Opeth is having one hell of a time lately. Not only did they release The Last Will & Testament – one of their best albums to date, according to pretty much everyone that heard it – but now they’ve won a Swedish Grammis for is! Opeth won in the Best Hard Rock & Metal category at the Swedish Grammis this year over some pretty great other artists. All the nominees were:
Amaranth – The Catalyst
Horndal – Head Hammer Man
Nestor – Teenage Rebel
Opeth – The Last Will and Testament
Skraeckoedlan – Vermillion Sky
The Last Will & Testament was written by Opeth frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt with lyrics conferred with Klara Rönnqvist Fors (The Heard, ex-Crucified Barbara). The Last Will & Testament was co-produced by Åkerfeldt and Stefan Boman (Ghost, The Hellacopters), engineered by Boman, Joe Jones (Killing Joke, Robert Plant), and Opeth; with Boman, Åkerfeldt, and the rest of Opeth mixing at Atlantis and Hammerthorpe Studios in Stockholm. The strings on The Last Will & Testament were arranged by Åkerfeldt and returning prog friend Dave Stewart (Egg, Khan) and conducted by Stewart at Angel Studios in London.
The Last Will & Testament also features Jethro Tull mainman Ian Anderson playing flute on “§4” and “§7”, and narrating “§1”, “§2”, “§4”, and “§7”. Joining Anderson, Europe’s Joey Tempest lends a backing vocal hand on “§2”, while Åkerfeldt’s youngest daughter, Mirjam Åkerfeldt, is the disembodied voice in “§1”.
Opeth’s coming tour dates are as follows.
4/9 Sao Paulo, Brazil Monsters of Rock
4/23 Santiago, Chile Masters of Rock
4/30 Bogotá, Colombia Monsters of Rock
5/4 Mexico City, Mexico Monsters Tour
6/4-7 Gdansk, Poland Mystic Festival
6/4-7 Sölvesborg, Sweden Sweden Rock Festival
6/13-15 Derby, United Kingdom Download Festival 2025
6/25 Athina, Greece Rockwave Nights
6/26 Thessaloniki, Greece Rockwave Festival 2025
6/27–29 Lisbon, Portugal Evil Live Festival 2025
7/6 Sarıyer, Turkey Headbangers’ Weekend 2025
7/17-19 Peurunka, Finland John Smith Rock Festival 2025
7/17-19 Málaga, Spain Sun And Thunder Festival 2025
7/30-8/2 Bergen, Norway Beyond The Gates 2025
8/6-9 Jaroměř, Czech Republic Brutal Assault 2025
8/15 Eindhoven, Netherlands Dynamo Metal Fest 2025
9/29 Hamburg, Germany Laeiszhalle
9/30 Esch-Sur-Alzette, Luxembourg Rockhall
10/1 Mannheim, Germany Congress Center Rosengarten
10/2 Zurich, Switzerland complex
10/4 Wien, Austria Vienna Metal Meeting 2025
10/6 Milan, Italy Alcatraz
10/7 Zagreb, Croatia Factory Culture
10/8 Budapest, Hungary Barba Negra
10/10 Sofia, Bulgaria Asics Arena
10/11 Bucharest, Romania Laminor Arena
10/14 Dresden, Germany old slaughterhouse
11/14 Auckland, New Zealand The Trusts Arena
11/17 Sydney, Australia Opera House
11/18 Sydney, Australia Opera House
11/20 Brisbane, Australia The Fortitude Music Hall
11/21 Melbourne, Australia Palais Theatre
11/22 Adelaide, Australia Hindley Street Music Hall
11/24 Perth, Australia Astor Theatre
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