At The Orpheum Theater On Friday, February 6, 2026

ALL PHOTOS BY GEORGE DIONNE/@rockisgeorge

Heading up to the Orpheum Theater to see OPETH and KATATONIA, I was trying to convince myself that it hadn’t actually been 22 years since I last saw OPETH.  Come to find out it hadn’t actually been that long…it was 21 years and 11 months (but who’s counting?).

As the years passed, I became a casual fan at best.  Checking in every now and then to see what they were up to.  I had heard that their latest album released in 2024, ‘The Last Will And Testament’, was a return to their ‘Deliverance’/‘Damnation’ days.  In some ways it was, in other ways it was a clear evolution.  Initially, I didn’t hate it, but it didn’t exactly blow me away.  That would change on February 16, 2026. 

OPETH was such an eye opening band to me in 2004.  Their back-to-back releases ‘Deliverance’ & ‘Damnation’ were unlike anything I had heard at the time.  Remember kids, the Internet was in its infancy.  Sure, I had heard Death Metal music before and I had heard Progressive Metal as well, but bringing them both together…unheard of!  At least in my world.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, the only way to truly experience a band’s music is in a live setting.  I had just discovered KATATONIA recently with the release of their 2025 album ‘Nightmares as Extensions of the Waking State’.  While I would classify the album as a Progressive Metal affair, KATATONIA’s live performance took it up 7 notches.    Come to find out, KATATONIA and OPETH are not too far from each other when it comes to musical stylings.  While there were passages that one would consider progressive in nature, much of their nine song set was full of intensity and guttural screams mixed with clean melodies.  KATATONIA managed to get two songs from their latest album in the set, mixed in with fan favorites from ‘Sky Void of Stars’ (2023), ‘The Fall of Hearts’ (2017), ‘Dead End Kings’ (2012), ‘Night Is The New Day’ (2009), and ‘The Great Cold Distance’ (2006).

Set List

• ”Thrice”
• ”Soil’s Song”
• ”The Liquid Eye”
• ”Dead Letters”
• ”Old Heart Falls”
• ”July”
• ”Lethean”
• ”No Beacon to Illuminate Our Fall”
• “Forsaker”

It was standing room only when OPETH took the stage, and this was a fully seated theater venue.  ‘(Paragraph) 1’ from their latest album kicked off the set and re-awakened the 28 year old me experiencing OPETH live for the first time.  This track, and essentially the entire set, delivered a plethora of switching tempos, emotions, and growling vocals battling it out with melodic ones. 

Lost in the shuffle of a lot of harder Metal acts are the intricacies of the drum patterns, guitar and bass work.  OPETH’s rhythm section was firing on all cylinders, with each member getting a chance to show off a bit throughout the night.  OPETH’s presentation of ‘(Paragraph) 1’, ‘7’, and ‘3’ provided me with a new outlook on ‘The Last Will And Testament’ (which I am currently enjoying on vinyl while writing this).

There was a bit more banter between the band and the crowd, for which I could have done without.  Vocalist Mikael Akerfeldt did acknowledge maybe OPETH went a little too proggy at times, but it was the fans that set them straight on what they expect from the band.  Akerfeldt was a bit too polite in trying to hear what the crowd was yelling at him in between songs.  Some people were yelling to play a particular song, while others asked stupid things like have you visited any hostels in your hometown. 

The rest of OPETH’s set was more or less new to me, since it focused on albums I never dove deep into such as ‘Heritage’ (2011), ‘Ghost Reveries’ (2005), ‘Blackwater Park’ (2001) (I know, I know, send your hate mail directly to me), ‘Still Life’ (1999), and ‘My Arms Your Hearse’ (1998).  I recognized “To Rid The Disease” and “Deliverance” instantly.  “Deliverance” was the perfect encore to close out an intense night of Swedish Progressive Metal.

There are live bands that enhance their music with eye catching visualizations and a bit of showmanship.  Neither OPETH nor KATATONIA are one of those bands.  They are strictly about musicianship and the music.  Yes, both had video screens and lights, but it wasn’t anything special. 

Without any bells and whistles so to speak, both KATATONIA and OPETH had the crowd eating out of the palms of their hands.  Both bands brought power, precision, and proficiency to their performances, and the crowd in Boston showed their appreciation. 

Set List

• “(Paragraph) 1”
• ”Master’s Apprentices”
• ”Godhead’s Lament”
• ”(Paragraph) 7”
• ”The Devil’s Orchid”
• ”To Rid The Disease”
• ”(Paragraph) 3”
• ”Demon of the Fall”
• ”The Grand Conjuration”
• ”The Drapery Falls”
• ”Deliverance”

KATATONIA

OPETH