OPETH and KATATONIA are set to launch their eagerly awaited North American co-headlining tour on February 5 at The Wellmont Theater in Montclair, New Jersey. The 15-date trek, running through February 25 in Vancouver, represents a dream pairing for progressive metal fans — two bands who emerged from the same Stockholm scene in the early 1990s and have maintained a deep friendship and mutual respect ever since.
OPETH are touring behind "The Last Will And Testament," their fourteenth studio album released in November 2024 via Reigning Phoenix Music. The record marked a dramatic return to heavier territory, incorporating growled vocals alongside Mikael Akerfeldt's signature clean singing for the first time since 2008's "Watershed." The concept album, structured as the reading of a will, has been hailed as one of OPETH's most ambitious and emotionally complex works.
KATATONIA, meanwhile, bring their own acclaimed recent material to the tour. The band's dark, melancholic progressive rock has earned them a devoted following, and their live shows have become increasingly cinematic and immersive in recent years. Guitarist and vocalist Anders Nystrom has described the co-headlining format as ideal for both bands' fanbases, with the running order alternating nightly.
Akerfeldt has called the pairing "a dream come true," reflecting on how both bands used to share rehearsal spaces and swap members in their formative years. The current OPETH lineup — featuring Akerfeldt, guitarist Fredrik Akesson, bassist Martin Mendez, keyboardist Joakim Svalberg, and drummer Waltteri Vayrynen — has been praised as one of the tightest in the band's history.