Conference of the Birds

Om are one of the best stoner doom acts ever, period.

Om are entirely made up of the rhythm section of legendary stoner doom band Sleep, meaning the band is made up of nothing but bass and drums. I can see some people clicking away from this review right now...well, don't leave just yet. The bass is fuzzed out to the point where the listener can barely tell the difference between the two instruments. Al truly knows how to play bass in a captivating way. To prove my point, I've literally had to go back and replace "guitar" with "bass" while describing the music of this album. Yeah, it's pretty fuzzed out.

My first review I ever wrote was on Om's first album, "Variations on a Theme", which I loved as well. Let me just say that this record is even better than that one. At the risk of sounding incredibly cliche, I will say now that "amazing" is the only word to describe this album.

There are only 2 tracks on this album, but the goodness of both of them make up for the lack of tracks. "At Giza" is the first track and, as opposed to "Variations", which was heavy pretty much all the way through, is a chilled out and blissed out track and is probably my personal favorite Om song. It's soft, calm, and the complete opposite of the almost droning hymns as seen on "Variations". Al's vocals in this song are lovely, chanting oh so blissful verses:

"And lighten pon day
The solarics raise
Falls upon the Ziggurat electron school
And reap upon field
The host moon fade away
Glides the aeronaut toward the objiect form"

As you can see, OM still incorporate confusing and spiritual lyrics which give off an optimistic aura. These are the perfect tunes to listen to on a breezy autumn night under the stars. Like this one.

The music continues in the same Floyd/King Crimson-esque vein for the next 13 minutes when suddenly, at 13:10, the band explodes into the feedback/fuzz that they are known for. That part is the best in my eyes. This continues for the next 2 minutes before the song ends. Simply cathartic.

The next song, "Flight of the Eagle", is more in the vein of the normal OM heaviness throughout its entire 18 minute duration. The lyrics remain just as strong while Al chants under a hypnotic looping bass riff. The vocals remind me a little of Electric Wizard here because of the fact that they are put farther in the mix, but this adds to the atmosphere of the song, giving off an echo which makes you feel as though the band are playing in an abandoned temple in India. The song remains heavy throughout it's duration, ending with droning guitar feedback.

This is my personal favorite album of Om and is doubtlessly the most optimistic and powerful. However, Om manages to keep their music optimistic and quite happy without straying into the mainstream area, which deserves a mention. My only minor qualm? The length. The band could've easily added another 10 minute song...still though, without a doubt, my favorite Om release.

99/100