In a new interview with Australia’s “Everblack” podcast, OPETH guitarist Fredrik Åkesson spoke about the chemistry within the band since the September 2022 addition of drummer Waltteri Väyrynen (PARADISE LOST, BLOODBATH, BODOM AFTER MIDNIGHT). Väyrynen replaced stand-in drummer Sami Karppinen who had been the temporary replacement for Martin “Axe” Axenrot since the fall of 2021. Fredrik said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I feel, just getting off this three-week tour a month ago, I feel as a unit, we’re stronger than ever. We’re tighter. We’ve reached some kind of level where we have more energy live. And also behind the stage, the atmosphere and chemistry is really good now, which is so important for us to continue with this.”He continued: “We’ve always been great friends, but I think the chemistry now on these past tours has been… I can’t remember when the chemistry was this good. Also with the crew. Everything matters. You live so tight, and the tour manager you have, it’s so important that he looks after everyone. I don’t like injustices when there’s some kind of hierarchy with the people getting looked down on, because they’re not in the band, to a certain extent, and we have nothing of that. Everybody is a part of the team. It’s important to have that chemistry.”OPETH’s latest album, “The Last Will And Testament”, came out in November via Reigning Phoenix Music/Moderbolaget. The LP was written by OPETH guitarist/vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt, with lyrics conferred with Klara Rönnqvist Fors (THE HEARD, ex-CRUCIFIED BARBARA). “The Last Will And Testament” was co-produced by Åkerfeldt and Stefan Boman (GHOST, THE HELLACOPTERS),engineered by Boman, Joe Jones (KILLING JOKE, ROBERT PLANT) and OPETH, with Boman, Åkerfeldt and the rest of OPETH mixing at Atlantis and Hammerthorpe Studios in Stockholm. The strings on “The Last Will And Testament” were arranged by Åkerfeldt and returning prog friend Dave Stewart (EGG, KHAN) and conducted by Stewart at Angel Studios in London. Visual artist Travis Smith returned to the fold, crafting his 11th cover, a haunting “photograph” reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick’s infamous “Overlook Hotel” photograph. Miles Showell (ABBA, QUEEN) also revisited mastering and vinyl lacquer cutting at Abbey Road Studios in London.Åkerfeldt rolled out the red carpet for storied flautist and JETHRO TULL mainman Ian Anderson. Not only do Anderson’s signature notes fly on “§4” and “§7”, he narrates on “§1”, “§2”, “§4”, and “§7”. Joining Anderson, EUROPE’s Joey Tempest lends a backing vocal hand on “§2”, while Åkerfeldt’s youngest daughter, Mirjam Åkerfeldt, is the disembodied voice in “§1″.”The Last Will And Testament” is a concept album set in the post-World War I era, unfolding the story of a wealthy, conservative patriarch whose last will and testament reveals shocking family secrets. The narrative weaves through the patriarch’s confessions, the reactions of his twin children, and the mysterious presence of a polio-ridden girl who the family have taken care of. The album begins with the reading of the father’s will in his mansion. Among those in attendance is a young girl, who, despite being an orphan and polio-ridden, has been raised by the family. Her presence at the will reading raises suspicions and questions among the twins.”The Last Will And Testament” is the darkest and heaviest record OPETH has made in decades, and it is also the band’s most fearlessly progressive. A concept album recounting the reading of one recently deceased man’s will to an audience of his surviving family members, it brims with haunting melodrama, shocking revelations and some of the wildest and most unpredictable music that Åkerfeldt has ever written.The follow-up to 2019’s widely acclaimed “In Cauda Venenum”, “The Last Will And Testament” is set in the shadowy, sepia-stained 1920s. It slowly reveals its secrets like some classic thriller from the distant, cobwebbed past, with each successive song shining more light on the stated machinations of our dead (but definitely not harmless) protagonist. The emotional chaos of the story is perfectly matched by OPETH’s vivid but claustrophobic soundtrack, which artfully winds its way towards a crestfallen but sumptuous finale.[embedded content]