Om
United States · formed 2003 · last active 2026
Om is an American stoner/doom drone band formed in San Francisco in 2003 by bassist-vocalist Al Cisneros and drummer Chris Hakius, previously the rhythm section of Sleep. The band is known for droning, bass-driven, meditative songs steeped in spirituality and mysticism, a marked departure from Sleep's Black Sabbath-rooted sound. After Hakius departed in 2008, Emil Amos (of Grails) joined on drums, and the group's acclaimed fifth album Advaitic Songs was released by Drag City in 2012.
SCORE PROFILE
Accent numbers counted towards the index. Hover an axis — or hold it on a phone — for what it means.
MEMBERS
- Al Cisnerosbass, vocals (2003-present)
- Emil Amosdrums (2008-present)
- Tyler Trotterguitar, synthesizer, percussion (2018-present)
- Chris Hakiusdrums (2003-2008)
- Robert Loweguitars, percussion, back-up vocals (2009-2018)
CONNECTIONS
- Harvestmanpath →
Members of Grails and Om contribute to Harvestman recordings as supporting players to Von Till. source ↗
- Acid Mothers Templepath →
Shared label roster: Important Records, per MusicBrainz. source ↗
- Boris (drone/doom era)path →
Shared label roster: Drag City, per MusicBrainz. source ↗
- Church of Miserysatellitepath →
Shared label roster: Leaf Hound Records, per MusicBrainz. source ↗
- Cosa Bravapath →
Shared label roster: Intakt Records, per MusicBrainz. source ↗
- Neurosispath →
Shared label roster: Neurot Recordings, per MusicBrainz. source ↗
FURTHER LISTENING
Nearest score profiles in the atlas.
- UnaffiliatedEI 14NàdaDoomFolkDrone
Nàda were a Lucerne, Switzerland outfit (active 1992-1997) fusing sludge/doom heaviness with industrial clang and tribal/neofolk percussion, earning Terrorizer coverage in 1994 and comparisons to Neurosis, Swans and Einstürzende Neubauten. Their two albums, 'Celmètra' (1994, Licht & Blindheit/Common Cause) and 'Ùr' (1997, Licht & Blindheit), are murky, ritualistic slabs built on layered percussion and detuned riffing rather than conventional song structure. A largely forgotten act of 90s European experimental sludge, tangential to any scene rather than embedded in one.
- UnaffiliatedEI 20AarniDoomTheatricalFolk
Aarni is a Finnish avant-garde/funeral doom project founded in 1998 by Master Warjomaa, who casts the band as a fictional ensemble including the Comte de Saint-Germain, Doomintroll, and Mistress Palm.
- UnaffiliatedEI 13Babes in the AbyssDoomAmbientFolk
Formed in Helsinki in 2016 and describing themselves as a "conjuration from the Northern Wilderness," Babes in the Abyss build a dark, primitive avant-garde sound around harmonium and organ rather than guitar, with bass and drums filling out the low end. Their 2022 debut Physis is organ-driven, cinematic and ritualistic, closer to a doom-adjacent drone ensemble than to riff-based metal, with haunting shared vocals over sustained keyboard tones.
- Post-metalEI 21Giant SquidDoomTechnicalTheatrical
Giant Squid are an American post-metal and progressive/doom band formed in Sacramento, California in 2002 and led by Aaron Gregory, known for oceanic and marine-biology concept records including Metridium Fields (2006) and The Ichthyologist (2009), released via labels including Translation Loss. Cellist and vocalist Jackie Perez Gratz, of Amber Asylum and Grayceon fame, joined the band in January 2007, deepening its chamber-tinged heaviness. The band shares members and a 2007 split 7-inch, 'Sutter's Fort,' with fellow Bay Area group Grayceon.
- UnaffiliatedEI 17Umbra NihilDoomDroneAmbient
Umbra Nihil is a Finnish doom metal project built around multi-instrumentalist Vilpir (Ville Vierimaa), pairing slow, expansive doom weight with 70s progressive rock and Zeuhl-inflected passages, flute textures, and Lovecraft/weird-fiction-derived ritual concepts — The Borderland Rituals draws on William Hope Hodgson's The House on the Borderland. The band shares lead guitarist Master Warjomaa with atlas act Aarni, tying it directly into the same oddball Finnish doom orbit. Largely dormant since 2008 due to lack of motivation from its songwriters.
- UnaffiliatedEI 10Beneath the SodDoomAmbientDrone
Beneath the Sod is the solo funeral/industrial doom project of Irish musician Ray Keenaghan (Wreck of the Hesperus), formed 2017. Releases include Circling the Drain (2017, Fort Evil Fruit), the split cassette Transmorphic Eye (2018, with Crypticum), and a self-titled 2021 EP on Cursed Monk Records described as harsh, synth-laced industrial doom metal with guest vocals from Richard Carson.
- UnaffiliatedEI 11Grandmother Is DeadDoomAmbientTheatrical
Grandmother Is Dead is a Czech one-man project from Prague, active since 1996, built entirely around Josef Pernikl playing and recording all instruments in his home studio as a hobby release he doesn't sell for profit. Its self-described 'Scenic Doom' style pairs doom metal with ambient, industrial and theatrical passages, and each album pursues a grim historical theme — its first release in 1997 was inspired by the Sobibor concentration camp, followed by The Camp (2006) and the atomic-bomb-themed Trust Christ Today (2009) — often layered with recorded witness testimony. Pernikl has also played guitar in the thrash band Lobotomia.
- Blackgaze / avant-blackEI 15Psy-No-ArkDoomAmbientDrone
Ecuadorian experimental collective from Guayaquil ('Psychedelic-Noise-Arkestra') led by multi-instrumentalist José Francisco Ycaza (aka Esquizoide 0nírico), billed 'Arkestra Director' in the Sun Ra tradition. Their 2019 album Nodvs Gordivs (Pensador Records) is a long-form concept piece weaving Castro, Alexander the Great and the Sabazios cult into a psychedelic doom/sludge/krautrock ritual built from extended pieces of noise, orchestral texture and heavy riffing.
- UnaffiliatedEI 13Cantata SanguiDoomDroneAmbient
A Finnish outfit, founded by bassists Mika A. A. Hyytinen and Topi Aarnio, built around the gimmick-that-works of having no guitarists at all — two bass players (4-to-12-string, baritone-tuned) carry all the riffing, joined by keyboards/samples and dual male/female vocals from Kari Husa and Anna Pienimäki. Their sole full-length, 2009's On Rituals and Correspondence in Constructed Realities (Season of Mist), moves from doom-metal roots into a cavernous, drone-heavy hybrid of gothic, black, and alt-rock with electro-folk and Baroque touches.
- Bay Area / SGMEI 13SqualusDoomAmbientTechnical
Squalus are an avant-garde sludge/doom quartet from Pacifica, California, formed in 2015 by Aaron Gregory, Zack Farwell, Andy Southard and Bryan Beeson -- all former members of Giant Squid -- after that band went on hiatus. Rejecting guitar entirely in favor of two basses, keyboards, and samples, the band built its debut album The Great Fish... (2017, Translation Loss Records) as a song-cycle retelling of Jaws with lyrics spliced from Peter Benchley's novel. They followed with the split LP Mass and Power alongside Shadow Limb (2018, Translation Loss Records).