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OPETH The Last Will & Testament
( Reigning Phoenix )
The first thing one notices while spinning Swedish progressive death metal band Opeth ’ s new album , The Last Will & Testament is the return of the band ’ s notorious growled vocals that leader / guitarist / vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt consciously abandoned after 2008 ’ s Watershed album . The Last Will & Testament is a concept album set in the post-World War I era ( 1920s ) that unfolds a dynamic story of a wealthy , conservative patriarch whose last will reveals shocking family secrets . Told
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through seven “ paragraphs ” representing song titles and an album-closing ballad , The Last Will & Testament captures the band ’ s early death metal roots with the more modern progressive metal elements of their past four releases . All eight tracks are connected lyrically , while musically , the cinematic progressions are reminiscent of listening to a narrative film score with images that fit the music . The multi-layered compositions include ghostly backing vocals , swirling orchestral elements , spoken word segments , ominous keyboard accents , and precision musicianship throughout the entire 50-plus minute album . New drummer Waltteri Väyrynen ( Abhorrence , ex-Bodom After Midnight , ex-Paradise Lost ) is a great addition and proves to reinvigorate the band as a whole . At the same time , guitarist Fredrik Åkesson ’ s leads are phenomenal ( see track “§ 5 ” for further proof ). Jethro Tull ’ s distinguished vocalist / flutist Ian Anderson lends his unique and prestigious speaking voice on tracks “§ 1 ,” “§ 2 ,” “§ 4 ,” and “§ 7 ,” while also performing the flute on tracks “§ 4 ” and “§ 7 ”. Elsewhere , Europe vocalist Joey Tempest performs a chilling call and response with Anderson on “§ 2 .” With the return of the growled vocals and sporting a new drummer , The Last Will & Testament is an adventurous new chapter in Opeth ’ s 35-year musical history .
- Kelley Simms
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ALISON MOYET continued from page 23
lithography , which , when you ’ re doing photolithography , involves software ? And with music , I ’ d always been really leery of technology , and I couldn ’ t sit long enough with it — I would get bored and distracted . So I always needed somebody for those kinds of technical aspects . But when you ’ re doing that at university , that ’ s a part of your course , so then I was forced to use certain software , and doing that took away the mystery of the language that happens with computer work . So interestingly , then I came out of university and got straight into working with Logic , which I ’ d avoided the whole of my career . So , in that sense , Yeah — I graduated at 60 and started using Logic at 60 .
IE : Have you found yourself cutting material ������������������������������������������ AM : Listen — I did that years ago . When I moved to Brighton , where I live now , I had the big house , the dream that you have when you ’ re a working-class kid , this kind of big house . But actually , with the environment that we lived in , we didn ’ t make friends , we were isolated , and we thought , “ Fuck it ! We ’ re gonna sell up , and we ’ re gonna go and live on a regular street , in a town , we ’ re gonna downsize , and we ’ re gonna be a part of the community . And I trashed just about everything I had . I trashed all my gold discs , I trashed all of my memorabilia , I got rid of everything — I just got rid of most of my belongings . And I
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suppose it ’ s another thing , but I look at my parents and the things that they kept so care fully , that they looked after and you weren ’ allowed to touch . And then there you were a this point in your life where you were having to pick and choose between things in their life and there was this awful feeling when you know how carefully they ’ d kept a pan . And you then got to choose what went in the bin and what got saved , and there was a part o me that thought , “ I don ’ t want to put that on �������������������������������������������� because their futures shouldn ’ t be about some mausoleum mother — it ’ s about them , and it ’ s about their children . And yeah , it ’ s nice ������������������������������������������������� have to forever be scented in your family ’ s life ? It just feels like a load too much to pu �������������������������������������������� rid of everything , you don ’ t have to carry my luggage . So that felt like a kind thing to do .
IE : Are you a collector of anything at this point ? AM : No . No . It ’ s like my husband says of me that I ’ m the least materialistic person that he knows . So I have a few things . I ’ ve got pictures that my kids made when they were at school and like I say , I ’ ve got my mom ’ s laundry bas ket . I have little things like that , but those lit tle things ? You ’ re just aware that when you ’ re not there anymore , no one else is gonna know ��������������������������������������������� alright . I think Legacy is overrated .
Appearing 5 / 7 at The Vic Theatre , Chicago .
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