Review: Opium Denn – “Demarkation”

According to Opium Denn, the Demarkation album was “Engineered with proprietary synapse-altering technologies that create a ‘letting go’ state of mind where the inner world of experience can be explored more freely than would be possible normally.” I must have missed something while listening back because my synapse didn’t feel altered by the end of it.

After doing some quick reading on Opium Denn, it’s hard to tell if such a statement (and other similar odd ones) is meant to have a tongue-in-cheek vibe, or if there really is a ton of pretentiousness going on. I still don’t know.

That said, after stepping away from such odd messaging, it’s noticed that Demarkation is an album musically well thought out and executed. While pinning it within the ropes of one genre would be tough, one could argue that Opium Denn’s work could be easily dropped into the prog-rock category.

Despite the interesting progressive musicality going on here, there’s not much else on Demarkation to pull you in and mess with your synapse – most of the album felt climax-free. The vocal delivery – while not muted – didn’t do much in the way of providing intrigue. When that’s the case, it’s tough to dig in deep and give the lyrics a thorough examination.

If Demarkation had some more calculated ‘umph’ to it, perhaps I could’ve been swayed to raise a pair of thumbs up at the album. Inside, my thumbs shall remain in pockets.