Opium Warlords - We Meditate Under The Pussy In The Sky

Last Updated on Thursday, 10 January 2013 18:45 Written by EvaLantsoght

Artist: Opium Warlords

Album: We Meditate Under The Pussy In The Sky

Label: Svart Records

Genre: Drone, Noise, Experimental, Doom Metal

Opium Warlords is the solo-project of Finnish Sami Hynnien. On We Meditate Under The Pussy In The Sky Opium Warlords take you on a trip through the inner world of Sami. The album feels like a collection of memories and thoughts, and requires the full attention of the listener.

We Meditate Under The Pussy In The Sky might be qualified as drone, but it is a sequence of bits and pieces of music that tell a tale in your imagination.

At first, the album comes across as utterly random, and not pleasing to the ear. Fragments of doom metal, black metal, screaming, Tibetan chants, samba, electro, repetitive strums, post-rock, atmospheric metal, psychedelic reflections and unidentified passages are all combined into a soundscape.

We Meditate Under The Pussy In The Sky is unlike anything I heard before, and it took quite some adjustment to delve into the story behind the fragments. Some tracks, such as the opening “Sxi-Meru” still go beyond my understanding.

The most interesting track of the album is “Slippy”: a darkly pounding march through the duality of Opium Warlords' thoughts. The contrasts are well-balanced, and help the listener to understand what is going on.

“Lamant For The Builders of Khara Khoto” could work as the soundtrack to a horror movie, but lacks to contrast and emphasis of “Slippy”.

The penultimate “This Wind Is A Gift From A Distant Friend” again hits a nerve on showing you the rich inner world of our minds. If you close your eyes to this track, you literally feel being torn apart by contrasting emotions.

Finally “Satan Knew My Secret Heart” builds on the same riff, laced with an elecro-rock pop track that tries to break through. Although the concept is powerful, I felt something lacking here to grasp my attention.

To conclude is impossible – We Meditate Under The Pussy In The Sky is a weird experience, and I can't even say if I like it or not.