I’ve hunted, scoured and searched but I really can’t understand why this record was sent to Punktastic. File it under metal and maybe prog-rock but not punk. Still here’re a few words because (a) the band was good enough to send out the E.P. in an efficient and uncomplicated manner, and (b) there’s nothing wrong with a little diversity on this here website. Unfortunately that diversity hasn’t been packed up on this E.P.
A quick glance at the band biog and it appears Opus Dai is a Los Angeles based outfit that has undergone somewhat of a change in personnel recently. ‘Touch the Sun’ is the first release from this current incarnation and, to put it bluntly, it’s not very good. Sure there are moments of musicianship that impress (metal guitarists really do know how to create incredibly complex guitar lines) but as a completed piece it just doesn’t cut it.
Comparisons can be drawn to Muse, Black Sabbath and at a stretch The Mars Volta, yet this is most certainly not the sum of its parts. So bereft of originality is it that you really doesn’t feel like you’re listening to anymore than a covers band. What saves ‘Touch the Sun’ from complete disaster is the spic-and-span production. This sounds good, all in the mix if you will, which makes it at least not grate the ears.
When a metal band comes along and really ramps it up throwing something new into the mix it’s impossible not to stand up and pay attention. Black Sabbath did it in the 70’s, Metallica in the 80’s, and to an extent, Killswitch Engage achieved something similar this decade. This release though will join the murky depths of the thousands of bands that want to sound like somebody else rather than pushing the boundaries.
Alex