I remember reading a review many years ago in which Pink Floyd's David Gilmour was described as "pulling off blues licks with Herculean authority." For some reason, this quote has always remained embedded in my mind; probably because it was such an apt and concise articulation of Gilmour's guitar style. At any rate, I am now going to resuscitate the expression.
In the '90s, there existed a band called Sleep. Sleep pulled off slow, Sabbathy doom riffs with Herculean authority. Alternately praised as being a seminal fixture in the stoner doom canon and criticized for allegedly being monotonous and unoriginal Black Sabbath emulators, one thing is certain: Sleep's sophomore full-length, Sleep's Holy Mountain, was a highly influential and generally-accepted masterpiece of the genre, becoming the template against which subsequent doom offerings were measured. Eventually the band split after recording (but before releasing) their third album Dopesmoker (a.k.a. Jerusalem, in modified form), with guitarist Matt Pike forming High on Fire, and the other two members pursuing other projects.
OM are essentially the vocals and rhythm section of Sleep: bassist/vocalist Al Cisneros, and drummer Chris Hakius. As such, the band has stripped the elements of traditional stoner doom down to their core components. Variations on a Theme consists simply of vocals, drums, and bass (fed through a massive amount of distortion) with minimal to no overdubs, as this reviewer hears it.
The release of Variations on a Theme coincides roughly with the release of the third High on Fire full-length, Blessed Black Wings. By way of comparison, however, High on Fire's records have traditionally been a great deal more upbeat and "metal" than any of the material released by Sleep. Judging from the tempo, it's fairly clear that Cisneros and Hakius were the "weedier" members of Sleep (though, to be fair, Sleep's original guitarist Justin Marler, who was featured on their debut record Volume One, reportedly became an ordained monk after departing the band). From the band's name, to the new-agey cover art, to the pseudo-spiritual lyrics and song titles (e.g. "On the Mountain at Dawn"), Cisneros and Hakius have deliberately fashioned themselves as a shamanic, meditative, proto-metal duo. OM play extremely slow, repetitive, droning stoner rock with little variation in tempo to speak of. The record is an exercise in stoney, melodic doom riffage and meticulous, understated, downtempo drumming. Furthermore, Cisneros' druggy vocal delivery is a reminder of how sorely missed Sleep are.
There's a definite niche market for this type of music. Many doom fans wander the earth in search of the ultimate slow, stripped-down, interminably repetitive stoner groove. OM will most certainly deliver the goods for these people. For a group with not only two members, but playing only two instruments, the density and power of the music they produce is awe-inspiring. This is stripped-down, minimalistic, primordial doom that will satisfy both the true doom enthusiast and the purist who longs for the days of Black Sabbath, Pentagram, and St. Vitus.
1. On the Mountain at Dawn
2. Kapila's Theme
3. Annapurna
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