Høstsabbat Presents: Om in Oslo, May 7, 2019
Next May, Norwegian festival Høstsabbat will present a special Om date in Oslo at Kulturkirken Jakob. The selling point is easy: “Om in a church.” The venue, which will also play host to the 2019 incarnation of the fest later in the year — they’ve already started to announce bands, including Ufomammut as a headliner — is indeed a converted church, with high ceilings, a massive pipe organ in back, and pews along the walls. One recalls Om playing in New York in front of a rebuilt pyramid and imagines the effect of seeing them on an altar to be likewise transcendent.
In 2019, those of a critic-ly persuasion will begin to trot out their lists of the best albums of the decade. I may or may not do likewise, but I’ll say this: any list you see of the best records of the ’10s that doesn’t include Om‘s 2012 outing, Advaitic Songs (review here), is crap. I mean it. What’s still the latest full-length from the duo-turned-trio remains as powerful as it was the day it was released, and in realizing the vision to which bassist/vocalist Al Cisneros had been driving toward since the band’s debut with 2005’s Variations on a Theme, he, drummer Emil Amos and multi-instrumentalist Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe conjured a landmark that’s not only already proved influential, but more importantly has stood as a testament to the conversation between spirit and sound that’s always seemed to be at root in their work.
Word has flittered here and there about a new album recorded in pieces over however long. Maybe 2019 will be the year, or maybe not. I don’t know. Either way, whether you’ve seen Om before or you haven’t, their live manifestations are unlike anything else.
Here’s the show info:
OM will play Kulturkirken Jakob!
It’s hard to describe the feeling when something you want so badly actual is about to happen. To have OM come play Kulturkirken JAKOB has been our biggest dream since we established contact with this fantastic venue. Hardly any band on earth can be more fitting to the otherworldly environment presented in the church.
Initially rising from the ashes of cvlt band Sleep, bassist Al Cisneros and drummer Chris Haikus, soon showed the world they had something extraordinary on display. OM was a force to be reckoned with already after their first release, Variations on a Theme in 2005. This two-piece held the flag high through Conference of the Birds (2006) and Pilgrimage (2007), before a change of lineup occurred and Emil Amos from Grails handled the drums on the 2009 masterpiece God is Good.
Their latest effort, Advaitic Songs (2012), found OM leaning even more towards mantra-doom, eastern scales and melodies, adding a Rob Lowe as a third member on synthesizer, guitar, percussion and vocals. Rumours has it a new album is soon to be unleashed.
Høstsabbat is extremely proud to be able to present these living legends, for the first time in Oslo for over a decade, bringing their unique take on alternative and heavy music, downtown Oslo in our beloved Church JAKOB.
Traveler now reach the stream. The astral flight adapter.
Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/969442869919499/
https://www.facebook.com/hostsabbat/
http://hostsabbat.no/
