Opul - Levels

Man, Matt Lupo (East Of The Wall) writes some tasty stoner metal. Let's hope he keeps up with this.As impressive as the music of East Of The Wall is, it's beginning to impress me more how fertile a training ground it seems to be for new talent. In fact, names from acclaimed outfit's roster seem to be popping up all over the place these days, like El Drugstore and now Opul, and its solo EP Levels, from guitarist/vocalist Matt Lupo.

Now this is some grade A stoner jams with a nice crunch that I could leave on repeat all weekend. This record is plain bad-ass, kids. The sound's reminiscient of the off-kilter, meaty, rhythymically progressive jams of a band like the criminally underrated Eniac Requiem crossed with the melodic sensibility of King's X. Indeed From the mellow jam of opener Presence, through Velocity & Saturation's hypnotic drone, to closer Clarity's chimey shimmer and glassy strumming, the melodic glue that holds it together is enhanced by the ethereal vocals of mastermind Lupo himself. While this effort doesn't sound like East Of The Wall or El Drugstore, the connection between these bands may be the incredible diversity and creativity amongst its shared members.

The Bottom Line: Whether you're a stoner metal fan or just looking for something new that sounds fresh-but-different than most of the music on the heavier side of 21st century rock and roll spectrum, this is your jam.

- Genghis will be cranking this album quite a bit in his new car...