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OM - God Is Good
Drag City Records
Release date: 2009
It's irrational, I know, but when a band I like loses half of its original members, I tend to get a little worried. It's not as if there's a proven mathematical formula that separates creative from uncreative, good from bad, but after a certain point, I can't help but think the core ideal of the group gets compromised.
Especially when the members are so intertwined, as was the case with Al Cisneros and Chris Hakius. When news broke that after three full-lengths, one live album, and a slew of splits, Hakius was leaving the two-piece, my reaction was, “Well, so much for that.” New drummer Emil Amos had an impressive enough resume – Grails came close to stealing the show when they opened for OM in Boston – but in my mind, OM was the sum of Cisneros and Hakius. Early clips of OMv2 had the pair coming off as disjointed, with Cisneros' rumbling, hypnotic bass lines working against Amos' busier playing. That only reinforced my assumption.
Turns out it was just growing pains. With God Is Good, OM finds itself not only sure-footed but marching forward in a new direction. Don't get me wrong – it's still unmistakably OM, right down to Cisneros' mystic spirituality gobbedly-gook lyrics (I guess I don't read the same books as him), but as the album progresses, it's obvious that the change in drummers has created a new sense of purpose.
Opening track “Thebes” is the most traditional of the four songs, coming close to packing the same punch as Conference of the Birds' “At Giza” (the high point in OMv1's run). “Meditation Is the Practice of Death” has another quintessential Cisneros bass line, but it seems to take a back seat to Amos' drumming, highlighting the difference between the two skinsmen. Hakius wasn't as flashy but was harder hitting. On “Mediation” in particular and on God Is Good as a whole, Amos takes a jazzier approach, adding more color with his fills in lieu of a bigger overall sound.
Speaking of color, the flute solo that floats out of the end of “Meditation” is another sign that the band is broadening its horizons, but that's got nothing on the last two songs. “Cremation Ghat I” sounds like a less tweaked, more Middle Eastern-influenced take on The Melvins' “Pearl Bomb.” I'm not 100% versed in OM's discography, but this track strikes me as the first time the band's picked up the pace, trading a rhythmic drone for buoyancy. It's a shame that it's only three minutes and 11 seconds long; it would've been interesting to see how the band stretched out that particular theme. Instead, however, they switch to “Cremation Ghat II,” which returns to the more subdued s t y l e of “Meditation.” The tamboura that served as background ambiance on “Thebes” takes center stage here, creating a song with a much richly texture than I've heard from them before. Again, I wish the band had given this song more time to breath – five minutes was not enough.
OM's lyrical focus has been on spirituality, and based on the album and song titles, God Is Good is no exception. Musically it can be seen as a like-minded rebirth. The core of what makes OM OM hasn't changed with the new line-up, but the band has a new identity and a broader sound. Had the last two songs been longer, God Is Good would easily be my favorite album by OM. As it stands, it's a very close second. Recommended.
- John Pegoraro
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I'm never gonna work another day in my life
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