Rockhal, Esch sur Alzette, Luxembourg30th September 2025
Opeth - “The Last Will and Testament European Tour”
On Tuesday evening, OPETH made a stop at the Rockhal in Esch-sur-Alzette. In front of a relatively small audience, the Swedish band presented their latest album, ‘The Last Will and Testament’. But that wasn’t all - they also took the audience on a journey through three decades of the band’s history.
OPETH is a Swedish Metal band from Stockholm that was founded in 1990. Initially playing Death Metal, the group later incorporated more and more influences from Progressive Rock and Progressive Metal. The group has undergone several personnel changes since its early days, including replacing every original member. Since the departure of founder and lead vocalist David Isberg in 1992, lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt has been OPETH’s driving force. The band rarely performed live in support of their first four albums, but since their first world tour in support of the 2001 album ‘Blackwater Park’, they have performed several other major world tours.
Music & Performance
On Tuesday, OPETH stopped off at the Rockhal in Esch sur Alzette for the second date of their tour. Surprisingly, despite a moderate ticket price of 50 euros, the venue was far from sold out. This meant that the crowd remained manageable, which dampened the atmosphere somewhat. Musically, the evening was a mixed bag. While the Swedish prog metal institution delivered a professional and solid performance, the sound quality was lacking.
Singer and guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt could be heard clearly and distinctly - perhaps too clearly, as his vocals and guitar drowned out everything else. The bass, second guitar, keyboard and backing vocals were almost completely inaudible. The lighting and fog effects were good, but they couldn’t compensate for the poor sound balance. For a band that thrives on multi-layered arrangements, this was a major weakness.
The performance itself was solid, particularly considering that Åkerfeldt had mentioned at the start of the show that some of the band members were sick. OPETH played with confidence and routine, but the weak mix and subdued atmosphere meant the performance failed to ignite. However, the set list was a treat for fans: they kicked off with ‘§1’ from their latest album, ‘The Last Will and Testament’, before following up with classics such as ‘Master’s Apprentices’ and ‘The Leper Affinity’. ‚§7’ and ‘The Devil’s Orchard’ brought the band’s progressive side to the fore.
‘To Rid the Disease’ then provided one of the atmospheric highlights, opening with a charming snippet from ‘Shine on You Crazy Diamond’. ‘The Night and the Silent Water’ took us back to the 1990s, before ‘Heir Apparent’ and the powerful ‘Ghost of Perdition’ rounded off the main set. During the encore, the band surprised us with short excerpts from ‘A Fair Judgement’, ‘Blackwater Park’, ‚Bleak’, and ‚Credence’, leading directly into the finale, ‘Deliverance’, which brought the evening to a powerful close.
Overall, it was a mixed experience: a world-class band that performed with professionalism and enthusiasm despite health restrictions. However, the sound-mix and rather subdued atmosphere in the Rockhal prevented the evening from being a truly memorable concert. What a shame!
Setlist
01. §1
02. Master’s Apprentices
03. The Leper Affinity
04. §7
05. The Devil’s Orchard
06. To Rid the Disease (Preceded by snippets of Shine On You Crazy Diamond)
07. The Night and the Silent Water
08. §3
09. Heir Apparent
10. Ghost of Perditon
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11. Deliverance (Preceded by snippets of A Fair Judgement, Blackwater Park, Bleak, Creedence)
All Pictures by Elena Arens
