20 November 2025 – Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane – words by Lucas Bell – pictures by Marty Schmidt
When progressive metal is brought up, there are a few bands that immediately come to mind. But if you ask all within the scene, there is no band better at it, than Swedish legends, Opeth. A band that despite numerous line up changes in their 35 years careers, the band has remained one of the most consistent sounds within the genre (except for the Heritage era, which is hated on too much). I was lucky enough in 2017 to see them on their An Evening of Sorcery, Deliverance & Damnation three show event series at the Sydney Opera House, as my first taste of them live. And tonight, I got to experience my first Opeth album tour show, for their latest release, The Last Will and Testament.
Opening the show up first, were the home town boys in Caligula’s Horse. Drummer Josh Griffin walked out first, followed by guitarist Sam Valle, then bassist Dale Prinsse, then vocalist Jim Grey, as the crowd got louder with each member walking out. The boys had about 40 minutes of stage time, and made the most of the time, by only ripping through four songs. If you’re a C Horse fan, that doesn’t sound like much. But Jim didn’t do much talking, as most of the set was all music. Opening with ‘Dream the Dead’, the eight minute opener sounds like it blew the minds of people that before tonight, had no idea who Caligula’s Horse are.
Caligula’s Horse – Fortitude Music Hall – photos by Marty Schmidt
Jim briefly spoke, as he shouted out Opeth for having them again, and spoke about how great it is to be back home in Brisbane. They played the title track off 2015’s Bloom, which is celebrating 10 years this year. Bloom is such an awesome track live, and is one I always throw at people if they want to experience the band for the first time. They then ripped out the song The Ascent, from 2020’s Rise Radiant, which before this tour, had never been played on land before. Jim explained they’d only ever played this song “in the middle of the ocean”, so getting to experience this track for the first time was sick too. They closed out with Mute, the closing track from 2024’s Charcoal Grace, to close out an incredible four song set.
In the thirty minutes between Caligula’s Horse and Opeth, there was a vibe of folky music played over the speakers, and right on 9:10, the lights changed from the house lights into the stage lighting coming up, as a high tone hit the ears as the members of Opeth walked out. Very nonchalantly, Mikael Åkerfeldt walked out alongside his brothers, and belted through the opening three songs, ‘§1’, ‘Master’s Apprentice’, and ‘The Leper Affinity’. No talk, just pure progressive metal insanity. The crowd was loud for ‘§1’, but as soon as ‘Master’s Apprentice’ opened its first note, the crowd imploded. Something Opeth have been amazing at, late in their career, has been balancing their setlists. And with what’s to come, it’s so dope to see old and new material celebrated on level footing.
Opeth – Fortitude Music Hall – photos by Marty Schmidt
After trash talking the seating setup for the floor as a hilarious attempt to make Opeth seem “sophisticated”, ‘§7’ was up next as the crowd started moving off their seats and up to the front of the stage, foregoing the entire seating arrangement. Åkerfeldt then talked about how the next song, no one might want to hear, but they were getting it anyways, and started playing ‘The Devil’s Orchard’. Heritage is a crazy over-hated record from their discography, and I welcome all performances of any songs from it. Especially this one. Åkerfeldt then brought out “the green guitar” as ‘The Grand Conjuration’ kicked in, which made the crowd get even more intense than they had been to this point.
Opeth – Fortitude Music Hall – photos by Marty Schmidt
‘§3’ and ‘Demons of the Fall’ were up next, and I missed most of this due to some issues in the crowd, who were all forced back into their seats by this point, but I managed to make it back out for the set closer, ‘Ghost of Perdition’, as “the green guitar” returned for the final track. The band returned back to stage for the final song, ‘Deliverance’, as all hell broke loose. People were on their feet, in the aisles, at the stage, in the wings, throwing arms, feet, and windmills of long hair, as Brisbane came together to celebrate and honour two hours of one of the most iconic bands in progressive metal.
