In this line of work, having artists and bands send us their work can be quite a gamble. We here at On Request Magazine have gotten some strange requests for reviews and features, with both gross, disturbing, or just plain strange band names and albums. Yet we take that gamble every time, because we believe in the pursuit of great music, and making sure we give every artist a chance to prove their creativity and talent. So when we got a request from a band who's press release said openly that, and I quote, "this 'entity' is so far out there that some versions of this record shouldn't be listened to while driving or if you are prone to seizures," I was a bit worried. Yet the album from this band, Opium Denn, was quite smooth, captivating and beautiful. The album is called Demarkation, and here is what we thought.
Opium Denn's Demarkation is set up as the first part of a trilogy, which makes this work so much more cinematic in nature than we could have imagined. The truly interesting part of this work is that a special technology was used when recording the album, called "HEV", or Health-Science Enhanced Vibrations. This was done supposedly to give the audience an unusual buzz, and bring about an almost otherwordly classification for Opium Denn. The band switches back and forth wonderfully between the slow, passionate 80's rock feel and the movie quality rock music played during an action film such as the original Lethal Weapon, that you immediately begin to suspect you are listening to something wholly unique and without equal.
With songs such as "I Am A Feeling 1", "Leaf" and "So Many Faces", (all of which have hit music videos), the band is building a listening experience unlike any other. This makes us here at On Request Magazine glad we took the gamble and gave them a chance. They proved how originality and the unexpected can pay off for a great album, and we are definitely looking forward to seeing what the rest of this planned "trilogy" looks like for the band. Make sure to pick up your copy of Opium Denn's "Demarkation" now!
Disclaimer: This band sent their album and information to this reviewer for a fair and honest review. The opinions expressed in this review are the pure opinions of this reviewer and the publication.