Swedish prog stalwarts Opeth christened the Youtube Theater in Inglewood on their much anticipated return to North American soil for their fall headlining dates. The penultimate date precedes the band's Halloween spectacular set for San Francisco this evening.
Setting the table for what will no doubt be a productive year for Opeth, the tour showcases selections from their celebrated thirteenth studio album, In Cauda Venenum as part of a career-spanning set that will rope in essential cuts from the band's vast catalog of progressive masterworks.
More importantly, the tour served as the first opportunity to present selections from their pending 14th studio effort, The Last Will & Testament. Due out later this month, the effort is among the most ambitious creative efforts to date framed as a narrative-driven, Post World War i concept album.
Constructing a layered story of a wealthy, conservative patriarch the actual last will and testament in the story build by Opeth also comes with deep-seeded family secrets that unfold with each entry of the album.
Presenting the contemporary grandeur of new selections like "§1" and "§3" as part of their comprehensive set, Opeth took it back as far as 1998, including "Demon of the Fall" from their lauded 1998 full length, My Arms, Your Hearse LP.
Closing pair of definitive submissions - both title tracks - Opeth unloaded a gargantuan finale in "Sorceress" and "Deliverance". The songs underscored the band's unmatched prowess and asserted a unique sense of elegance not often linked with heavy music.
Coupled with an emphatic showing from supporting act Tribulation, Opeth's fall tour gave credence to the notion that some 35 years in, Opeth remains as relevant and far-reaching as they have ever been.
Check the gallery of images from rock photographer Maurice Nunez below.
The Last Will & Testament arrives November 22nd via Reigning Phoenix Music. Order the album - HERE
OPETH
TRIBULATION
