2009 release. It's been years now just about two judging from the sun. OM have done their time in the desert and ever-changing are returned. Today they say God is Good. Are you surprised? Perhaps you've haven't understood what OM was saying to you. But perhaps you felt something It's true that the one way pursued by OM leads in many different directions. It is a mystic path. Songs come from innumerable sources filtering through the external and the internal. OM albums are rituals personal convictions transcripted into verse. Playing the music is visceral emotional a catharsis of soul and spirit.

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

Vinyl LP pressing of this 2009 release. It's been years now just about two judging from the sun. OM have done their time in the desert and ever-changing are returned. Today they say God is Good. Are you surprised? Perhaps you've haven't understood what OM was saying to you. But perhaps you felt something It's true that the one way pursued by OM leads in many different directions. It is a mystic path. Songs come from innumerable sources filtering through the external and the internal. OM albums are rituals personal convictions transcripted into verse. Playing the music is visceral emotional a catharsis of soul and spirit.

Comprised of two songs that build on their use of cyclical rhythm, riff andvocal intonation, Om's 2006 album Conference of the Birds blends metal,chant, drone, dub and psychedelia. The group's lyrics expound upon thestructure of the universe, potentiality and freedom from the physical body.Engineered by Billy Anderson and produced by the band, Conference of theBirds is a fully realized work from a forward-thinking band at their peak.* Vinyl now has barcode* Critically lauded 2006 sophomore album from San Francisco two-piece* Follow-up to wildly popular 2005 debut, Variations on a Theme* Om on this album was Al Cisneros and Chris Hakius, rhythm section of legendary sludge and stoner rock pioneers Sleep* Produced by Billy Anderson (Melvins, Neurosis)TRACK LISTING1. At Giza2. Flight of the Eagle