technical. It takes a few listens, but when the music begins to unveil itself it is (dare I say it? Oh why the h---- not !!!) magnificent to the point of being breathtaking. It's everything I love about music, and especially the music of Opeth. It's never a death metal album, and almost never a full on prog album. You have to experience it to ever have a hope of understanding it. Words on a page ain't going to do it. I will offer a word of caution though. Don't expect Blackwater Park II or Heritage Revisited. I love bothof those albums, but only the essence of those albums are occasionally felt here. It's not a "back to their roots" or "sudden change in direction". The music on this album is something that has never existed before now. Opeth has became almost a genre of their own. Get it. You won't regret it. Edit: Almost a year later I have to say that this album is truly progressive death metal. I love almost every note this band has ever released, but they all sound like the warm up for this album. It is still as breathtaking as it was the day it was released.