Om-Ward Bound

If you were a metalhead in the 1990s, but you were too fond of slow, stoner grooves to enjoy caffeinated headbangers like Metallica, you might well have been a fan of Sleep, the amazing band from California, who released a clutch of all-time classic albums. The first, Sleep’s Holy Mountain (1992), featured Al Cisneros on bass and vocals, and was a truly immense album, loaded with planet-sized riffage and soundscapes, that extended far into sub-bass territory. The second, the monstrous Dopesmoker, appeared seven years later and was a thematic and sonic homage to the band’s preferred backstage pastime. By 2005 Cisneros was also active in a duo (occasionally a trio) called OM, in which the bass supplanted the guitarist’s role with massive, progressive panache.

We meet Al in London the day before an OM gig, where he shows us his fantastic