Om

In 2006, Romanian atmospheric black metal band Negură Bunget released their career-defining album, OM (which means "human" in Romanian). This album also displays elements of folk metal, progressive metal, post-metal, and ambient music in it. Another defining feature that this album has going for it is how that the cover art contains mostly bright colors. This is not something most black metal purists would be happy to see, however the music on here if judged on its own is actually rather interesting.

OM is sung entirely in Romanian, eschewing the more common English lyrics found in the majority of black metal bands. On top of that, the progressive metal influences can be seen immediately when listening to "Țesarul de lumini". In line with that statement, guitars are a key player on OM, as the solos are beautiful to listen to and also have some serious psychedelic undertones to them. "Cunoașterea tăcută" is your more typical atmospheric black metal song, which would best be described as a cross between Blut aus Nord and Darkthrone. The guitar riffs are tight and Edmond Karban's clean sung vocals are beautiful. The xylophones kick in after a few minutes and leads into a melancholic guitar solo that makes me want to cry in tears. Even the instrumental track, "Norilor" is a highlight. A relaxing song that can soothe people's soul, especially with the COVID-19 scares going on right now.

By black metal standards, this wouldn't scare anyone. However, the musicianship is worth noting. The drumming of bandleader Negru is phenomenal on here. He can go from a psychedelic rock style to a pure Norwegian blast beat. Negru is also the one who played the xylophone on OM. The xylophone is rarely used in metal music, but it's put to good use here. This is most notable on "Primul om", where the black metal shrieks aren't a key player on this track. In addition, the keyboards create a breathtaking atmosphere that some atmospheric black metal bands wish to have (ie. Abigail Williams). Case in point: "Dedesuptul", which simultaneously utilizes both beautiful keyboard atmospheres and melodic guitar riffing. Each guitar solo is unique and stands out in every way possible, especially the second solo on "De piatră". On top of that, the spiritual chants do not detract from OM's quality, especially considering that the album is influenced by Romanian folk music.

I might've said this before, folk metal is a challenging genre for me to listen to. It can either sound cheesy or achingly beautiful. Thankfully, this isn't entirely folk metal, as OM contains elements of progressive metal and black metal as well to give Negură Bunget a distinct sound. OM is a dense, melodic, atmospheric, and psychedelic album that is easy to begin listening to but difficult to fully embrace. Those who take the time to understand the beauty of OM will be rewarded with a black metal album that literally pushed boundaries upon its release. As such, it's easily worthy of your purchase.