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Opus Dai - Touch The Sun

Rating

RIYL

Fair To Midland
The Mars Volta
System of a Down
A Perfect Circle

Release Date

08/30/2008

Tracklist

1. Sandcastles
2. Sinking Ship
3. The Day The World Stopped Turning
4. Cry Of Architeuthis
5. Touch The Sun

Users Rating 4 ratings	Your Rating Create an account or log in to rate this album
Recent Ratings
Max	Stinkypickle
M.J.Austin	Rick Gebhardt

With their most recent EP Touch The Sun, Los Angeles based Opus Dai offer an enormous amount of sound, shoved chaotically into your memory, all in under twenty minutes. Since their debut album much has changed for these neo-prog rockers. Atsushi Miyamoto (guitars) and Jagger Gonzales (drums) parted ways with their original singer and bassist, and replaced them with Tim Neighbors (vocals) and Murv Douglas (bassist). Changing singers is always a risky move, but Opus Dai can rest assured they’ve done well. Neighbors has one of the most unique voices hard rock has heard in a long time, ranging somewhere between System of a Down’s Serj Tankian and The Mars Volta’s Cedric Bixlar Zavala. His talents allow for gorgeous melodic passages that soar into the upper registers all the way down to splattered yelps of gravely passion. Musically, there is a strong artistic quality to their madness, with jagged over-driven guitars that run circles around the exceptional drumming they have become widely known for. This EP has a huge, epic sound with a major focus on dynamics compressed into a very short amount of time. Opus Dai contain the talent and song writing skills to make a serious impact; it’s just up to listeners to realize it.

Opening track “Sandcastles” rips out the gate with aggressive guitar grinds that would make any metal head proud, and the maniacal wail of Neighbors’ singing should appeal to fans of Zavala all the way to those of Robert Plant and Axl Rose. The patterns in which the band moves are tight as any veteran act as they dip between full on assault to soothing daze and effortlessly back. “Sinking Ship” opens with a hard charging riff that digs over the fast paced stomp of the rhythm section. Everything delves into a groove as the vocals kick in while the band once again show their penchant for shifting dynamics between soft and loud frenzied bursts. The clean guitars go back and forth with the heavy chug of the riffs to create great texturing before the powerful freefall to the end of the song. Opus Dai’s instrumentation matches the unique quality of the vocals for an equally impressive and full sounding take on modern prog mayhem.

The intensity lightens just slightly for the apocalyptic “The Day The World Stopped Turning”. Featuring a greater emphasis on melody, the band shows that they can slow things down to equal or greater results. The passion in the vocals as they mourn the end of the sunlight and the destruction of the world could proudly provide the soundtrack to the end of it all. Miyamoto adds a well placed guitar solo that feeds into the final outburst of the chorus before drifting into “Cry of Architeuthis”. Serving as a segue of feedback, ambient vocals drift through space alongside simple yet elegant guitar licks, which keep the flow intact. This “interlude” conjures the idea of what they could have done with another full LP. The title track, “Touch The Sun,” closes it out with a tranquil and beautiful acoustic melody of just guitar and the virtuosic vocal progressions from Neighbors. A soft piano joins in to accompany the mix creating another layer in the airy yet dark atmosphere of “the sky is falling down” portrayed in the chorus’ lyrics.

Opus Dai are destined for big things: the choruses are clearly defined, the musicianship is top notch, and the vocals are distinctive and exciting. With their rampant touring schedule they are sure to continue expanding their fan base and making new believers with every stop along the way.

--Dan Goldin

Author

explodinginsound

Last updated: 09/29/2009 09:04PM

Comments

Rick Gebhardt

06/16/2009

06:52AM

Age: 31

Location
Minnesota

Pretty good EP. I want a full length, though, dammit.

Find me EVERYWHERE:

M.J.Austin

06/16/2009

10:25AM

Location
Dallas, Texas

Wasn't crazy about the change when I first heard this, but this EP really grew on me. I dig it a ton now. Very intense and tempered with enough restraint that it's not embarrassing to listen to like any of the Mars Volta's albums after Deloused.