OM

Is an emotional aural ride like none other you have had. It is also a work of creative genius and instrumental and engineering virtuosity. As a matter of fact, on Om, like Dark Side of the Moon, it could be said that the recrding engineer and mixologist are as important contributors to the end product as the composers and musicians.

1. "Ceasuri Rele (intro)" (3:07) starts with a long silence before outdoor night noises creep in. At the end of the first minute a male voice whispers a couple of things, spooky Halloween-like noises flit in and out while the whispering man continues voicing his emotion-filled warnings (in a non-English language). Male chorale "aahs" and "ooos" crescendo as the whispering man seems to lose it. (9/10)

2. "Tesarul de lumini" (12:48) begins with guitars. Though this develops into, at first, a goth metal, and then a doom metal, song, the volume never goes overboard and the clarity and definition of sound never gets murky or clouded, the contributions of instruments and samples are never lost or disrespected. (8/10)

3. "Primul Om" (4:22) is more of an ambient soundtrack to some rural, gypsy scene. Interesting for a metal album. (8/10)

4. "Cunoaºterea Tãcutã" (7:11) begins with the ambiguity of crystal clear drums and synth with heavily distorted electric guitar metal strums. The doom metal growls are played off of by an almost priestly/cantor-like male church vocal. Acoustic tuned percussion play against the metal guitar while the singer growls. At 2:30 a strong tenor voice sings (sounding very much like RETROSPECTIVE's lead vocalist). At 3:03 the song's wall of sound drops off and a sophisticated weave (polyrhythmic?) of keys, guitars, tuned percussion, and bass perform for two and a half minutes before the heavy metal guitar and vocal growl return. Actually a pretty awesome, amazing finish! (10/10)

5. "Înarborat" (6:22) begins with some sounds that I'm more familiar with in association with sacred Tibetan or Siberian shamanic musical traditions--'skin and bone' percussives and big horns. Then, at 1:40, the acoustic instruments stop and a heavy metal section begins (sounding a bit like the chords to ALICE COOPER's "School's Out"). The growl vocalist enters, the metal guitars flatten out, eventually break into two channels, each one going off on his own adventure--keying one off of the other yet not mirroring or replicating each other. Very cool! At 4:20 the guitars disappear, a monastic choir appears, and a male voice says something in a quite matter-of-fact speaking voice. Then the metal section restarts, the vocals bevome a bit more crazed, insistent, and yet diverse. Amazing song! (9/10)

6. "Dedesuptul" (6:39) starts off with metal guitars and drumming, vocal screams and growl voice. Interesting additional "cave bell" sound and guitar chord changes. Then at 1:40 an Arabian melodic theme is shifted to, bringing with it a shift in feel, change in vocal and guitar approach. By 2:30 we are back to the B section, with its growls and quick-changing strummed metal guitar chords. Enter into the background a discordant, disconnected keyboard(? or is it guitar?). At 4:50 this keyboard comes to the fore, reveals itself as a heavily treated guitar, plays some odd riffs, and then steps off to be replaced by the plodding, spooky synthesizer keyboard playing as if for the soundtrack of a murder-mystery. Odd song. (8/10)

7. "Norilor" (3:00) is an instrumental that bleeds from the previous song, "Dedesuptul," carrying forward the eery soundtrack feeling, adding some of the 'skin and bone' percussives as well as other more orchestral percussion instruments to help tell the story. (9/10)

8. "De Piatrã" (5:36) puts us back into very traditional metal--and doom metal--territory. The growls here, however, sound much more diverse, as if Tasmanian Devil, Dracula, and some imprisoned-underground Titan from Greek mythology were all in conversation. The guitar work--and vocal work--evolve into some different, less metallic, more theatric (if that's possible) styles, though the basic rhythm section pace remains quite frenetic throughout. Interesting, entertaining, just not my cup of tea. (7/10)

9. "Cel Din Urmã Vis" (10:03) (my favorite song on the album) begins with two guitars playing different arpeggios in different channels, before the rest of the rhythm section joins in at the one minute mark. As the song settles into its structure and rhythm, a very cool Trevor Horn/Fairlight CMI-like keyboard "choir" hit plays a big part in drawing the listener in. Vocal growls enter and play for a brief spell before the song shifts into a surprisingly long, very calm, misty walking-through-the-graveyard-at-midnight-on-a-misty-Halloween keyboard-led section. In the seventh minute these two sections combine--sustained choral chords, growl vocals, over the metal music. Only this song, this music, this metal, has more melody, more interest (thanks to the 'Fairlight CMI'). The song's final minute and a half pick up the pace to a much more frenetic metal pace, but the keys join in for the last thirty seconds. What a ride! (10/10)

10. "Hora Soarelui" (5:55) starts right up in heavy metal mode until the 30th second, when al switches to a very colloquial folk sound (LES NEGRESSES VERTES anyone?)--like a silly drinking song! At 1:48 it feels like it's going to evolve again, but it just gets more synth and vocal harmony support. Beautiful. Kind of TALKING HEADS-like! Love the solo by the folk string instrument (guitar variation?) during the mellow mid-section. Things pick up and rock metal out again. (10/10)

11. "Al Doilea Om (outro)" (2:03) allows the album to fade out right where it started--eery, shamanic, meditative, with lots of "Aum"-ing. (9/10)

Like I said above, this album offers a lot of unusual and interesting stuff. It is so different, so unique (in my experience), and so enjoyable that I recognized it immediately as a masterpiece of sheer genius, and I still find myself awed by it.

B+/4.5 stars, a near-masterpiece of progressive rock music.