### Opium: Necrology disorder

#### 12/12/11 || lou.imm0rtal

I was first introduced to Southeast Asian death metal when a friend gave me a copy of Jasad’s “Witness of Perfect Torture” and from that day on I was fucken hooked on that part of the world’s filth. It seems that those fellas out there have a lot of passion for this music and go beyond their ways to try to express themselves with it. I have heard stories of how many areas of this region are impoverished and death metal serves as one of the real outlets to escape from the harsh realities of life in that vicinity. I always said that to create death metal it takes the right ingredients all blended with a prime source of passion. I truly believe that the death metal diehards of Southeast Asia have all of that and much more. It is difficult enough for them to express themselves in English but this does not stop them and I can proudly say that they have continued to surprised me each time with their efforts of cultivate this brutal music for their people and the world.

The record at hand is a very interesting one. It carries many elements of death metal which have all been beautifully orchestrated and in my honest opinion, I think the end result is one that will bring much pleasure to any death metal diehard. The music is full of energy, passion, and most importantly the songs FUCKEN CRUSH! Opium has given the world their first debut full-length and it is one not to be fucked with. The guitar riffs are powerful and carry the songs from beginning to end beautifully. The production is clear and the guitar tone is beasty. The song may start with a speedy riff but in the process it will come down hard on you with a massive American east coast groove that is so lethal that you just want to headband, but not traditional head banging instead you are gonna find yourself head banging with your entire upper body. It is fucken ridiculous how nicely executed the riffs are. I would say that each song has something to offer to each type of death metal. Some songs even have moments where they break into a subtle melody but still riding on the heavy side of things. It is quite refreshing to hear!

The vocals do not let up either. It is not the usual vocals that you will find in a Southeast Asian death metal band. They are raspy, raw, and deprived. He is not deep. The vocals hang on the mid-range of things delivering an onslaught of dry-sounding morbidity which compliment the guitar tone very well. Also, the lyrical structuring is very clever and you can definitely tell that they truly took their time to carve out each and every song.

The only that affects the overall execution of the record is the drum patterns. You can clearly hear that the drummer is heavily influenced by American brutal death metal drummers like Ricky Myers of Disgorge, but from the sound of it, he had a hard time keeping up with the songs. No to say that he didn’t do a good job, it is just that in some parts of each song he is not fully in tuned with the songs and perhaps the pattern he chose for that part of the song may not have been the best. But do not let this small setback lead you to think that the overall product of the record is not worth it. This record is definitely one to have in your rotation or even when you are cruising. It is a lot of fun to listen to and it has a lot to offer at many fans of this music. Like many of these bands from this part of the world, they do not have a lot of accessibility to good recording equipment as it is very expensive but these guys definitely got lucky and were able to produce a impressive first debut. This album is most definitely death as fuck!

- Information
- Released: 2010
- Label: Extreme Souls Production
- Website: Opium MySpace
- Band
- Band line-up names were not made available.

- Tracklist
- 01. Bingkai Mayat Membusuk
- 02. Tangisan Jiwa Perusak
- 03. Kodrat Sunda Nepi Binasa
- 04. Propaganda Religion
- 05. Destruction Above Be Collapse
- 06. Necrology Disorder
- 07. Kasisit Sabit Kalengkah Panca Ucap
- 08. Terjilat Kaum Murtad
- 09. Vomit of Torture
- 10. Punishment (outro)