#329 Opeth THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT Album Review

“I don’t think I’m smart enough to listen to this…”

As with the many legendary concept albums that have come before, masterpieces such as King Diamond’s Abigail, Queensryche’s Operation: Mindcrime, and Dream Theater’s Scenes From A Memory, THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT, the latest offering from OPETH, is one of the finest examples of storytelling ever captured in audio form and is their first proper “concept album” to date.

“They cram so much into such a small space…”

Chronicling the reading of the will of a wealthy patriarch (and featuring Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull as the patriarch in question), THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT perfectly represents the culmination of the various components that have established OPETH as a progressive metal force to be reckoned with for more than 30 years.

“I realize this is not y’all’s favorite flavor of the month…”

With a seamless blending of their early progressive and melodic death metal period through their more eclectic, 70’s prog rock infused progressive metal period of the 2010’s, OPETH is akin to a “haunted house version of Dream Theater”, loaded with a wide variety of sonic textures, top tier instrumental prowess, and vivid lyrical imagery, all of which are covered in a thin drapery of darkness.

“Have they ever done anything ‘hooky’?”

JOIN US as we take on what is arguably one of the finest progressive metal concept albums in existence (and most certainly a top contender for “Album Of The Year”) and quite possibly the greatest OPETH album of all time, THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT.

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Show Notes:

(00:01): “I would like to take this moment to say…AND…” / #GeorgiaBulldogs / “Dangole sports ball dawgs…” / #Natty / “Speaking of Athens…my only thought was…R.E.M. must have written this song…”/ #WeBuiltThisCityASMR / “That’s when they dropped the Jefferson…”/ “As long as there’s a bend in the wrist, you’re fine…”/ #markthetime / ***WARNING: #listenerdiscretionisadvised *** / #waitforit #markthetime / “And I screamed like a little girl…not one footstep did I hear…”/ ***WELCOME BACK TO THE METAL NERDERY PODCAST!!!*** / #strangerinthetub #jackoffhand / “Like a chimpanzee?”

(06:06): PATREON US at www.patreon.com/metalnerderypodcast / “Who knows? Santa might bring a shirt…” / MERCH US at www.metalnerdery.com/merch / SOCIAL MEDIA US at #FaceBook #InstaGram #YouTube #TikTok at #metalnerderypodcast / EMAIL US at metalnerdery@gmail.com / VOICEMAIL US AT 980-666-8182!!! / CASTLE RAT –WIZARD (The Bestiary – 2025) / “It’s like Pat Benatar in a stoner band…she’s got swords dude!” / “That dude’s hard to look at…his mouth is weird…”/ #markthetime / “That’ll be the shittah not that other shittah…”

(12:50): #TheDocket METAL NERDERY PODCAST PRESENTS: OPETH – THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT / “It’s an oopsie that’s a fun oopsie…”/ #educationalpodcast / #Opeth #TheLastWillAndTestament / “It’s their very first concept album…” / “I like to think of them like haunted house #DreamTheater …”/ “The first album with the return of the death growl vocals (aka ‘screams’) in 13 years…”/ “I’ve got room now, dude…”/ Released November 22, 2024 / “This is cool because it’s new and it’s old at the same time…”/ Featuring Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull / “Subsection…not SS…in case you’re wondering…”

(17:00): §1 / “Is this good with relaxers?” / “Draped in death…the howl of lore…” / “Let’s do backroads…maybe some dirt roads…” / §2 / “Isn’t that a creepy, haunted sound?”/ “Until his return…” / #useyourheadphones / “It’s kinda not necessarily all over the place but it’s all over the place…”/ “It’s got a weird, haunted 70’s feel to it for the modern age…”/ “Every album is different but they’re all uniquely different…”/ #Oldpeth / “Have they ever done anything ‘hooky’?”

(26:47): §3 / “Reminds me of #Rush …”/ #onmicburp / “He’s looking for the big hit single…” / “He’s talking about…the hook…”/ §4 / “No! No! No!” / #harpsolo / “This is music nerd music…” / §5 / “He does that one vocal part that sounds like #Forbidden to me…”/ “It’s all head…”/ #markthetime / “Where’d that come from?”/ Death growls vs Screams / “I realize this is probably not y’all’s favorite flavor of the month…this is right up there with #Coroner for #AOTY …”/ “They cram so much into such a small space…” / “There’s tons of coke lines…”

(39:17): §6 / “He’s an octopus genius…” / #drumvirtuoso / “This is like #Rainbow on steroids…70’s prog…” / “It’s almost comical it’s so awesome…”/ “Is this one all in 7’s?” / #towardsthelater / §7 / “I like the flute, I do…I never thought I’d say that…”/ “They should get the guy who made #HeavyMetal (the movie) …animate this album…like a concept album movie…but with a lot of tits” / “It’s hereditary ropes, bruh…”/ A STORY NEVER TOLD / “This is the most consistent…”/ “Bless y’all for at least giving it a shot…”/ #urgent / #moodmusic / “I got into them when the #Damnation album came out (2003)…you might like that…it’s more like #PinkFloyd …”/ THANK YOU FOR JOINING US!!! / #untilthenext #outroreel