OM - Pilgrimage (2007)^{Release ID: 5163}

The life choice that I made to listen to extreme metal for pretty much all of my teenage through adult life has been a decision that has rewarded me well in the main.  I have discovered some truly astonishing bands and albums that have stayed with me to this day.  Some of them took multiple visits before the beam of light finally struck me and I fully understood what was in front of me.  Others were more immediate, hitting me in the face from the off and some of them (only a small number admittedly) are still socking me in the cakehole to this day.  However, as I get older (I am pushing 50 after all), tastes change.  Whilst, recent releases from Exhorder and Judas Priest reminded me just why I love the more high octane elements of metal, I do increasingly need something to soothe my stressed and anxious head.  Quite by accident, I stumbled across OM via a playlist and was instantly drawn into the therapeutic qualities of the Californian trio.

Pilgrimage is like a balm for my soul.  Full of repetition and consistently familiar structure from track-to-track, its effect was instantaneous,  Whether I am working, driving, cleaning, hiking or just sat still, with Pilgrimage playing I am at peace.  Truly at peace, as in zoned out of this shitshow we know as reality and somewhere else (sub-consciously at least, especially if I am driving).  The Hindu mantra that is the band's name, is a perfect fit for this trance-inducing style of stoner metal.  A fine example of how you can make heavy music without guitars (just a sick as fuck bass is all that you need folks), the four tracks here make for a satisfying thirty-two minutes.  The rhythms are simple yet so warming without being hippy-esque that you can't help but take comfort from their soothing textures.

If you're thinking this is a yawn fest then you're wrong.  Pilgrimage actually grows in intensity as the tracks roll by.  Granted we never flip into full on sludge-paced metal.  There's not even a threat of such violence intimated at any point here.  However, this is an album that thinks out of the box and relies on the subtlety of transitions in almost sneaking proportions. After the calming opener of the title track you soon find yourself several minutes into the album, wondering where the drums came in after being lulled into a barely lucid state by that bass.  This is one of the few albums in my lifetime that have provided a tactile experience.  I can touch and taste every note here, inhaling its incense-laced smoke as I go headlong falling into this record over and over again.