Friday 23 May 2008

Kory Clarke - Opium Hotel (2003)


Any output by this man deserves a mention, even if this solo effort from the ex-Warrior Soul voice is more of a psychedelic yet grey haze of nuclear Beatles and trippy, fuzzy, drug-induced wilderness. I expected something far more rock 'n' roll from Mr Clarke, possibly some cutting edge riffs, big grooves and his angst ridden vocals, but this, being his only solo effort, is very much a lazy, almost comatose recording, often messy and, much like Crue's 'Generation Swine' it experiments greatly, from industrial gloom to sleazy glam, but it never really goes anywhere, and rather sadly Clarke's once mighty rasp gets lost behind the wall of distorted grunge-punk and cyber-beats. It sounds to me as if Kory got completely wasted and fuelled his ego by indulging in some moody psych, and yet still attempts to spit out similar messages to what he would've done, albeit more supremely, in Warrior Soul. It would be unfair to call this metal, in fact it never plods beyond a druggy drag, the glam stomps cut in occasionally but this is a very weird experience, kinda imagine John Lennon, Jim Morrison and Andrew Wood of Mother Love Bone in the same room with Kory, completely off their faces, ranting amidst lucid dreams as a soundtrack of sorrows bleeds from the walls like smog. Not the most uplifting experience if your sober, but somehow Clarke has a disturbing coolness, poetically unnerving as he aims his wrath at the dying planet, and then, one last time, taking a shot, head spinning into blackness, the sky swirling, and then nothing...just that psychedelic grey haze again.

7/10

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