New Opeth album "The Last Will and Testament" releasing October 11th 2024 (Atmos mix!)

[Thonolan]

What!!!?? Growls again?? I haven't even had the opportunity to listen to that first track yet but I didn's see that coming. I wouldn't say I needed them but I don't mind having them back either. I love death metal Opeth at least as much as prog rock Opeth, and extreme metal vocals have never been a turn off for me (I've listened to tons of death & black metal in my life, and still do), so I'm VERY curious now. I'll give it a listen in a few hours.

 

[LTW]

Very excited for this! Mikael sounds like he’s still got it in the growl department
And it seems every big metal release is getting Atmos mixes now.
Like the other mixes I’ve heard the whole band is kept in the L/R channels and the surrounds are used for ambience, keys and other vocals. I do kinda wish they would be a bit more adventurous and push the core band out into the surrounds too. Spread out the doubled guitars and drum room mics. Take a cue from SW.

 

[Thonolan]

The boxset is already sold out LOL, I'm so glad there's another option for the blu-ray because I'm done with buying big boxsets anyway, unless there's really no other option to get the multichannel mix of a given album.

 

[haikubass]

The boxset is already sold out LOL, I'm so glad there's another option for the blu-ray because I'm done with buying big boxsets anyway, unless there's really no other option to get the multichannel mix of a given album.

The boxset seems to be still available from jpc.de (ltd edition of 4,000):
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/poprock/detail/-/art/opeth-the-last-will-and-testament/hnum/11931692

 

[LTW]

Gotta love Mikael’s comments on AI music
https://blabbermouth.net/news/opeth...als-the-last-will-and-testament-album-details

 

[mandrix]

Man that shipping cost...!

 

[Thonolan]

Gotta love Mikael’s comments on AI music
https://blabbermouth.net/news/opeth...als-the-last-will-and-testament-album-details

From that article...

* Special guests on "The Last Will And Testament":

Ian Anderson (JETHRO TULL) - spoken word
Mirjam Åkerfeldt - spoken word

But... Ian is supposed to play flute too, isn't he? Looks like that according to the comments a few paragraphs below in the article, but it's only "spoken word" according to the credits

 

[Zephead2112]

BIG Opeth fan here and this took me completely by surprise last night! I've been thinking that things had been very quiet in terms of Opeth being in the studio (I assumed it was due to their seemingly relentless touring activities) so this came right out of the blue. I've always bought Opeth's big box sets over the years but I've put my sensible head on for this release and have decided that I don't need a pen & quill I'll be buying the CD & BD set for sure.

 

[Thonolan]

BIG Opeth fan here and this took me completely by surprise last night! I've been thinking that things had been very quiet in terms of Opeth being in the studio (I assumed it was due to their seemingly relentless touring activities) so this came right out of the blue. I've always bought Opeth's big box sets over the years but I've put my sensible head on for this release and have decided that I don't need a pen & quill I'll be buying the CD & BD set for sure.

Same here, I have their previous boxsets but I was glad to see there is a CD/BD option this time. I used to be a really big fan as well - they were probably my favourite active band for a decade (2005 to 2015), but I lost some interest with Sorceress, which was a real letdown for my taste (I'm always saying I'm going to sell the deluxe boxset because I never listen to that album, but a part of me feels bad about it ). I did like In Cauda Venenum though - didn't manage to make me feel like a real fanboy again, but there are a few damn good songs there.

 

[perzon57]

This I will get if the Atmos mix is not too bad. Got mail from my Norwegian vendor about it, $ 100, not to bad. One of my favorite bands that I've seen on the local Malakoff festival, Biffy Clyro(twice!) and Ghost has been here too.

 

[colsky]

From that article...



But... Ian is supposed to play flute too, isn't he? Looks like that according to the comments a few paragraphs below in the article, but it's only "spoken word" according to the credits

Just as long as Ian isn't singing on it!

£15.99 for the cd/bluray at Amazon UK:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DBSY5...th&qid=1722605760&sprefix=opeth,aps,98&sr=8-1

 

[bamamusicfan]

Yes, I'm aware when they stopped using the Cookie Monster vocals. That's when I got into them. I have enjoyed every album they have released since then. It's not my cup of tea and probably never will be.

Agree. Loved Dalmation and Pale Communion. Hopefully, these type vocals are few and far between on this release. If not ... I'll more than likely pass.

 

[timbre4]

Mikael has one of the very best rock voices ever; if I was going to listen to anyone sing in that style, it would him. The instrumentation in the preview single is very compelling to me, as the band usually is.

Tragically the surround on Opeth - Live At Red Rocks is frankly unlistenable. I had to go 5 channel stereo to enjoy the show.
[like U.K. bad = what were you thinking?]

 

[Mj33]

Mikael has one of the very best rock voices ever; if I was going to listen to anyone sing in that style, it would him. The instrumentation in the preview single is very compelling to me, as the band usually is.

Tragically the surround on Opeth - Live At Red Rocks is frankly unlistenable. I had to go 5 channel stereo to enjoy the show.
[like U.K. bad = what were you thinking?]

I agree that Mikael has got one of the greatest voices in rock, both the growl and his clean vox. Glad to see him utilizing them both on the new single. Man I'm glad that he's growling again. It just makes it feel like Opeth. I love every album they have ever released and have most of their releases in surround (not ICV; won't pay that price for one of their so-so albums in surround). One of my top three is "Watershed". The new album is giving me "Watershed" vibes big time. I do not agree, however, with your claim that "Garden of the Titans" is unlistenable. It sounds kick *** on my system and I don't even have a great system, but man oh man it sounds sick in 5.1, particularly "Ghost of Perdition" and "Cusp of Eternity > Heir Apparent".

 

[Mj33]

The pre-orders for the standalone blu-ray say "Digipak 2CD w/BluRay". However, the track lengths add up to just over 50 minutes. Why the 2 CDs then? I started to think it was just "2 discs" but both discs in the photo have the CD icon on them. Can anyone clarify? Is it really going to be 2 CDs and a blu-ray?

​

 

[stoopid]

The pre-orders for the standalone blu-ray say "Digipak 2CD w/BluRay". However, the track lengths add up to just over 50 minutes. Why the 2 CDs then? I started to think it was just "2 discs" but both discs in the photo have the CD icon on them. Can anyone clarify? Is it really going to be 2 CDs and a blu-ray?

​

Guessing instrumentals on the second disc.

But after reviewing the original listing / post on this thread, I'm thinking it's a typo on the website. Should be two discs total, (1) Compact Disc and (1) Bluray.

https://opeth.omerch.com/products/opeth-the-last-will-and-testament-cd-blu-ray-digipak

 

[Thonolan]

Woah! Finally found a moment to listen to the song. To me, hearing those growls again felt exactly like meeting an old friend I hadn't seen in years, to find out we had barely changed and we still got along as if time hadn't passed at all. Mikael sounds good! The song is weird, and I only listened to it once because I don't want to ruin the full album experience by burning some track, so I didn't really get the structure... but most important it left me wanting for more. Bring it on!

I'm mainly a prog(rock)head, but coming from an extreme metal background as a listener, I have zero issues with the death metal vocals. I've listened (and occasionally still do) to a lot of metal that is way more extreme than Opeth, so I'm fine with this.

 

[timbre4]

I agree that Mikael has got one of the greatest voices in rock, both the growl and his clean vox. Glad to see him utilizing them both on the new single. Man I'm glad that he's growling again. It just makes it feel like Opeth. I love every album they have ever released and have most of their releases in surround (not ICV; won't pay that price for one of their so-so albums in surround). One of my top three is "Watershed". The new album is giving me "Watershed" vibes big time. I do not agree, however, with your claim that "Garden of the Titans" is unlistenable. It sounds kick *** on my system and I don't even have a great system, but man oh man it sounds sick in 5.1, particularly "Ghost of Perdition" and "Cusp of Eternity > Heir Apparent".

Love the band, love the setlist, love the venue.

Maybe 'unlistenable' was too harsh but here's the deal. It's not a great surround mix out of the box; it's rather like a lot of concert discs with casual ho-hum surround mixing. To approach listenable I had to undo my typical settings (Audyssey calibrated) as follows: Cut the center 6dB, raise the surrounds 6dB to hear anything. Even then the action in the rears is minimal at best; mostly ambience, the occasional effect send and applause. So for me, I found I'd rather have the full stereo content in all speakers for this disc.

 

[bookofsaturdays]

The song is weird, and I only listened to it once because I don't want to ruin the full album experience by burning some track, so I didn't really get the structure... but most important it left me wanting for more. Bring it on!

At least on Spotify, the preview track says “Radio Edit”. Like what was done with the radio edit of Porcupine Tree’s Herd Culling, it feels like it was building to something but obviously it was cut short, so I’m hoping the full song will be better.

As it is, I still like the track and I agree with the comments above about this being a successor to the Watershed sound and I’m totally here for it. Already purchased tickets to the Toronto show on October 15th so I’m guessing we’ll hear some of the new tracks live!

 

[minimumtumbleweed]

At least on Spotify, the preview track says “Radio Edit”. Like what was done with the radio edit of Porcupine Tree’s Herd Culling, it feels like it was building to something but obviously it was cut short, so I’m hoping the full song will be better.

As it is, I still like the track and I agree with the comments above about this being a successor to the Watershed sound and I’m totally here for it. Already purchased tickets to the Toronto show on October 15th so I’m guessing we’ll hear some of the new tracks live!

Maybe. It doesn't say that in any other service. The length of the track also matches the official track listing. Just based on the interviews and the titles of the songs, I'm betting that all the songs are heavily interconnected, so the abrupt cut at the end is just the segue to the next track.