Dive Into A Futuristic World And Question Your Existence With “Inner Skepticism” Off Opus Arise’s “The Network”
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L-R – Derek Ho – Cello (live only), Matthew Logan – Drums, Violin II, Ellen Smith – Viola, Michelle Gao – Violin I, Kyle Hagen, Shawn Hillman – Guitar, Cello, Matthew Hannah – Keyboards
Photo Credit Jade Weekes
Vancouver, Canada’s Opus Arise is an orchestral metal ensemble that brings together classical strings and metal rhythms to create luscious soundscapes to dissonant chaos.
Their newest album, “The Network” teleports listeners into a cyberpunk world filled with neon lights, and punctuated with progressive riffs. The last album “Revelation” was released in 2016, and since then, they have taken a more orchestral direction using a string quintet and planning to incorporate more orchestral instruments. Within the cyberpunk world, research is conducted to find the correlation between chord progressions and the manipulation of space and time. The band explains further and details the first single “Inner Skepticism”:
“The combination of frequencies opens a wormhole into a future setting that blindsides the character. In this place, people have unseen technology and seem indifferent to his presence. This is the album opener that brings the listener into the world of “The Network”, an atmospheric opening into a bombastic tour de force. Tons of progressive riffing and virtuosic musicianship in this piece.”
The instrumental album is eight tracks long for a total running time of just over forty minutes. It is the result of many influences, especially prog, metal, classical, orchestral, electronic, and video game music combined into one strange form by nine members who met through orchestras and university. The vision and compositions by Drummer/Violinist Matthew Logan with the assistance of founding member Shawn Hillman are now being finally brought to life.
Taking their inspiration from classical symphonies, movies, and video game soundtracks as well as neo-classical even extreme genres like black and death, Opus Arise creates music that will challenge the listener. They are recommended for fans of Animals As Leaders, Liquid Tension Experiment, Planet X, and Scale The Summit.
The video for “Inner Skepticism” is available via its premiere on SpaceUntravel – https://youtu.be/rZxGd-0tumE
Album pre-order – https://opusarise.bandcamp.
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Track Listing:
1) Inner Skepticism – 5:50
2) Electric Jungle – 6:02
3) Antimatter – 3:22
4) Digital Soundscape – 4:38
5) Reminiscence – 5:21
6) Change – 5:23
7) Timeshift – 5:21
8) The Unanswered Question – 5:13
Album Length: 41:13
Album Band Lineup:
Shawn Hillman Guitar, Cello on “Digital Soundscape”
James Readman: Guitar
Daniel Carmago: Bass Guitar (Tracks 1-3, 5-7)
Matthew Logan: Drums, Violin II
Matthew Hannah: Keyboards
Michelle Gao: Violin I
Ellen Smith: Viola
Darrell Bennett: Cello
Kyle Hagen: Contrabass, Bass Guitar (Track 8)
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