SORCIA’S WESTERN U.S. TOUR The Seattle trio hit the road on 8/9 sharing legs with Tigers On Opium and Red Mesa.

Tour Poster by Misanthropic Art

With Tigers on Opium

8.09 • Portland, OR • The Fixin' To
8.10 • Grant's Pass, OR • The Sound Lounge
8.11 • Eureka, CA • Savage Henry Comedy
8.12 • Santa Cruz, CA • The Blue Lagoon
8.13 • Palmdale, CA • Transplants Brewing
8.14 • Long Beach, CA • Supply and Demand
8.15 • San Diego, CA • The Tower Bar
8.16 • Tempe, AZ • Yucca Tap Room

With Red Mesa

8.17 • Albuquerque, NM • Launchpad
8.18 • Denver, CO • HQ
8.20 • Salt Lake City, UT • The DLC
8.21 • Boise, ID • Realms
8.22 • Missoula, MT • Monk's Bar
8.23 • Spokane, WA • The Big Dipper
8.24 • Seattle, WA • Substation

A multitude of Desert Records bands will support including:

Nebula Drag
The Penitent Man
Spliffripper
Grim Earth
Droneroom

Photo by Jessie Brasch

We are very excited to announce that we are getting back on the road for another Western US Tour this August! For the first half we will be hitting the West Coast joined by our dear friends, Portland rippers Tigers On Opium. For the second half we will be linking up with our amazing Desert Records labelmates Red Mesa as we make our way through the desert and up through the Rockies, where we will end the tour by hosting them in Seattle for our tour homecoming. We are looking forward to hitting some new towns on this tour, and we have some killer bands lined up to support these shows, so stay tuned for individual show details. See you on the road!” - SORCIA

SORCIA BANDCAMP

Thanks to Desert Bloom PR for all of the info.

Tigers On Opium - Psychodrama (Album Review)

Release Date: 01st March 2024. Record Label: Heavy Psych Sounds. Formats CD/DD/Vinyl

Psychodrama - Tracklisting

1.Ride Or Die

2.Black Mass

3.Diabolique

4.Retrovertigo

5.Sky Below My Feet 

6.Paradise Lost 

7.Radioactive

8.Wall Of Silence

9.Separation Of The Mind

10.Ride Or Die (reprise)

Members

Juan Carlos Caceres – Lead Vocals, Guitars, Synths, Piano

Nate Wright – Drums and Vocals

Charles Hodge – Bass and Vocals

Jeanot Lewis-Rolland – – Guitars and Vocals

Review

Psychomania is the debut full length album from Psych Doom/Stoner Rockers Tigers On Opium who have been impressing me even further with every record they release. Their debut album is no different with Tigers On Opium weaving 1970’s Hard Rock, Classic Doom Rock, Trippy Psychedelic Grooves and masses of Dark Orientated Stoner Rock/Metal.

The album covers social and psychological themes which shape up the fucked up world we live in which is completely out of our control. However, Tigers On Opium deliver this message through moments of Trippy Psychedelic Heavy Jams and Gloomy Hard Rock passages with intelligent lyrics to match. The vocals mostly from Juan Carlos Caceres with superb support from Nate, Charles and Jeanot have a 1980’s Stadium Rock and modern day Proto-Doom sound that reminds me of Mars Red Sky and Uncle Acid & The Deadbeat in places.

Tigers On Opium always strive for creative musical excellence throughout with an exciting style of highly original Psychedelic tones and catchy aggressive Stoner rhythms with an apocalyptic style of Fuzz Rock on outstanding tracks such as: Ride Or Die, Black Mass, Diabolique, Paradise Lost, Radioactive and Separation Of The Mind.

Even though Psychodrama has plenty of gloomy and hard-hitting vibes, the record also has some killer upbeat movements which is told mostly through the fast-paced grooves Tigers On Opium play on this album. 

There’s some wicked 1980’s Soft Rock and AOR melodies which you don’t expect from the band especially on the sublime fourth track Retrovertigo which could easily be considered a romantic song if performed by a different band. However, listen to the lyrics more closely and the song changes into something more profound even with the Classic Rock and Retro Rock based elements. This is perhaps one of the most original and surreal songs on the album which showcases why I think Tigers On Opium are one of the best songwriters in the Stoner Rock underground scene.

The creative magic that the band conjures up on Psychodrama is EPIC and the band delivers one classic track after another. This sounds like a greatest hits album rather than a debut album. You get the feeling that Tigers On Opium have been around for decades and showing the upcoming bands within the Stoner Rock scene how to deliver a winning collection of highly original Stoner Rock songs that have a deep social conscience to them.

Psychodrama has the legendary Jack Endino on mastering duties and the band’s very own Juan Carlos Caceres on production duties. You also have Adam Pike helping guitarist Jeanot on engineering duties. So this album is very much a team affair and a great reason why the album sounds fantastic from start to finish.

Tigers On Opium will no doubt gain a whole legion of new fans and gain more attention thanks to this album alone. Psychodrama is an outstanding debut album. End Of.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Purple Sage PR for the promo.

Psychodrama will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Heavy Psych Sounds from March 1st 2024.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Psych Stoner Rockers TIGERS ON OPIUM Premiere New Song/Video PARADISE LOST From Upcoming New Album PSYCHODRAMA

Psychodrama is Tigers on Opium debut full length.A structured form of therapy in which a person dramatizes a personal problem or conflict, usually in front of a group of other therapy participants. The other participants usually take part in the drama, though each performance focuses on a single person's concerns. The goal of psychodrama therapy is to work together in a group to achieve a better understanding of past traumas and the influence they can create, the members must feel willing to work together.

You can hear the new song and watch the video for Paradise Lost below. 

About the song: "Temptation’s a bitch. Everyone struggles with it, whatever your vice is, there’s no escaping this human experience. Sex, drugs, alcohol, money, power, deceit... There are an endless amount of options to feed the hunger of temptation. This song is about an ancient story told by many religions, the fall of man and the birth of original sin."

The album PSYCHODRAMA explores various psychological and social experiences that have shaped our cultural evolution. Occultism, Propaganda, Atomic Warfare, Media Consumption, Religion, Social unrest, Nostalgia, Mental Struggle, Pop Culture, Revolution, and Change - are all themes explored throughout the album. 

PSYCHODRAMA will be out on CD/DD/Vinyl via Heavy Psych Sounds on March 1st 2024.

Thanks to Purple Sage PR for all of the info.

Links

Website ⎜ Facebook ⎜ Bandcamp ⎜ Instagram ⎜ Spotif

Portland rockers TIGERS ON OPIUM to release debut album "Psychodrama" on Heavy Psych Sounds From March 2024; first track streaming now!

Portland-based hard rockers TIGERS ON OPIUM sign to Heavy Psych Sounds Records for the release of their debut album "Psychodrama" on March 1st 2024, and unveil its first single "Sky Below My Feet"

Critics have frequently compared TIGERS ON OPIUM to heavy hitters such as Queens of the Stone Age, Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, Electric Wizard, Torche, Alice in Chains and Refused - and just like these bands, Tigers shares a hunger for the exploration of new ideas, while simultaneously staying rooted in what makes all this music timeless... THE RIFF! The result is a dark and dirty psychedelic fuzz that leaves the typical genre conventions in an insalubrious haze.

Stream new single Sky Below My Feet below:

Their debut album "Psychodrama" explores various psychological and social experiences that have shaped our cultural evolution. Occultism, Propaganda, Atomic Warfare, Media Consumption, Religion, Social unrest, Nostalgia, Mental Struggle, Pop Culture, Revolution, and Change - are all themes explored throughout the album.

About their new track "Sky Below My Feet", the band says: “It’s wild that we look in mirrors everyday, and depending on your general disposition, a mirror can tell you a lot about yourself. Somebody smarter than me said the mirror is a reflection of the soul. So whether your world is turning upside down and you’re racing against the clock, or you’re just getting ready to head out the house and need a quick fit check… a mirror can tell us a lot. And it especially tells us the truth. There’s no running from it. Sky Below My Feet is about facing your true self, even when you feel that everything around you is falling apart. You can look into your own eyes, and decide which version of you it is you want to be.”

Debut album "Psychodrama" - Out March 1st 2024 on Heavy Psych Sounds - PRE-ORDER

Psychodrama" is TIGERS ON OPIUM's debut full length: a structured form of therapy in which a person dramatizes a personal problem or conflict, usually in front of a group of other therapy participants. The other participants usually take part in the drama, though each performance focuses on a single person's concerns. The goal of psychodrama therapy is to work together in a group to achieve a better understanding of past traumas and the influence they can create, the members must feel willing to work together.

Frontman Juan Carlos Caceres says: "When I came across the idea of psychodrama therapy, I started to think about how we have so many joint experiences as a society that currently happen or have happened, and how they shape both our singular and collective consciousness. Music has always been a form of therapy for not just me, but a massive amount of the people in the world. I started to conceptualize this as an idea for the album, thinking that we all have so many connections to major/micro events in time, and generally similar interpretations of them. Like the idea of a psychodrama therapy session, I started to envision how the songs could play out about these different moments... Almost like vignettes or snapshots of life, with the song playing the role of the individual, and the listeners playing the role of the group.

”TIGERS ON OPIUM is

Juan Carlos Caceres - lead vocals, guitars, synths, piano
Nate Wright - drums and vocals
Charles Hodge - bass and vocals
Jeanot Lewis-Rolland - guitars and vocals

TIGERS ON OPIUM links

Website ⎜ Facebook ⎜ Bandcamp ⎜ Instagram ⎜ Spotify

HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS links

Website ⎜ Facebook ⎜ Bandcamp ⎜Instagram ⎜ Youtube

Thanks to Purple Sage PR for all of the details.

Tigers On Opium - 503.420.6669.Vol.2 (EP Review)

Release Date: January 07th 2022. Record Label: Forbidden Place Records. Format: DD/Cassette

503​.​420​.​6669​.​Vol​.​2 - Tracklisting

1.Main Meow-nu 00:56

2.The Perfect Cocktail 02:55

3.82nd St. Harlequin 04:53

4.503.420.6669. 00:32

5.Snowflakes 03:34

6.Lotus Blossom 04:19

7.The Void 01:23

8.Wanderlust 07:36

Review

Doom/Stoner Rockers Tigers On Opium are back with their new release 503​.​420​.​6669​.​Vol​.​2 and it sees the guys return with more crazy Fuzzed Out Psychedelic adventures which they started on 2021’s 503​.​420​.​6669​.​Vol​.​1. The guys have a more riffier approach to this release and they’ve managed to include a certain Mr Matt Pike on one of EP’s later tracks as well.

This EP is a more hard-rocking approach with it’s almost seedy 70s and 90s based free-flowing Stoner Rock attitude with street-level Doom Rock/Metal grooves that almost hang on the side of Noise Rock in places. The majority of the songs are short, loud and aggressive with an almost “POP” nature to them. Singalong choruses are a must on most of these songs with The Perfect Cocktail having the right amount of different Rock/Metal styles to keep the mood exciting and fresh.

Third song 82nd St. Harlequin is where Tigers On Opium really start to come into their own with delicious FUZZ Rock, Doom Rock and Stoner Metal riffs that are intertwined with Punk Rock attitude. This song has plenty of “meaty” hooks with grizzled vocals to match. The song is quite slow-paced with the band moving along at their own pace. The song does remind me of Dutch Stoner Metallers KOMATSU in places but there’s still enough variety for Tigers On Opium to stand their own creative ground. The song has a thumping bass and drums combo that will give your hearing a proper audio workout.

The EP runs for 25 minutes but there’s still a high amount of EPIC RIFFS within the short running time. The band have also spliced various soundclips and psychedelic sounds within the EP that could easily end up being distracting but everything is placed in the right way.

503​.​420​.​6669​.​Vol​.​2 could have easily been overloaded with different themes, sounds and ideas but Tigers On Opium have released a refreshing and fast-paced slice of Modern Day Doom/Stoner Rock. This release is easily leagues ahead of their debut release and I rated that release highly when it was originally released last year. 

The guys do show their tender side on Lotus Blossom that starts off like a slightly melodramatic style of music and it works even within the heavier and hard-rocking content on the EP. Take close attention to the lyrics to see where the “Doom & Gloom” element for this song. Excellent lyrics and laid-back vocals make this one of the standout songs on the EP.

Tigers Of Opium have delivered another high quality release and fans of great Doom/Stoner Rock music should definitely keep an eye on these guys in the future. Be cool to see what they can do with a full length release.

Words by Steve Howe

You can buy 503.420.6669.Vol.2 on DD/Cassette from Forbidden Place Records

Links

Facebook | BandCamp

Tigers On Opium - 503​.​420​.​6669​.​vol one (EP Review)

Release date: January 22nd 2021. Label: Forbidden Place Records. Format: DD/Cassette Tape.

503​.​420​.​6669​.​vol one – Tracklisting

1.We're at Meow Meow 00:32
2.Hash 05:33
3.I May Sound Like A Drunk... But I Feel Like A Matador 03:15
4.Icarus 03:04
5.When I Go 01:57
6.Dark Electric 04:00
7.Tantos Años Juntos 02:56 

Review

503​.​420​.​6669​.​vol one is the latest release from Electro-Punk Tinged Stoner Rock misfits – Tigers On Opium and it’s quite easily their boldest and exciting release to date. The record only last 21 minutes but the band make every second count with their blend of Psych Rock, Doom Rock, Desert Rock and rebellious Stoner Rock grooves.

They sound quite different to the release Dark Electric I reviewed a short while ago. You can still here elements of Uncle Acid classic Doom Rock soundscapes but this has been injected with a more darker elements of Desert/Stoner Rock. The EP allows Tigers On Opium to show a real experimental flair to their sound. Songs such as Hash, I May Sound Like A Drunk... But I Feel Like A Matador, Icarus and Dark Electric are the real standouts here. As the songs are more vibrant and have weird psychedelic Stoner Rock flavour to them compared to the other shorter songs on the album.

Tigers On Opium don’t stick to one style of music throughout this release as the band play fast and loose with Stoner Rock conventions and play what sounds mostly good to them. You want fast-paced PUNK ROCK, Dark Twisted Pop, Doom Rock, Desert Rock and Psych Rock all held in the confinements of Stoner Rock then 503​.​420​.​6669​.​vol one is the answer you’re looking for.

The EP does sadly run out of steam with the last song Tantos Años Juntos. As even though it’s a superbly played and much tender song. It’s just not as fun as what came before it. Though, it’s good to see Tigers On Opium trying a different approach with their music.

If you miss the early days of QOTSA when they were a true force to be reckoned with then Tigers On Opium have that same drive and energy. I’m hoping there’s a full length album in the near future basically just to see what crazy ideas and grooves the band can come up with on a much longer record.

Awesome stuff...

Words by Steve Howe

503​.​420​.​6669​.​vol one is available to buy now on Cassette Tape/DD via Forbidden Place Records.

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp

Tigers On Opium - Dark Electric (Single Review)

Release date: December 11th 2020. Label: Forbidden Place Records. Format: DD

Dark Electric – Tracklisting

1. DARK ELECTRIC 04:00
2. DARK ELECTRIC-(WarStar Remix) 03:30
3. DARK ELECTRIC-(TRIANGLES Remix) 03:45

The Lowdown

Experimental Doom/Stoner Rockers Tigers On Opium released their new single Dark Electric recently and it's from their forthcoming album - 503.420.6669.Vol 1 - which will be released by Forbidden Place Records at a later date.

The song is a catchy hybrid of Doom Metal, Psych Rock, Stoner Metal and a hint of Weirdo Rock. If you can call it that. The song is quite gloomy but also quite addictive when the Psych Rock and Stoner Metal sounds appear. If you dig band such as KYUSS, Electric Wizard and Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats then Tigers On Opium are here to quench your thirst.

The song is backed up by 2 different remixes as well. They're good and I mean really good. Though I prefer the original version but it's good to see the band including different versions of the song.

Juan Carlos Caceres from the band says this about the song :

“Over the years... We’ve lost so many great friends, musicians, and artists to the grip of heroin and opioids.  I wrote this song as a sort of release of tension, for how I feel about the people I’ve lost to drug addiction. There’s a sort of juxtaposition to it all. Like a mixture of sad beauty, or a car crash you know is coming but you crank the music and live the ride.” - Juan Carlos Caceres

Words by Steve Howe

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp

Tigers On Opium - There's A Kink For That (Album Review)

Release date: September 13th 2016. Label: Self Released. Format: DD

There's A Kink For That – Tracklisting

1.ONE WAY OUT 05:14

2.THE GREAT DIVIDE 04:00

3.CULTURE KILLERS 04:42

4.DIVE IN 04:00

5.SHIVERS 03:58

6.WE'RE NOT YOUNG FOREVER 05:53

Band Members:

GUITARS/BASS/TAMBOURINE/MOOG/VOX -JUAN CARLOS CACERES

DRUMS/AUXPERCUSSION/PIANO/MOOG/MICROKORG/BACKVOX - NATE WRIGHT

Review:

Portland, Oregon strikes again in providing a truly kick-ass and great band to check out. This time it's Tigers On Opium to impress you with their bombastic style of Stoner, Punk, Grunge, Rock and Roll with a knowing Pop Sensibility. Their sound brings back memories of QOTSA and even Torche at times.

The band may have a slightly off-kilter DIY Punk ethic in their sound but opening track – One Way Out – creates a crazy Punk/Grunge/Stoner Rock sound with the band expertly weaving through the different genres they have at their disposal. For a two piece band these guys are extremely creative as the vocals mainly from Juan are firmly in the classic grunge style. Nate provides able support with his fine vocal delivery.

If you're a fan of Indian Handcrafts then Tigers On Opium create a similar kind of music but with more focus on Stoner Riffs with moments of loud Psychedelic Rock appearing here and there.

Second track – The Great Divide – is perhaps the standout track on the album as the band blend different styles of music yet again for a more out-there sound. Though Tigers On Opium keep the mood highly energetic, fun and wholly addictive. The lyrics have a playful attitude to them and the band have written some great lyrics that will be in your head for days.

It's too Tigers On Opium credit that they create 6 tracks that sound very different to each other. Third track – Culture Killers – has moments of post-hardcore madness buried within the schizophrenic sounds being played around you.

There's A Kink For That is a blistering style of different noises and riffs that you will be listening to for days on end. The album is expertly produced by Juan and Nate as the album builds up-to a superb finish with final track – We're Not Young Forever.

If you want something different to listen to then I can't recommend Tigers On Opium highly enough . The album showcases their talent for writing highly anthemic riffs and great lyrics to match.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp