Om - "Variations On A Theme"

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i'm usually bored by "stoner rock" fare, but what I've heard so far of this is awesome. the nasally deadpan vocals are hilarious and the grooves are so good that it makes sense that the songs go on for so long (all 3 songs are over 10 min., one of them is over 20 min.!)

― eman (eman), Friday, 4 March 2005 05:52 (twenty years ago)

and it seems this is the other two guys from Sleep eh?

― eman (eman), Friday, 4 March 2005 07:12 (twenty years ago)

I don't find the lyrics/vox hilarious. But I love this record, I think it's great. I love the drums/bass duo, works so nicely with these long repetitive songs. The riffs (or riff, as it were, i.e. variations on a theme) are really catchy. The vox are mixed really high which somehow makes the monotonous nature of the chanted lyrics that much more surreal and mesmerizing and effective. It's well-recorded. Plus, it rocks. Between this and HoF, it's gonna be a Sleep-y year.

― mcd (mcd), Friday, 4 March 2005 15:30 (twenty years ago)

It's already been a great year for albums. Between this, Jesu, HoF, and (outside the heavy genre) The Howling Hex, and Superwolf, if 2005 ended today, I could do my year-end top five no problem.

― Mike Dixn (Mike Dixon), Friday, 4 March 2005 16:54 (twenty years ago)

i think i already drooled over this on a high on fire thread. it's great, vocals not hilarious, bass/drums power like a mercury fist wrapped in dio's scalp. it's weird how high on fire = sleep vol. one, om = jerusalem.

― el sabor de gene (yournullfame), Friday, 4 March 2005 16:59 (twenty years ago)

Beautiful.

This is what people pretend that boring fucking Black Mountain album sounds like.

― olde english d, Friday, 4 March 2005 17:57 (twenty years ago)

They do? Really? Because the Black Mountain album sounds to me like people think boring fucking Wilco albums sound like.

― Mike Dixn (Mike Dixon), Friday, 4 March 2005 18:10 (twenty years ago)

well i just laugh every time i hear the singer cuz he sounds like he's got a bad cold and took a bunch of nyquil. i like that, don't get me wrong, but i can't deny it's humorous element. and billy anderson did a great job on making the bass and drums sound huge.

― eman (eman), Friday, 4 March 2005 18:55 (twenty years ago)

This is what people pretend that boring fucking Black Mountain album sounds like.

hahahahahahaha...yes!

― el sabor de gene (yournullfame), Saturday, 5 March 2005 01:36 (twenty years ago)

So, did anyone ever notice the Sabians?

― George Smith, Saturday, 5 March 2005 05:11 (twenty years ago)

two months pass...

finally got around to buying this. these guys rule. i n33d w33d

― Amon (eman), Monday, 9 May 2005 00:13 (twenty years ago)

this is awesome and i must review it for stylus soon oh soon. i have metal backlogged up the a$$ for them. but yeah this is awesome. and really disturbing when i play it at work - a retail environment!

― blackmail.is.my.life (blackmail.is.my.life), Monday, 9 May 2005 00:52 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

So, did anyone ever notice the Sabians?

yes! wow, they're awful. i've listened to the cd twice now and still don't understand what they're trying to do.

― el sabor de gene (yournullfame), Thursday, 9 June 2005 03:05 (twenty years ago)

two months pass...

This OM CD is one of the best things I've heard all year.

― Roger Fidelity (Roger Fidelity), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 18:25 (twenty years ago)

For about the first 3 minutes of the first song the first time I listened to the album, I didn't like the vocals. About halfway through track 2, I fell in love with this disc. Not because anything great happens in track 2, but because it took me about that long to realize what the album was doing to my brain. I can't imagine any other vocals now - they are perfect.

― recovering optimist (Royal Bed Bouncer), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 19:33 (twenty years ago)

It's a terrific album.

― Last Of The Famous International Pfunkboys (Kerr), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 19:46 (twenty years ago)

definitely one of my 2005 favorites; this is a VERY good album.

― petesmith (plsmith), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 20:16 (twenty years ago)

shame they don't seem to be very keen on touring

― amon (eman), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 22:36 (twenty years ago)

“Striates into the sky on outwards spires reaching
Under orbic vermillion sun migration on the wings.”

― Phthisis, Tuesday, 30 August 2005 12:39 (twenty years ago)

Sounds great on headphones, too. There's this really light phase on the vocal that just puts the hook in me. This is my work jam, it feels like you can endure anything while it's playing.

― Tripmaker (SDWitzm), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 13:13 (twenty years ago)

four years pass...

bump. this record kicks so much ass, so hard. probably still my favorite OM.

― all yoga attacks are fire based (rogermexico.), Tuesday, 15 June 2010 22:48 (fifteen years ago)

eight years pass...

Still their best, I think. I was listening to this while driving, noticed I had maxed out the volume, felt like I was swimming in a primordial bath

― my dreams in the hell-pits (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Thursday, 21 June 2018 02:20 (seven years ago)

I'm partial to "At Giza" from Conference of the Birds

― cr.ht (crüt), Thursday, 21 June 2018 02:22 (seven years ago)

at giza is the absolute jam

― call all destroyer, Thursday, 21 June 2018 02:38 (seven years ago)

That is great too!

― my dreams in the hell-pits (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Thursday, 21 June 2018 03:42 (seven years ago)

"unitive knowledge of the godhead" for me is their pinnacle but those first two albums are treasures. i dig the later stuff too

― marcos, Thursday, 21 June 2018 17:25 (seven years ago)

I only have 'pilgrimage' that was being sold off as a cheap cd single (50p) due to it only having 4 songs on it years ago.
no idea how it compares, but it really hits the spot when in the mood.

― mark e, Thursday, 21 June 2018 17:48 (seven years ago)

Conference of the birds is better but pilgrimage is pretty damn good

― mind how you go (Ross), Thursday, 21 June 2018 18:30 (seven years ago)

I still remember hearing that Om existed on a mailing list (I want to say the American Tapes list?), that Cisneros and Hakius had a new duo and thinking "there's no way this is going to be as great as what I'm imagining in my head" and it actually was better

― my dreams in the hell-pits (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Thursday, 21 June 2018 19:10 (seven years ago)

Must listen to this again. Conference of the Birds is my go-to Om album.

― Duke, Thursday, 21 June 2018 19:36 (seven years ago)

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