Steve Albini strikes again! As a recording engineer, he is one of the few who can be trusted with the task of recording extreme music that has a long history of being improperly mastered and mixed-down. He has made all the difference in the world on recordings with Neurosis, Fugazi, Gogol Bordello, The Stooges, Mono, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and many more. Well, it’s no wonder then, that OM trusted him to record their third full-length album at Electrical Audio studio in Chicago. The album will be titled Pilgrimage and it is due to be released on Southern Lord (OM’s first album on this label) on October 2nd.
Om - Pilgrimage Tracklist
1. Pilgrimage
2. Unitive Knowledge of the Godhead
3. Bhimas Theme
4. Pilgrimage (reprise)
This music is so heavy that even at a mere 4 tracks, it still weighs in as a full-length LP! You can listen to the second track “Unitive Knowledge of the Godhead” here:
The CD will be released first, on October 2nd, but a gatefold LP version will also be available sometime after the CD is out. That’s one of things I really like about Southern Lord - they regularly release gatefold LPs. Like the good old days….
OM will also be touring most of the US from late summer into winter! So far only September dates are available, but the band is in the process of securing East Coast shows in November, and West Coast shows in December.
OM Tour Dates
September 13 Cleveland, OH GROG SHOP. w/ Daniel Higgs ALL AGES!
September 14 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle w/ Circle
September 15 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle w/Daniel Higgs
September 16 Newport, KY Southgate House
September 19 Tempe, AZ Marquee Theatre w/Pinback
September 20 Albuquerque, NM Sunshine Theatre w/Pinback
September 21 Oklahoma City, OK Bricktown Live w/ Pinback
September 22 Dallas, TX Palladium Ballroom w/ Pinback
September 23 Austin, TX Emo’s
I will leave you with this strange video - it is a horribly distorted recording of OM performing live at the Supersonic Festival in Birmingham from July of this year. And while the audio isn’t great, this song - in all of its wonderful sludgeness, is one of the tracks on the new album:
This is where Steve Albini comes in - only that guy could work proper mixer magic on music like this to ensure that there will be no distortion, no microphone feedback, no muddy low-end. This video just goes to show how incredible Steve Albini’s talent in the studio really is!
Southern Lord Links
New OM page on Southern Lord’s website
Everything you will need to know about the forthcoming album and tour updates will be available on Southern Lord’s News Pages.
Steve Albini Links
One more thing about Steve Albini - and the whole commercial record industry: Albini once wrote this stellar article about major label dealings and how bands can lose a lot of money and effort if they don’t realize exactly what they are signing up for. Negativland still have that article available on their website, and I think it is a MUST READ for any band that wants to get signed by a big record label. It’s not bad to get a major label deal, but you do have to play your cards right. And this article just gives you more knowledge to add to your arsenal when the time comes…
Check out: “The Problem With Music” by Steve Albini on Negativland
What Do You Think? ↓
1 Sludge Metal Audio From OM // Dec 27, 2007 at 1:02
[...] album, which will be released on October 2nd, but now we have audio to share! Go to the original OM Pilgrimage article to listen to “Unitive Knowledge of the Godhead.” You can also download the mp3 directly from the new OM page on Southern Lord’s [...]