Band: Opium Den
From: Fort Worth, Texas
Their formation story:
(Eli, vocals): "A couple of us grew up together in the Bay Area, moved to Texas around the same time, and wrote the demo together in our garage. After we recorded that, we convinced some dudes we knew from local hardcore shows to join, and we wrote this EP together while playing pretty much nonstop over the past year."
Their sound in their own words:
"We play hardcore punk with some mixed power violence and occasional post-punk influences. Our main influences are Ceremony, The Rival Mob, Hoax, 86 Mentality, and Soul Swallower. FFO anything Youth Attack ever put out."
Latest release info:
"It's the first true release we've written entirely as a band and had recorded professionally. We just wanted to make hardcore punk we all wanted to hear, and we didn't want to follow any particular formula or emulate any specific sound.
"We're signed with Gate Six Records out of San Antonio, and they're helping release it and everything. We're stoked with how it turned out."
Future plans:
"We just did a small Texas run with our friends in Pack Mentality. We'll be opening for E-Town Concrete in July, for Sheer Terror in August, and playing the Houston Winter Weekender festival in November.
"We've already started writing a full-length record, and we've got plans to get out of state in November as well."
What other bands from their region should we check out?
"Tank Division, FLU, Puppy Mill, Spit My Rage, Defcon-1, Detach, Cynical, Trauma, Scratch Off, Kitetsu, Self-Inflicted, Freeze Out, False Front, Liberty & Justice, Bullshit Detector, True Grit, and War-Lord. I'm sure we're forgetting some, but there are so many good Texas hardcore/punk bands. Any of those is a good place to start."
The Opium Den EP release show is going down on August 8 at Underground Jam Station in Dallas, TX with FLÜ, Tank Division, Self-Inflicted, and True Grit. Physical copies of the EP will be out soon via Gate Six Records.
Opium Den on social media: Instagram
Tagged: opium den
