Atma is a tricky album, one that steers you into a false sense of complacency. Like a Zen Buddhist teacher it misdirects, plays the trickster, demands focus. This is YOB’s sixth album and it’s evident that they still have much to offer. Each song features a riff that functions like a Russian nesting doll. On a first listen it sounds like there’s nothing else when there’s a multitude of riches.
YOB doesn’t try to create catchy songs; they reach for sacred space. Mike Scheidt has embraced the big, bold riff since the beginning of his career, but always used it as a launching pad rather than a failsafe. Like much of YOB’s canon Atma features long songs that would test patience if we weren’t in the hands of such gifted musicians.
There are only four songs, including the sixteen minute “Before We Dreamed of Two.” Although Scheidt’s riffs are omnipresent each song reveals much more with attention. “Before” features bilious vocals from guest Scott Kelly of Neurosis, and “Prepare The Ground” is a reflection on impermanence with wordplay that approaches free verse (loosen the noose/release the thoughts/regain the power of no tomorrow). Kelly makes another memorable cameo on closer “Adrift in the Ocean.”
The references to Eastern philosophy aren’t accidental. What Scheidt is asking – no, demanding – that we do is to use each riff as an anchor in his complex musical universe. It’s no different than a yoga instructor demanding that one harness their energy and control their mind through a deceptively simple physical pose. Atma is an unpredictable journey that raises both musical and philosophical questions. It asks much but offers much in return.
(released August 16, 2011 on Profound Lore Records)
