In ?Jerusalem? (The Music Cartel) Cali sludgemeisters Sleep discovered the holy grail of doom. A one song concept album detailing the exploits of a dope smoking messiah and his quest to reclaim the throne of man, bashed out by three individuals truly galvanized by the POWER, it reinvigorated the notion of what metal can be. Om may not plow as deep a crevice in the heavy rock substrate, but Al Cisneros on bass/vocals and Chris Haikus on anvils, as in 2/3?s of the aforementioned behemoth, prove that Matt Pike was not the sole architect in ?Jerusalem??s metallic divination. ?Variations on a Theme? is a mind-numbing, relentless study in repetitious sludge meditation whose scope is limited but infinite, predictable and profound. It?s a barbaric display of scorched fuzz and crushing doom rhythms rendered at a constant, throbbing pace--but not too slow--with verse after verse (and there are lots of them) of mythical word strings intoning images such as ?climb towards the sun to breathe the universal" and "the flight to freedom gradient raise the called ascendant," recited with ritualistic fervor over the most maniacal rumble to ever vibrate forth from a crappy old pair of home speakers. By halfway through sidelong opener ?On the Mountain at Dawn,? I realize the unrelenting beauty and undeniable logic of this approach. There's simply something liberating about heavy metal with no guitar solos. Cisneros?s jagged chord progressions, often melting over crackling amp buzz and hiss, make Om?s music compelling despite any preconceived shortcomings. One merely need spread his wings and take flight. 8/10 -- Lee Jackson (8 June, 2005)