Variations on a Theme

Om | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 15, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Holy Mountain
• ASIN: B00070Q87W
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,791 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Seven years after Sleep's demise, Al Cisneros and Chris Hakius return in a pared-down bass-drums-vocals configuration. Although jettisoning guitars might be deemed sacrilegious by metal purists, Om doesn't sacrifice any of Sleep's lumbering, Sabbath-weight riffage as Cisneros's distorted, fuzzed-out bass does the job admirably. The name Om corresponds perfectly with the pair's mantric, minimalist style. Sleep buried listeners under tons of sonic magma, the ideal soundtrack to stoned, navel-gazing stupor; by contrast, Om's hypnotic groove aspires to a higher state, suggesting a heavy yet ascetic regime of meditation. Variations on a Theme's transcendental design manifests itself in the sonic architecture. The song remains the same across these three crawling numbers (essentially movements in one gargantuan, ritualistic piece), throughout which the duo builds repetitive, mesmeric patterns: Cisneros grinds out meandering, python-thick basslines while Hakius pounds an earthmoving beat punctuated with precise, ringing, cymbal-strikes like the tolling of some primal ceremonial bell. Cisneros's unique sung-chanted vocals are another key element of this ritual as he intones quasi-mystical fragments in a clipped, affectless manner. Often ignoring standard syntactical rules, his lyrics are largely impenetrable and could be cryptic crossword clues or an esoteric sacred text run through beta-version translation software. The imagery emphasizes flight, ascent, elemental forces, and liberation, and Cisneros's abstruse idiom is rich in decidedly un-rock terms like "elliptic," "effulgent," "hierophant," "anchorite," "choric," "attenuate," "Vedic," and "centripedal." "Smoke on the Water" this isn't. However, the literal meaning is irrelevant -- it's all about the overall effect: bridging the ancient and the timeless, Om seems to be channeling something of mythical, cosmic proportions. The sheer strangeness stops it from sounding like new age nonsense, which in others hands it easily could be. Traditionally, metal hasn't been known for artistic adventurousness but judging by this reimagining of the genre's fundamental components, Om is unafraid to investigate new possibilities. ~ Wilson Neate, Rovi

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Return to Holy Mountain., May 10, 2005

By 

Heavy Guitar "Sunn" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Variations on a Theme (Audio CD)

The cover of this album reminds me of the first Return to Forever album, released in 1975 on ECM. However, Om's "Variations on a Theme" is the dark (but not evil) twin of the Chick Corea album. And I think it's just as good. Return to Forever were "heavy" in the sense that they were ponderous. This is "heavy" in that it sounds like ten thousand tons of stone age lava and tar being poured on the last, groaning brontosaurus. Yes. That good. I think it'd be unfair to rave about this album "because it sounds like Sleep." Actually, I think High on Fire retained the sound of Sleep, but they simply sped it up. A lot. But if you prefer the trudging sounds of prehistoric doom -- a la Sunn, Earth, Electric Wizard, and yes, Sleep -- then this is probably the best thing to show up on your doorstep since the Grimmrobe Demos. No shtick. This CD has been in my player for days, and I think it's a great addition to your stoner-doom collection, and yet it doesn't sound anything like those other bands. Sure, it's heavy; but Fu Manchu and Nebula are heavy, and I'd never lump them in with the Wizards. That, and the lyrics don't actually follow the usual stoner-doom formula of Sabbath-aped, Lovecraftian doom and gore. They're more interesting, more puzzling, and somehow more optimistic. In other words, this is the least gloomy stoner-doom album I've heard in awhile, but it's sound is still blackened...riffs that are ten miles tall and heavyheavyheavy. And slooooow. So what do you make of an album like that? Absolutely nothing. You just enjoy. You buy. You enjoy. Then you enjoy it again. This is not a "rock record," though it rocks. This is not a "doom" record, in that you won't be doomed after you here it. This is an experimental, experiential record, and I can't wait for the next one.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazingly good debut from the rhthym section of Sleep., March 19, 2005

By 

Parkansky "MERP" (Morehead, KY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Variations on a Theme (Audio CD)

OM is a bass-and-drums duo from San Fransisco, CA, that makes some of the coolest music you will ever hear. After 7 years of not playing in a band, bassist Al Cisneros of Sleep joins his former music buddy, drummer Chris Haikus, to make a new band that focuses more on groove than assualt. For those of you unfamilar with Sleep, they were a stoner/doom metal band in the vein of Black Sabbath. Now, OM is born from the ashes of the previous band. Granted, this will bring back memories of Sleep's last album, Dopesmoker, but this is a definete improvement over that album. For starters, when OM jams, it's a lot more focused and interesting, and not as montonous. Al's monk-on-acid singing also helps the atmosphere of the record, and Chris's jazz drumming also helps too. For fans of Sleep, Neruosis, and Black Sabbath, this is for you.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars YES,FIVE STARS, May 4, 2005

By 

T. Hardin (seaside,oregon) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Variations on a Theme (Audio CD)

i have no intentions of boring you with lengthy descriptions of the past merits/deficits of SLEEP.Nor will i make a comparison,though with two thirds of that line-up comparisons will be inevitable.
this is beyond music,very nearly a "religous" experience as you allow yourself to become fully enveloped by the hypnotic bass & drum attack that follows.
without a guitar,this release actually re-invents the concept of "heavy" in a minimalistic,ritualistic attack on your eardrums