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RARE PHOTOS: 3 | Rare Historical Photos

The 10 best prog metal albums of 2024

Leprous, Opeth, Slift and others have presented some truly forward-thinking excellence this year

Metal Hammer

“I only asked for the spoken-word part, then an email comes in – ‘Do you need some flute?’ I wasn’t going to say no!” How Opeth’s The Last Will And Testament wound up featuring Ian Anderson, Joey Tempest and growled vocals

Mikael Åkerfeldt insists his band’s new concept album, featuring Jethro Tull and Europe men, is no return to their death metal past – and won’t keep prog fans away

Louder

“Mikael Åkerfeldt’s growls sound suitably deep… he hasn’t lost any power. And there’s much more than menace to his performance”: Opeth’s The Last Will And Testament

Family drama, a pair of prog legends and even the bloke who sang The Final Countdown… Swedish prog metal kings have made a concept album like no other

Louder

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"A tremendous album, up there with their turn-of-the-millennium high-water marks": Opeth return to extremity on the inventive The Last Will And Testament

Succession meets Edgar Allan Poe on prog metal kingpins Opeth's fascinating fourteenth album

Louder

“I wouldn’t normally be caught dead with a Tele because I think they’re ugly, but that’s the only guitar I used”: Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt and Fredrik Åkesson on their love of “stupid riffs,” and “recapturing that old death metal magic”

Opeth may have returned in a way to their sonic roots on their new album, The Last Will And Testament, but – with appearances from a Neal Schon signature model and a “not very metal” trick picked up from Eddie Van Halen – there are still plenty of quirks to…

Guitar World

"This is Opeth’s best since the career-making heights of Blackwater Park and Ghost Reveries." The Last Will And Testament is Opeth at their most groundbreakingly brilliant

Opeth go Miss Marple via Edgar Allen Poe on the prog-death-jazz metal odyssey that is The Last Will And Testament

Metal Hammer

“What we are after is not perfection. You’re looking for the flaws… the noise… earth hum. You’re looking for the arm-tight playing… the human aspect”: Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt on inspirations, intuition, shred, and the problem with modern metal

A sprawling story of dark familial secrets, freewheeling prog and Åkerfeldt death growls, solos inspired by Peter Green and Ritchie Blackmore, Opeth bequeath everything a prog-metal fan could ever want on The Last Will And Testament

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"I’ve thought about writing a will, just to make sure my daughters don’t throw my records away." With guest appearances from Ian Anderson and Joey Tempest, plus the return of death metal, The Last Will And Testament is Opeth's biggest swing yet

Mikael Åkerfeldt spills the tea on Opeth's prog metal rock opera The Last Will And Testament

Metal Hammer

At war with their producer. At war with their label. At war with each other: The chaotic making of Van Halen's 1984 - only in the new issue of Classic Rock

Also in this issue: Alex Van Halen, the Rolling Stones, Opetrh, George Murray, Queen, Vion Hdertzen Brothers, Meat Loaf, Joan Armatrading, Michael Monroe, Rosalie Cunningham, The Sheepdogs, Koyo, The Darkness, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Starbenders and more

Louder

“No-one’s seen me with a Tele before. I wouldn’t normally be caught dead with one – I think they’re ugly”: Mikael Åkerfeldt explains why a Fender Telecaster was the only guitar he used on Opeth’s new album

Åkerfeldt had secretly used a Tele when he recorded the soundtrack to Netflix's 2022 miniseries Clark, but never wielded one with Opeth before recording The Last Will and Testament

Guitar World

Kate Bush graces the cover of the new issue of Prog, which is on sale now!

Plus Tony Banks, John Lees Barclay James Harvest, Opeth, Phil Manzanera, Frost*, Von Hertzen Brothers, Stuckfish, Haze and more

Louder

"I’m so glad I still live in a world where Ozzy walks the Earth." The greatest Ozzy Osbourne songs as picked by members of Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Halestorm and more

To celebrate Ozzy Osbourne's solo induction into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, we asked some of metal's biggest stars for the ultimate Ozzy playlist

Metal Hammer

“I used to do these very gloomy and dark paintings, and Opeth’s music really inspired my creativity”: Jinjer’s Tatiana Shmailyuk gets goosebumps even thinking about Damnation, and likes to fall asleep to Sorceress

The discovery of Mikael Åkerfeldt’s band when she was 16 led the Ukrainian artist into a big new world of prog – but she’s not sure about actually meeting him

Metal Hammer

“I watch it, love it, like pretty much everyone I talk to”: Opeth explain how hit TV series Succession inspired new album The Last Will And Testament

Mikael Åkerfeldt talks about the impact that one of the 2020s’ biggest TV shows had on Opeth’s new music

Metal Hammer

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“You could argue we were the quintessential cult band. But I was thinking, ‘We can be more than this’”: In Absentia sold poorly, influenced greatly, and marked the beginning of the end for Porcupine Tree

They delivered a defining moment in progressive metal with their 2002 album, but it wasn’t easy to do it – and once they had, Steven Wilson didn’t want to do it again

Louder

Opeth push back release of The Last Will & Testament to November 22

Opeth will tour Europe and the UK in February and March 2025

Metal Hammer

“Had we not made this record the way it sounded, I’m not certain there would have been another album”: How Opeth ditched the death growls and fully embraced prog on Heritage

In 2011, Opeth released Heritage – and cut the the last cord with their death metal past

Metal Hammer

The 15 best new metal songs you need to hear right now

Wardruna, Body Count and Nightwish are among the best new metal songs this week. Plus, vote for your favourite!

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Metal Hammer

“There’s some screams on there. It’s cool that people appreciate it. It’s also a bit annoying.” Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt is slightly irritated by all this talk about his growls

We’re all happy that Opeth are screaming again, but Mikael Åkerfeldt isn’t happy with how happy we are

Metal Hammer

"He's the king of death metal." Opeth's Mikael Akerfeldt and Fredrik Akesson name the greatest death metal band of all time, and discuss their own journey through the genre

From inverted crosses in flowerbeds to failing to blow Morbid Angel off-stage and petty larceny, Opeth talk their journey through death metal

Louder

All hell breaks loose! Inside Thin Lizzy's first hit album and the campaign to break America - only in the new issue of Classic Rock

Also in this issue: Motörhead, Jerry Cantrell, Jon Anderson, The Cold Stares, Fleetwood Mac, Terrorvision, Michael Schenker, Idles, The Hot Damn!, Bad Religion, Paul Gilbert and more

Metal Hammer

The 14 best new metal songs you need to hear right now

Linkin Park, Opeth and Spiritboxare among the best new metal songs this week. Plus, vote for your favourite!

Metal Hammer

Hear Opeth go full prog on new single §3

Their last single was a death metal comeback. Now, Opeth are showing their proggy side again.

Metal Hammer

“Chuck Schuldiner from Death yelled at me for being drunk onstage. That was me not at my best”: Legendary drummer Gene Hoglan is interviewed by equally legendary drummers from Slipknot, Sepultura and more

Happy birthday to iconic metal drummer Gene ‘The Atomic Clock’ Hoglan – born on this day in 1967

Louder

“When it comes to many of the classics, I don’t even know what they’re about!” How Mikael Åkerfeldt’s policy of not taking advice led Opeth to Pale Communion

Inspired by sharing records with Steven Wilson, he took a more melodic approach, added a vague title that just sounded cool, and forged them into a “journey through life that starts pretty good and ends shit”

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