Opiate Sun

Total bliss out sludgegazer drone pop. Justin Broadrick’s (of Godflesh, Final, Napalm Death, and so much more) conscious attempt at pop is a mix of heavy distortion, narcotic fuzz, warm melodicism, swirling shoegaze, droning electronics, and melancholy psychedelia. Opiate Sun revisits earlier jesu sound (more droney, slowmo-gaze), and is also a triumphant return to form. Heavy enough for the tattooed, leather-clad, studded crowd, but soft and warm enough for wimps like me. Like the title suggests, this is to be enjoyed under some sort of influence, curled up in the fetal position, convulsing on the KZSU carpet. This is a vinyl rip of the EP released on Mark Kozelek’s Caldo Verde Records. This is what radio (and music) is all about, so if you don’t want to take a chance on this, get the hell out. But seriously, I cannot recommend this enough. * I’ve also added album-track “Infinity” to the end of the tracklist (released this summer), which is a 50 minute exercise in covering Jesu’s sonic territory- from deathly screaming sections to delicate atmospherics to shoegaze. No FCC’s.

1. Melancholy, simple chord progression but enveloping chords and guitars, triumphantly beautiful, almost anthemic, or as anthemic as this music gets, sort of like “Silver.” (6:16)
2. Does not carry the pop majesty of some of jesu’s songs but this one is still a warm navel-gazing, head bobbing, pop dirge. (7:10)
3. A little heavier but buoyed by distant keyboards, melodic vocals, tribal pulses, fuzzy guitars. (6:59)
4. Doomy, distorted, and slow, some of the best, moody music on here. This one is also probably the most dissonant and hardest to get into. (5:31)
5. Play if you are going 12-6am and want to take a break. (~50:00)