How do you approach an album that only has two songs, yet it still clocks in around the 33-minute mark? Released on April 17th, 2006, through Holy Mountain, the sophomore full-length entitled “Conference of the Birds” by OM saw the light of day – and it was essentially a 2-track offering of 30-something minutes of music. You could call it an EP, but according to the official lore of the band, it was a full-length studio album! Maybe it would explain certain things if you knew that the band was comprised of the former rhythm section of the San Jose stoner-doom act, SLEEP. I’m not so well-versed in the finer nuances of atmospheric doom and stoner metal, but I guess it will suffice to drop just a few adjectives that more than aptly describe this music, whatever it is: slow, even to the point of being lethargic, and mesmerizing like Franz Anton Mesmer, the 18th-century forerunner of modern hypnotism. What makes this endeavor stand out from the vast majority of stoner acts is the duo’s choice of instrumentation: Al Cisneros sings and plays the bass on this album, and Chris Hakius plays the drums. So, this is inherently drum-and-bass music, but not of the type usually referred to with the term. I would reckon this is nothing short of perfect music to get zonked on planet spliff, as well, if you’re more metal-inclined as a music listener and cannot really vibe to dub reggae. The vibe is indeed from another planet: both epics drone on like some of those famed EARTH albums, or Tony Iommi‘s legendary riffs slowed down A LOT, and my first impression of the vocal mantras was something like, “What spiritual mumbo-jumbo is this, I can’t even…” Yes, the album is pretty weird, but it’s weird in all the right ways.
The first of the two stoner-doom epics, “At Giza,” kicks off with a simple bass riff and light cymbal tapping. In no way does this somewhat chill intro of the song prepare you for what is to come. The song title refers to Egypt, so I guess it should have been a no-brainer that the duo would opt for sprinkling a liberal dose of mysticism atop the hypnotic grind. Yeah, of course. The band’s name itself is the Hindu syllable for the natural vibration of the universe or something, albeit the music has a somewhat darker undercurrent than your average New-Age hippie bunch with man-buns and paisley-colored shirts. The bass tone is fuzzed out beyond the point of recognition most of the time; on occasion, it is nigh impossible to tell whether the distorted riffage is really played with the bass or electric guitar, after all. As if that weren’t enough to put quite a unique spin on the genre, Cisnero‘s chants on top of the hypnotic bass ostinatos put the finishing touches in place; it almost seems as though the duo was intent on inducing a deep, trance-like state in the listener. This duo has certainly found their peculiar niche in the crossover realm where stoner and doom overlap.
“Flight of the Eagle” is a tad less droning, but resonates with a strong ritual-music-like air, just the same. The riffs are somewhat beefier and drenched in even more distortion, but the trance-inducing feel is still rather prominent. I’d say it takes a lot of confidence to keep playing repetitive riffs for such a long time. I guess it would suffice to call this the music of total conviction. Maybe the duo was trying to summon some ancient Balrogs from the depths of the cosmic void. I wouldn’t be surprised. It goes without saying that an album like this isn’t something to put on while driving down the highway. This is music for special occasions. For some, it may stand for a good few tokens from the spliff, but for me, “Conference of the Birds” is the perfect soundtrack for a Zen-like state of mind, inner peace with no distractions, if you will. In a world full of mindless noise, we need music like this – yeah, it’s kind of like noise, but it’s not mindless at all.
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- At Giza
- Flight of the Eagle
Lineup
Al Cisneros – vocals, bass
Chris Hakius – drums
Label
Holy Mountain
