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The Top 10 of 2009: Number Nine…

Never got to ask Al Cisneros about the title. Should have.Maybe the reason I keep saying it is because I was so damned surprised to find it out, but Om is better without Chris Hakius. As a replacement in the duo alongside bassist/vocalist Al Cisneros, Emil Amos of Grails shines in the drummer role. I was beyond skeptical as they were getting ready to take the stage at Roadburn this year, but they blew my mind. Likewise, when I finally picked up a copy of their first release for Drag City, the provocatively/dogmatically titled God is Good, the astonishment carried over in such a way as to make me even more excited than I already had been for the future of the band.

With only four tracks, God is Good makes the most of the Steve Albini recording job to come off with a natural and live sound that’s centered around the Cisneros‘ warm bass, but branches out in multiple directions as well. On 19-minute opener “Thebes,” Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe (a.k.a. Lichens) guests on tambura, and Lorraine Rath joins Amos and Cisneros on flute for “Meditation is the Practice of Death.” Ending couplet, “Cremation Ghat I” and “Cremation Ghat II” find Om again indulging their eastern influence with Lowe on additional vocals and tambura (respectively), but as much as God is Good satisfies by expanding the sound of the band, the stylistic trademarks that have come to reveal themselves over the past three albums are reinforced as well, making this still very much an Om record.

Ideally, God is Good will mark the beginning of a new era for Om. As someone who was unimpressed with their lone offering for Southern Lord, 2007’s Pilgrimage, but was glad to fill my lungs and drown in the two albums prior, I’m glad to hear their progression so evident on this latest offering, and definitely consider it to be one of the year’s best.

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One Response to “The Top 10 of 2009: Number Nine…”

  1. ukguy says:

    No other comments on this??? My views on this album are somewhat unstable. I keep coming back to my feeling that this is very good album, and would be excellent (and worthy of being in top 10) if only (1) the distorted bass in Thebes was stronger, bigger and hit the listener in the gut more; (2) the album felt more complete, with an extra track or extension of the last two tracks or something (it ends leaving my feel unsatisfied)….

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