Om - Variations On A Theme

  by Andrew Carver

published: 8 / 2 / 2005

Label: Holy Mountain
Format: CD

intro

Bass-and-drums offshoot project of legendary doom lords Sleep, which carries on that band's "tradition of mysticism and steady, crushing riffs"

The bass-and-drums duo Om is an offshoot of the legendary doom lords Sleep. Featuring the rhythm section of Chris Hakius and Al Cisneros, the group carries on the tradition of mysticism and steady, crushing riffs. Where Sleep's masterwork 'Jerusalem' meshed Black Sabbath at its most turgid, Christian pilgrimage and cannabis into one brain melting track, 'Variations' aims its beliefs a little further east and stays off the drugs. (It also keeps the songs shorter, and breaks things down into three tracks. The shortest is just a shade shy of 12 minutes, the longest -- 'On The Mountain at Dawn' -- goes on for a mere 21 minutes and 16 seconds.)None of that makes much difference to the final effect: Cisneros' wordy incantations and the steamroller thrum of his bass, Hakius' chiming cymbals, military-march snare and thudding kick drum add up to a ritual of sludge that should suit Sunn o))) fans looking for something a bit speedier, zen headbangers, and anyone interested in knowing what happened to the Sleep members who didn't end up with the Sabines or High on Fire.

Track Listing:-