Opeth have released an official animated music video for §3 to commemorate the first anniversary of The Last Will And Testament, the band’s fourteenth studio album and their first conceptual long-form narrative in a quarter of a century. The video arrives as a companion piece to the story unveiled in November 2024, when the album introduced listeners to a fractured family saga shaped by secrets, resentment and the slow erosion of trust.
The new short film, created by Absynthe Moon Media, expands the album’s internal universe. The track sits at a central point within the record’s storyline, which pivots around the reading of a 1920s patriarch’s will. The animation mirrors the era’s mood with stark imagery that explores shifting loyalties between characters who cannot escape long buried truths. Each visual moment is designed to support the psychological weight that underpins the album’s narrative arc.
Frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt conceived the plot for The Last Will And Testament as an examination of heritage and identity shaped by unresolved histories. The animated video deepens those themes, presenting imagery that reflects characters forced to confront the realities behind the family they thought they understood. Opeth’s decision to release the video now honours the extensive detail woven throughout the album, highlighting motifs of power, betrayal and emotional decay.
The new visual chapter does not dictate a single interpretation. Instead, it invites viewers to consider what is withheld between generations, and how memory can distort the truth when the stakes are high. The ambiguity is deliberate. Opeth built their reputation on complexity, and this latest piece reinforces the band’s enduring interest in storytelling that pushes beyond the bounds of conventional metal.
Opeth’s current five-piece lineup, Mikael Åkerfeldt, Fredrik Åkesson, Martín Méndez, Joakim Svalberg and Waltteri Väyrynen, continues a tradition of reinvention that began in Stockholm in 1990. The group initially forged its identity through long-form compositions that fused death metal with progressive rock, folk textures, jazz phrasing and classical-influenced arrangements. Over the years, the band have refused to remain static, releasing albums that shift stylistically while retaining a distinct sense of atmosphere and depth.
The earliest works such as Orchid and Morningrise set the foundation for the band’s hybrid approach, which expanded further with My Arms, Your Hearse and the breakthrough Still Life. Opeth entered their international ascent in 2001 with Blackwater Park, which provided the platform for the band’s first global touring schedule. Subsequent releases such as Deliverance, Damnation, Ghost Reveries and Watershed broadened their sound and solidified their status as one of progressive metal’s most significant modern forces.
The release of Heritage in 2011 marked a shift towards a more overtly progressive direction, followed by Pale Communion, Sorceress and In Cauda Venenum. While those records leaned towards clean vocals and expansive rock arrangements, The Last Will And Testament saw Åkerfeldt reintroduce his growl for the first time since 2008, a move embraced by long-time fans and a younger audience discovering the band’s early catalogue.
The album, which won the 2024 Swedish Grammis Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal release, remains Opeth’s most immersive work since Still Life. Its anniversary coincides with renewed interest in conceptual metal, and the animated §3 video further strengthens its narrative continuity. The record’s storyline unfolds through characters whose motives remain unclear until late in the album, and the new film provides fresh layers without revealing answers outright.
While Opeth have not announced any new tour dates linked to the anniversary, the band’s recent live reputation, highlighted by their Sydney Opera House performance in 2025, underscores their ability to translate complex studio material to the stage with clarity and precision. The §3 animated clip now offers listeners a chance to revisit the album’s world from a visual perspective.
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