Om 'God Is Good' (Drag City) Released 21/09/09

Metal, eh? Not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, is it? Whether faced with its spandex-wearing, supersonic guitar solo unleashing faction, infamously fond of pointlessly complex compositions banging on about dragons, elves or Valhalla or the self-consciously ‘evil’, greasepaint and leather stud-clad black/death/maggot metal underground, it’s hard to escape the stench of perpetually adolescent unintentional silliness that hovers around the genre like a particularly pungent fart.

In recent years, something unexpected has been taking shape in the US. Various outfits - Sunn O))), Earth - have been dipping into the traditional Metal toolkit, whilst also maintaining an active interest in experimental music. The result of this balancing act between two seemingly conflicting instincts is a remarkable new sound: earth-tremblingly heavy, uncompromisingly loud but also capable of great subtlety and sophistication. Californian duo OM, whose overt fascination with all things spiritual – as exemplified by the album title – is enough to make the cod-satanic proponents of metal’s Hades-trawling hordes choke on their fake blood, belong to the forefront of this unofficial movement for metal that’s equally suitable for headbanging and chin-stroking.

OM’s severely limited palette – drums, bass, occasional vocals – seems like a shopping list for deadening monotony. Not so. Although title of 2005 debut album ‘Variations on a Theme’ remains a fitting description of the band’s minimalist approach, OM whip up remarkable levels of intensity with gradual changes in mood and texture – a dexterously executed drum roll, a drop of exotic instrumentation (tamboura and flute feature here), a melodic bass line dissolving into a distortion-coated rumble, a drop of dub-influenced echo. When the duo are locked into a towering monster of a riff their assault is far too powerful for attention to wonder into issues such as shortage of abrupt chord changes or frequently switching time signatures.

But the duo’s no longer interested in bone-crushing displays of bulging muscle alone. Perhaps inspired by changed in personnel (Emil Amos replaced original drummer Chris Haikius after 2007’s universally acclaimed ‘Pilgrimage’), ‘God Is Good’ heads off into some unexpected directions towards the end, with both ‘Cremation Ghat I’s handclap-propelled desert blues and the foreboding drift of the Grails-flavoured ‘Cremation Ghat II’ offering refreshing counterpoints to the all-conquering, hypnotic heaviness of the epic 19-minute opener ‘Thebes’.

The result’s a diverse, captivating album that’s enough to make a true believer from the most metal-averse of listeners.