OPETH is set to release their 14th studio album, The Last Will And Testament, on October 11 through Reigning Phoenix Music/Moderbolaget. After receiving critical praise for the album’s first single, “§1” (Paragraph One), the band is now unveiling the second track from the record, “§3” (Paragraph Three), which you can listen to below.
Band’s frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt comments: “So put yourself in my position for a minute: Your band has this new album. You like it. In fact, you love it! It’s got this elaborate concept running through all eight songs on there. You’ve written it over the timespan of, say, six months, effective time. You’ve invested a lot of passion into putting it together. You’ve recorded it together with your friends/colleagues. You’ve had a good time in the process. Now, said album is on the verge of being released and you’re expected to talk about it. Prepare your audience for its coming. Talk it up! You do want people to hear it, right? You love the album so it should be easy, right? At this point, all you have to do is put together a few words for the new ‘single.’ But you’re confused with the use of the term ‘single,’ as you connect it to the olden days where ‘singles’ often had the word ‘hit’ next to it. And you know that won’t happen! Still you want people to hear it. Your loving ‘fans’ might think it’s awesome. But you don’t want to come across as a salesman. On top of that you’re not a complete self-absorbed asshole who thinks you’ve got the Midas touch (well….). Also you have a bad case of that inborn Swedish modesty, sprinkled with some impostor syndrome. What do you say? ‘§3’ is out now!'”
Mikael previously said about The Last Will And Testament: “I have become quite interested in family, and the idea that blood is not always thicker than water. I became interested in how family members can turn on each other. I saw an interview with this guy whose family had all turned against him, over the inheritance, so I wrote a song about that on the last record. The idea stuck with me, and then along came the TV show ‘Succession’, and I loved that series. That was in the back of my head too. It felt like an interesting topic that you could twist and turn a little bit.”
Regarding the inspiration for the music on The Last Will And Testament, Mikael said: “‘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. 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 favor the strange over the obvious, but I feel like I’m in the minority, and that’s fine. So…fair 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 okay too!”
