ALBUM REVIEW: Psychodrama – Tigers On Opium
Off the back of two well-received EPs, TIGERS ON OPIUM return with their debut full-length album. The hard-rocking psychedelic quartet from Portland, Oregon tackles global politics, propaganda, the collapse of civilisation, and more in their own unique style on the 70s-infused Psychodrama. The album’s title comes directly from Psychodrama Therapy, which sees the patient play out their personal conflict in front of other session participants, often with their involvement, to gain a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them. What that means for TIGERS OF OPIUM is an album that uses music as therapy set against stunning riffs, and wide-ranging lyrics with each track giving a snapshot into the human condition.
The album opens with Ride Or Die and closes with Ride Or Die (Reprise); the two brief almost dream-like tracks enchant the listener. The intro is reminiscent of being put under hypnosis, while the outro brings the listener back to reality – one they now have a greater insight into. Things get underway in earnest with Black Mass but despite colourful guitar flourishes dancing across a doom-inspired chugging riff, the track never really gets going. It plods along without getting into top gear, making the already overly long runtime hit even harder.
However, the band snaps out of the malaise instantly with the roaring Diabolique that blends 70s grooves with a stoner rock crunch before diving into the floating elegance of Retrovertigo. Here, the band tackles nostalgia with smooth precision, pondering “If I just press pause, will I love what I have lost?“. In a world dominated by streaming many have lamented the lost art of the album as a single body of work, but TIGERS ON OPIUM have made a mockery of that assessment. Psychodrama isn’t just a collection of songs offering different snapshots, it’s a complete vision with a wonderful ebb and flow. The way the album slides from its more tender moments into uptempo QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE-styled offerings such as Sky Below My Feet with ease is an underrated skill.
That’s not to say the album is without small missteps as it’s sometimes overindulgent, with Radioactive losing its otherwise cutting impact with a needless final minute. The preceding six are a thunderous journey to the end of the world, but the dainty riff that signals the empty aftermath meanders a little too long.
For an album powered by so much noise and at times brute force, it’s perhaps a surprise that its high points find the band embracing a more stripped-back approach. The Wall Of Silence is almost ethereal as sparse military-style drums lay a strong foundation below swirling vocals. The song is characterised by space, and the band’s determination not to fill it, the piano and guitars play off against one another brilliantly, with a less is more approach giving everything room to breathe. Separation Of The Mind finds the band channelling their inner BLACK SABBATH but with enough individuality to not sound like a rip-off. Vocally, lead singer Juan Carlos Caceres tracks the melody like prime Ozzy Osbourne, while the final section sees the band break away from the fuzzy doom of the rest of the song into a break-neck run to the finish – another SABBATH staple.
As Ride Or Die (Reprise) brings the album to a close, it feels like the end of a journey. Although heavily infused with stoner rock and doom elements, Psychodrama is precise and vivid, and the fuzzy riffs are razor-sharp, giving the album a focus. There’s little to no filler, with only Paradise Lost finding the band treading water, and even where a couple of songs overstay their welcome, there’s more than enough to keep the listener interested. From a band determined to add some substance to their heavy rock style, Psychodrama is undoubtedly an impressive debut.
Rating: 8/10
Psychodrama is set for release on March 1st via Heavy Psych Sounds.
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