OUR PLACE OF WORSHIP IS SILENCE “Disavowed and Left Hopeless”
By Dr. Abner Mality
The first effort from this morose duo was one of the heaviest, most punishing records of the new century. Time for album #2 and you can tell by the title this is probably not going to be the feel good hit of the summer.
This is even bleaker and darker than “With Inexorable Suffering”, if that is possible. OPOWIS have upped the dissonance and feeling of oppression here, to the point where the record is a difficult listen even for experienced gloom-mongers. I can’t say I prefer it to the debut...the riffing is not quite as sharp or memorable and the grueling feeling of utter desperation is tough to latch onto. That’s not to say the band has given up all traces of hooks. “Mdlosci II” and “From Noisome Pestilence” in particular have got some crushing yet memorable riffs to them. But the track “Fury Divine”...wow, this one feels like running a marathon over barbed wire and broken glass. Almost unendurable…
I don’t know how much further OPOWIS can take this brand of lightless death metal and I’m afraid to find out!