Adrift in the Ocean (Music #6)

Today I am going to write about an album that changed my life: Atma.

Yob seems cult (cvlt?). Not concerned with hooks or singles, accessibility or smooth production, they would rather chug and churn along, building steam with a grain of sulphur. Singer/guitarist Mike Scheidt is a smart (and extremely kind) individual who has Motown in him - granted it is the train that built the town, not the silky voices that ironically defined it, and far from the record execs whose early brand of disaster capitalism bred the m entality that later drove it off the cliff. All hail Ayn Rand!

Anyway, somehow Yob has become a bit of a critical darling, and I personally think that is awesome. Doom metal getting a decent amount of mainstream exposure. There was a bit of critical craze during the Victorian age that found works irrelevant if the artist lived in an unsavory manner. If he was known to be rude and deny attention, the critics would say the same of his work. Scheidt then, to make a roundabout point, would be a successful artist, even under the auspices of such a rule. The guy will talk to you endlessly.

Let's consider the music itself. Doom tends to be incredibly slow, dark, and with long song lengths. This is no different. Consider bands like Sleep, Boris, Candlemass, and Electric Wizard. There is some early influence in bands like Pentagram and of course Black Sabbath as well.

Atma is dark, it's dense, it's hard to take in one sitting. It's metal the way it should be. Metal should offend us. Great metal would have moments that would offend metalheads, and that might be the slight letdown here: it doesn't offend, if you already concede to your metalness.

I am a late arrival on the doom/stoner scene, having grown up on Kill 'Em All, Iron Maiden, and so on. Slow music came in the form of Alice in chains. Why would you throw gnarly distortion on a guitar and blast cymbals at a snail's pace? Well at the ripe age of 32 (almost 33) it begins to make sense and become clearer (more hazy for most, eh?). Different times call for different tempos. I would much rather drink a dark port, smoke a clove, and feel Yob's music in my belly than a speed, thrash, or power metal band.
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