OPIUM DEATH

track-list:
Cower
Genocidal Nemesis I: Fear
The Condemned
Ozymandias
Flatline
Extinction
Chronic
Deadweight
Shattered
Vesuvius
Fe56
Genocidal Nemesis II: Desolation

produced, mixed and mastered by Donald Nadzieja

album lineup:
Dennis Blanke – drums
Donald Nadzieja – bass, vocals
Irvin Gonzalez – guitar
William Burchfield – guitar
live band lineup:
Dennis Blanke – drums
Donald Nadzieja – bass, vocals
Irvin Gonzalez – guitar, vocals
Luis Torres – guitar

discography:
2023 – Genocidal Nemesis (2nd LP)
2022 – Genocidal Demo (Demo)
2017 – Opium Death (Demo)

No Clean Singing:
“It’s an angry album, focused on hubris and its role in the downfall of humankind. The album’s cover art itself draws on this theme…. The band explain that ‘The Condemned’ isn’t really a new song, since they’ve been playing it since 2017, but it’s been re-recorded, remixed, and remastered, and tweaked to bring it more in line with their current sound. The result is a track that’s ugly, mutilating, and rabidly murderous — it shows not even a whisper of mercy to the condemned, and eventually it revels in the delirious slaughtering it metes out.”

Opium Death is a brutal concoction of extreme metal, sent forth from the suburbs of Chicago, USA to lay waste to metalheads around the world with their first full-length album ‘Genocidal Nemesis’.
The band expects it to be received positively as it brings a lot of variety in terms of tempo dynamics, song structure flow, lyrical themes and overall, a different experience with each track while maintaining a heavy sound through it all.
With ‘Genocidal Nemesis’, Opium Death wants to bring forth a sense of commonality knowing that everyone has been through experiences that anger us whether directly or indirectly and are in it together.
They showcase this relatability with a clear-cut execution of their passion for extreme music.
Opium Death:
“We think ‘Genocidal Nemesis’ will be received it very well. Especially the variety that the album expresses in terms of tempo dynamics, song structure flow, lyrical themes and overall, a different experience with each track while maintaining a heavy sound through it all. We think there is at least one song that each listener will love since we dive into some subgenres like black metal, thrash metal and death metal and incorporate technical and progressive elements into them. It has something for everyone. The experience we want to give to the fans is that there is a common and personal connection between these songs especially with the lyrics. We want to bring forth a sense of commonality knowing that we all have been through experiences that anger us whether direct or indirect and are in it together and showcasing a clear-cut execution of our passion for extreme music.”
Don:
“‘Genocidal Nemesis’ is an album that is primarily about hubris and its role in the downfall of humankind.”
‘Genocidal Nemesis I: Fear’:
Don and Irvin:
“‘Genocidal Nemesis I’ is about the birth of the antichrist as a result of man worshipping money. Money revolves around all our lives and is constantly in our faces so we reflect this musically to start the album with a bang and have an odd-time riff that helps catch the listener’s attention which over time is something they can grab onto the rhythm real quick.”
‘The Condemned’:
Irvin:
“At the time that I was writing this song, especially coming up with the lyrics, there was a trend of stories coming out in the news and social media about school bullying being an increasing phenomenon amongst children and how the victims ended up committing suicide. This angered me to write a song for those victims but in a way that reflects their thoughts and feelings in the afterlife. I treated the idea of bullying as a physical figure that needs to be taken out in the same manner and fashion if not more because it infects many children’s minds and causes this terrible widespread epidemic. Musically, it is a straightforward metal track and has a groove that I hope captivates the listener to look into the lyrics to know what it is about because this bullying sickness is never taken seriously. It is talked about yes, but it is still happening. While I do not condone responding back with life-taking intent, I hope it brings forth a feeling of anger and disgust for these kinds of actions taking place in learning environments and social gatherings.”
‘Ozymandias’:
Don and Irvin:
“‘Ozymandias’ is about pride and wrath and the importance of keeping them in check during your life against the inevitable decay of information over time. One of our longest songs on the album, we felt it was a track that could benefit from utilizing exotic scales and vocal layering as it comes up later in the song to bring up this sense of immortality to a concept that will forever be ingrained in our human ego.”
‘Extinction’:
Don and Irvin:
“‘Extinction’ is about mankind panicking and acting shocked when they get exactly what they have been striving towards. Musically, the repetitiveness of the riff helps bring this constant fight we have in ourselves and amongst other people that we want to provide a sense of urgency that needs to be resolved which I believe the chorus of the song delivers that really well.”
‘Chronic’:
Don and Irvin:
“‘Chronic’ is about the difficulty experienced in trying to achieve and maintain spiritual enlightenment in an increasingly superficial world. Musically, one of our mid-paced songs in the album helps the feel and pace of the album feel balanced and concise as we now have gone past halfway through the album.”
‘Deadweight’:
Irvin:
“Lyrically, it goes into the idea of corporate and manipulative human beings that are contributing nothing to the world but pain and suffering. They bring no sense of tranquility to the community and so they are just emotionless bodies of meat and bone. Musically, it was the most tedious track I have written on a song as it starts off pretty intense with the variation of triplet and steady-paced palm muting and tremolo picking. Going into the blast beat section before the new tremolo picking section, I wanted to build up the intensity before settling into the verse that lays out the message I wanted to deliver. This is then repeated but I break the song into an odd-time section that definitely brings out the musicianship of the band and was very happy with how it turned out. As the song progresses, you will tell how not one section is repeated until the very end with the eighth note palm muting and the blast beat underneath it. I wanted this song to be fun yet challenging as it is my philosophy that such songs should be enjoyed both listening and playing.”
‘Shattered’:
Don and Irvin:
“‘Shattered’ is about losing all hope and succumbing to the evil within yourself as a result. Musically, this song has the most thrash influence in it with the juxtaposition of a melodic chorus that brings this feeling of sadness and tragic defeat.”
‘Vesuvius’:
Don and Irvin:
“‘Vesuvius’ is a review and representation of the famous disaster in Pompeii, the themes of self-demise present in the rest of the album do not really apply here. Musically it has this very nice blend of thrash and death metal throughout the song and one of our favorite sections in the song is the breakdown that helps construct the explosion of the disaster. We are hoping it becomes a fan favorite.”
‘Genocidal Nemesis II: Desolation’:
Don and Irvin:
“‘Genocidal Nemesis II’ is about hypocrisy and the denial of the desire to die. Our longest song in the album and powerful finisher, we are extremely proud of how this turned out and believe that the pacing and mood of the second half of the song help summarize the overall theme of the album.”
Opium Death:
“For the significance of the album artwork, to us, it represents hubristic suicide, self-end caused by something you were foolishly convinced was a good thing. Obvious heroin reference but the guy on the needle was addicted to money and power. It is a common theme that happens throughout the album and we thought this represented that very well.”
For fans of Death, Gojira, Cannibal Corpse, Cattle Decapitation, Dying Fetus…