EP REVIEW: Opium – Half Me
When it’s been one of those weeks, sometimes all you need is a short metal EP to help blow the stresses of work, problems and just general day to day life away for a short period of time. If you’re looking for just that, then German quintet HALF ME have just the remedy in the form of their fantastic new EP Opium. Signed to Arising Empire, their stock is only going to get higher if they keep delivering music of such high quality as this.
As soon as you hit play, the band put pedal to the metal and don’t once take their foot off the gas. Opening track Concrete Ceiling is a bonafide metal offering that rocks your very soul. It’s a frenetic opener to the EP but sets the foundation of what is to come in the short but sweet experience that is Opium. It has all the hallmarks that are needed for a metal track, from huge chuggy riffs, thunderous drums and delectable harsh vocals to whet your whistle and blow any cobwebs away.
Quitter Talk follows in a song that is made for small sweaty rooms and enormous circle pits. The grinding guitar matched with blast beats form an all out assault on your senses that almost make you smell the sweat in the tiny venues this track will be performed in. Every band member is at the top of their game, not missing one beat as they perform as a singular unit to create another absolute banger. The growling vocals matched with occasional cleans are a great addition to the track which offers a more melodic take throughout.
Nothing Left To Lose But The Chai continues the battery of your ear drums with an oppressive tone that will have you unable to stop head banging or at least nodding your head along to the beat. Once again, HALF ME are able to masterfully combine the different vocal styles throughout without either of them feeling out of place or cancelling each other out. The strong point of this track in particular is its escalation. Just when you think its going to die down a little, it throws out a curveball and brings you back into the chaotic revelry of the song.
Perhaps the heaviest track on the EP – though it’s almost impossible to pick one – is the cheerfully named Fatalist. If this song in particular is even half as impactful live as it is here then you’ll be lucky to come away unscathed. Around the halfway point is a sumptuous breakdown that is tuned down so low it may as well have its own gravitational pull, and it will be the perfect instigator of any mosh pit or wall of death before descending into a swirling musical madness that doesn’t once let up.
Closer In Denial sees HALF ME throwing everything they can at the listener one last time. The culmination of the EP is with aspects of each track added to its pot of madness. Throughout it also has a wonderful bouncing beat that sticks with you long after finishing; the track itself swirls around you as you feel every note reverberating through your skull and takes no prisoners by the time it reaches its triumphant end. It’s an excellent way to close out the EP and leaves you yearning for much more from the band.
Opium is the correct name for this EP; once you’ve listened to it, you almost become addicted and want to start the whole experience again. The only downside to such an excellent EP is that it is over way too soon. If HALF ME continue to deliver such high quality music then it’s going to be a very exciting future not only for the band themselves but also for the fans they’re going to pick up along the way. The only way this EP can be improved is by seeing it live, which is a mouth-watering prospect. We can’t wait to see what the band has up their sleeve next.
Rating: 8/10
Opium is out now via Arising Empire.
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