OPABINIA

OPABINIA were temporarily formed as a three-piece one-off project in early 2000s, that had released only one eponymous album filled with various tasty elements. As the song titles say, their bottoms of sound and play are drenched in funny, funky, skunky atmosphere ... also the project's name Opabinia, a strange underwater creature with five eyes (!) over 5 hundred million years ago ... namely, an obscure stuff maybe.

"Johnetsu No Tohri-ame (Shower Passing Of Passion)" can be called as an eccentric and gigantic heavy rock experiment by Natsuki's guitar passion ... his cool but loud guitar fireworks along with sticky, strict rhythmic riffs by Yasuhiro's drumming are pretty awesome, that can get in your ear in another track named "Kombu-tori (Kombtry)", an aggressive heavily-peated avantgarde space monster ... but believe me this fascinating track may not the masterpiece in this work I suggest. Actually, "Pre-Cambria Dreamin" led by a violin maze is a bit pop-ish but their mischievous attachment can be heard here and there. Natsuki's backing acoustic guitar claps are very comfortable indeed.

The air has shifted drastically - "Crunchy Brains" is another electronik cynik (based upon Kazuto's intention?), with scattered percussion plus drum-machine shots and cheesy tape effect controller-based sticky ambience, that makes us laugh out loudly. "Hyorokudama" is a real dramatic RIO veiled jazzy persistence and ethnic acquaintance eh. Oh yes, one more pleasant delicious dish is "Fugu-jiru", supra-funk / reggae rolling stones created by percussion chopping and synthesizer wheezing. Their harmony can be heard just like blades of a large windmill, also upon another punk / funk titled "Googli-Moogli", a piece of punk-rock-y steak unified with steady rhythms and guitar tensions, and quirky synth-noise quakes ... always a bunch of humour around them really.

On the other hand, "Saiteijin (The Lowests Variations)" suite should be the highlight in this album really. In the first part, Natsuki's weeping delicate guitar progression upon a dramatic plaintive psychedelic sound river flow like "Shine On A Crazy Diamond" by Pink Floyd. And scenes will alter themselves minute by minute ... powerful heavy rain shower produced by all instruments can make us forget the previous one I imagine ... very addictive and enthusiastic theatre. The next interlude stage is fuzz andromeda with crazy drone and deep inferno. And upon the last Part 2 the Opabinic human will jump up and out of the inferno aggressively, who can vaporize our drone nightmare. Quite bulky passion around the last scene, amazing.

The finish of this creation is cool too. Non-pure, muddy water sound / noise and inorganic ambient palpitation "Minerals", followed by another explosive complex drumming / wildly crying guitar chopping- based heavy sound-wind-shower blows "Tasmania" ... These two full-blown dramas can be suitable for the epilogue in this funny funky fantasy in my opinion.

Really eclectic theatre. Enjoy such an enthusiastic ambrosia.