Whilst it’s undoubtedly a matter for celebration that Opeth‘s Mikael Åkerfeldt has got his death metal voice back, the fact that we can now hear him growling in juxtaposition to Europe Titan Joey Tempest and Jethro Tull‘s Ian Anderson is one of those pieces of happenstance that simply makes a man glad to be alive. This fact alone would be enough to make the new Opeth album, Last Will & Testament, their best in aeons, but I’m happy to report that there are other reasons too, all of which go together to make… well, the best Opeth album in aeons!

The album absolutely fizzes with energy and verve, powered by a bravura performance from new drummer Waltteri Väyrynen, whose hand in glove performance with bassist Martín Méndez, especially and improbably on some of the jazzier passages, is an absolute revelation. On standout track §4, where Anderson’s iconic flute flits like a butterfly across the musical landscape as the band lock in to what can only be described as an orgy of virtuoso showing off, everything makes sense in a way you’d have thought impossible before sitting down with the record.

Authoritative is a word that repeatedly floats in to the brain as the music unfolds. That’s not a very metal word, I agree, but nonetheless it’s the best one to use to describe the performances of everybody involved with this astonishing record. The ridiculously broken rhythms on §5 haven’t been attempted since King Crimson were in their creative pomp, and when Åkerfeldt sends things over the edge with some nice growling just as the guitars of he and redoubtable six string partner Fredrik Åkesson are about to slip into a lithe, lissom Arabesque, well… it’s like being in the presence of otherworldly genius. Authoritative otherworldly genius.

There’s a story attached to the whole thing, something about a family squabble over, you guessed it, a Will, but quite frankly I was too busy repeatedly picking my jaw up off of the carpet to pay much attention, even though Ian Anderson narrates with all the hammy gravitas you’d expect. Opeth reviews are always impossible to write because the band are operating at so many levels above whatever else is going on that they render mere words pointless. They’ve done that again on LW&T, but, into the bargain they’ve also created one of the most hands-down enjoyable and, more importantly, spectacularly listenable records I’ve had the pleasure of stumbling across in a long, long while. This is Opeth at their very, very best.

The Last Will & Testament releases on November 22nd.