As much as I enjoy Reverend Bizarre and plenty of Sami Hynninen’s other various projects, I’ve honestly not been as enthused about Opium Warlords. Their experimental brand of Drone Doom tends to be rather hit and miss, producing ideas that can be intriguing but more frequently stretched beyond their limits or constructed haphazardly. Their fifth full-length album, Nembutal (Svart Records), doesn’t promise anything different yet I find its execution to be somehow more palatable than anything else they’ve released.
It certainly helps that the album starts off with a Doom Metal number that is almost orthodox by the band’s inaccessible standards. ‘A Heavy Heart’ may make it seem like an odd choice of opener at nineteen minutes long, but its slothful riff set stays coherent thanks to fluctuating dynamics, periodic leads, memorable vocal lines, and a minimalist yet constant drumbeat. It triggers flashbacks to the days of the Rev’s So Long, Suckers, and ‘Xanadu’ bookends the album in a similarly mammoth fashion.
While the rest of the album still largely consists of their signature droning numbers, the band finds different ways to keep them from getting stale. Sometimes a simple rhythm is all it takes as a simple percussive hit brings clarity to the riff and soundbites on ‘The Destroyer Of Filth’ while ‘Perspiring Princess’ is a pleasant interlude with acoustic noodling and tambourine hits. Other times a sense of narrative drives things along; ‘Threshold Of Your Womb’ makes the most of this thanks to its fanfare-esque strums and mantric lyrics while ‘Sarah Was Nineteen Years Old’ pairs a haunting bassline with an equally morbid vocal recital.
I’m not sure if Nembutal has fully converted me to the ways of Opium Warlords but it stands alongside 2014’s Taste My Sword Of Understanding as their most effective effort. It’s not an accessible listen by any means as its extensive length and esoteric style are quite a bit to contend with, but the ingenuity to make these drones work in different ways is quite commendable. The band’s albums may work for some as particularly dark background music but it’s quite nice when they are capable of keeping one’s attention to this degree.
8 / 10
CHRIS LATTA