Music Review // Dopus Opus "The Lake Sessions"

https://dopusopus.bandcamp.com/album/the-lake-sessions

While the sound of Dopus Opus can be that of acoustic rock in the classic realm with other branches of rock added in, there is also something else a bit strange which exists within this album.  At first, it might catch you off guard (as it did me) but when you listen to the album through for the second time and after that it becomes a bit more comfortable.   The song "We Need Love" starts the album and has this acoustic/classic rock vibe that is just easy to get into.  

As the first song comes to an end there is an audio clip of what sounds like a goat and I will just say that is odd and leave it at that.   "Cymbal Symbol" is the second song and it begins with a flute and dark guitar notes like Metallica.   This eventually becomes just this wave of drone which takes over the whole song in an ominous way.  At the conclusion of it, there is knocking- like someone knocking on your door- and it just feels out of place, especially as only the second song on the album.

For the rest of the album, the songs seem to subscribe to the theory of having vocals and sounding like some form of rock music.   "Speeding By" has keys like The Doors but is fun.   "No No" has a little bit of surf about it but also reminds me of Neil Young.  "RagaSaga" is full of mystical swirls but still remains within the realm of rock.  "Sooner Or Later" has a powerful guitar hook and by "Bad Day" we can start feeling trippy.  The only sort of weird thing after the second song is that while singing about a car on "Speeding By" you can hear a car engine rev.  

A song such as "In My Dreams" just feels as if it is telling a nice story.   It's a love song, and in some ways all songs are about love, but this just has that presence of an artist such as the Beach Boys or Blue Oyster Cult.   The way it feels like classic rock with acoustics is one of the strongest redeeming qualities.  Even though something such as the second song can seem strange at first, the more you listen the more it becomes easy and a way to distinguish Dopus Opus from other artists.