Welcome to Robert Hood’s new album ‘Omega’. Inspired by the 1971 film ‘The Omega Man’ where one man fights tirelessly for the good of mankind, we’re led through a breathtaking path of intensely interconnected rhythms that create the perfect backdrop for a good old-fashioned concept album. For Hood, who is widely perceived as the creator of the minimal techno genre, this album has a much deeper meaning than just music.
‘When I shut my eyes,’ he begins. ‘I see the way we’re all headed. If you look at the world now with disease and warfare, we are constantly in conflict. Its only getting worse and we’re not paying attention to it. Were immune. We think we’re getting better and heading into the future but instead we've stood still. Even with things like race relations, it's the same now as it was 40 years ago. Everything has been brushed under the surface. Its all been hidden for too long and hasn’t been addressed.’
Hood’s vision for the future is one where families turn on one another and race wars break out. It’s a world where electricity is lost, running water has run out and life as we know it has disappeared. World Bank systems have crumbled and failed – a Mad Max, dog eat dog existence. But what can we do to change it?
‘We can't change anything. This is prophecy. All of this is talked about in Revelations in the Bible. The cleansing must take place in order for us to get to the place God intended for us – the Promised Land so to speak. God rained fire down on the earth because there was so much destruction. If you look at Israel or the little tiny island Haiti and the recent earthquakes, the rest of the world could not care less about it all. In order for us to wake up, the cleansing must happen. We either wake up or perish.’
Yet with such a profound connection to the teachings of the bible, Hood is quick to say Religion actually divides people.
‘You have Protestant, Jehovah's Witnesses. You have Baptists, Jews and Buddhists. All of these religions are divided and everybody thinks their way is the best, which creates the problem. Christianity is the answer, not religion. When you look at the word Christianity it comes from the word Christ. In being Christian you are following Christ. Nothing else matters, everyone is on the same plane. By following Christ there is no difference between nations, culture and geographical barriers. You’re just following one god and there is only one door - in or out.’
And so, in ‘The Omega Man’, Robert Neville eventually comes up with a cure for mankind through his own immune blood. He gives it to another small band of infected human beings. But in the end, the family tragically kills him. In short, he gives his life, much like Christ did, so that man could be reborn again.
Fiction or reality? You decide.
Rob Hood ‘Omega’ is out now on M-Plant Recordings.
Words: Mark EG
