OM – God Is Good

I always considered that some things happen for a reason most of the times, though we might shouldn’t think this way. What do I want to say? There once was a godly band called Sleep that finally split up. Two other bands were created after this, one was High On Fire and the other was OM. So, instead of one, now we have two great bands, completely different in style of course, but that’s why the word variation exists.

”God Is Good” is OM’s fourth release, continuing from where ”Pilgrimage”, their previous effort, departed. Things have got more mellow here, since we don’t have the droning atmosphere of their two first albums (”Variations On A Theme” and ”Conference Of The Birds”) and it is challenging because of many significant reasons that are about to set a different stage from now on inside the group.

This happens mainly because Al Cisneros, the soul of the band, lost his other half in drummer Chris Hakius, his yearly partner from his Sleep days. Entering new drummer Emil Amos, had a rough tusk to successfully fill Hakius’s shoes, as his playing was known for many years and was somehow a part of OM’s soul. Thank God, he managed to do a great work and not copy the style of the one he replaced. Also, we have the participation of members of Grails this time, providing some extra help to the dynamic duo using tamboura and flute.

The album starts with nearly 20-minute opus ”Thebes” where the basslines of Al beat like the palm of a strong heart, despite the fact that everything in this release goes in slow motion. The moment his vocals enter, you get lost in God’s embrace and then nothing seems the same. ”Meditation Is The Practice Of Death” is much more easy to listen to and will be the most memorable moment of this album, while the ”Cremation Ghat” suite, is divided in two parts, with some tribal-like playing in the first part and more ‘getting lost to it’ atmosphere on the second part.

The operation was successful, the patient lived this time. In case of such condition, other bands would have called it a day. Cisneros not only didn’t he give up, but also took part this year in two of its best albums (including the masterpiece self-titled debut of Shrinebuilder). Their music is special and for special years also. Declaring myself as a thrasher, this album won the game from the beginning. It may do the same to you also. 4 songs, 33 minutes. Give yourselves the chance to come closer to God and find out on your own if HE is as good as OM declare.