Metal Roots, Eastern Branches: The Minimal Beauty of Om

I never expected Nashville to warm to Om. A small but dedicated Tuesday night crowd would, but no amount of gimmicky write-ups would urge the masses toward such a unique band.

Although minimal and with roots in Black Sabbath-influenced stoner metal, Om defies an easy genre. Tibetan chant structure has become more important to the songs. Instruments from tabla to cello - replicate with synthesizers at the Mercy Lounge - round out the sound as the bass distortion has been dialed back.Emil Amos' cymbal-heavy drumming suits the Eastern melodies to a tee.

The group swayed and lumbered through lengthy tracks from its whole career, with an emphasis on two recent long-players, God is Good (2009) and the brand-new Advaitic Songs. Long-player doesn't tell the story---  God runs four tracks and 34 minutes, Advaitic has five songs, three crtossing the 10-minute mark.

 Opening with the fluttering, distorted vocals of Sinai, Om effectively announced that this show would proceed in unique directions. Om faced the typical Nashville Crowd Syndrome, with the numbers steadily dwindling as the show rolled forward. The mix suffered as well; at times, bass distortion blotted out Cisneros' soft-spoken vocals.

 The long-form songs, including at least one that beat the 20-minute mark, were not for the faint. Although were built on similar structures, Om never felt stagnant and mixed up the tunes well. I couldn't shake the pairing of propulsive bass riff on Cremation Ghat I, a compact tune by Om's standards, and the sitar-tinged, meandering Cremation Ghat II. 

For all his pummeling bass work, Cisneros had a shy stage presence - until he got fed up with the light guy, who definitely went overboard for a band such as Om. At first, Cisneros urged him to stop fiddling with the lights and go to the bar. Between songs, the lights led to a full-on outburst, with Cisneros telling him to stop meddling and to give the audience a break. We needed it; too many atmospheric moments were broken by flashes reminiscent of police lights. Finally settling on black light effects that made earplugs glow and cast the band in a ghoulish glow, the band bludgeoned its way to a finish.

With epic after epic, Om did not run out of steam. This was a band that once played a five-hour show in Jerusalem.  Cisneros admitted it would take years for Om to return to the South, but for a band from whom everything good comes from slow, expressive journeys, nothing could be more fitting.