I’ve seen Opeth before, twice, in fact, but nothing prepared me for how vital they’d feel on a drizzly October night in Vienna. Maybe it was the setting: Arena Wien’s open-air stage, framed by smoke, spotlights, and the looming threat of a storm that never quite came. Or maybe it was just that they sounded… weightless. Like a dream you couldn’t wake from, even if you wanted to.
This wasn’t a greatest hits parade. The set leaned heavy on The Last Will and Testament, a slow-burn of an album that trades metal tropes for meditative fire. But when those fire bursts did come, when the riffs finally uncoiled and Mikael Åkerfeldt’s growl split the sky, they hit like lightning.
Loud Introspection
Mikael Åkerfeldt, bathed in amber light, lets loose a howl that feels more conjured than sung, somewhere between prayer and possession. His fingers dance effortlessly across the fretboard, every note a thread in Opeth’s grand, melancholic tapestry.
Twin Flames of Tone
Fredrik Åkesson and Mikael Åkerfeldt lock into a perfectly dialed-in harmony, their guitars weaving through fog like twin serpents. A quiet intensity hangs between them: years of craft channeled into a single, seamless moment.
The Witchfinder Composer
Lit like a spectral gunslinger, Mikael Åkerfeldt casts his gaze toward some invisible portent, fingers still conjuring melodies from his white guitar. The hat, the pendant, the posture, it’s all part of the ritual, a fusion of vintage mystique and Scandinavian prog alchemy.
Pulse of the Night
Bathed in spectral blue and framed by swirling drum sigils, Opeth’s rhythm section locks into a hypnotic groove. Martín Méndez’s bass cuts through the mist like a heartbeat, while behind him, drummer Waltteri Väyrynen shapes the storm, all precision and poise in the shadows.
Preacher of the Prog
Mikael Åkerfeldt stands beneath a pillar of light, hat tipped just so, crooning into the void like some spectral cowboy on a spiritual detour through 1970s Canterbury. His pale guitar glows under the stage lights, equal parts relic and weapon.
The Silent Conductor
Fredrik Åkesson raises his hand mid-set like a gothic maestro summoning spirits from ornate wallpapered halls. His expression is all focus and fury; proof that sometimes the most commanding stage presence needs no words, only riffs.
The Forest of Tones
Beneath a forest of digital trees, Joakim Svalberg works his spell from behind a fortress of vintage keys. His Mellotron hums with ghostly warmth, anchoring Opeth’s sound in the past while pushing it skyward.
The Calm and the Storm
Bathed in crimson and smoke, drummer Waltteri Väyrynen holds the storm steady. His precise rhythms serve as the heartbeat of Opeth’s sonic journey, delicate one moment, destructive the next.
Words Like Wounds
A close-up of Mikael Åkerfeldt mid-verse, where each word feels chiseled from obsidian. Lit by the glow of stage fire, this is Opeth at its most vulnerable and powerful.
Lit by Rain and Reverence
Caught in a brief shower under cathedral-like lights, Åkerfeldt steps forward like a preacher of gloom. Every note shimmers in the air, illuminated by rain and reverence.
Symphony in the Smoke
From the back of the Arena crowd, the full majesty of Opeth’s set comes into view. Framed by glowing trees and enveloped in cool blue haze, this was less a concert and more a gothic dream made manifest.
