Al Cisneros

Al Cisneros is an American musician from San Jose, California. He has performed bass guitar and vocals for the bands Sleep, Om and Asbestosdeath.

He began his musical career in 1989 by founding a local punk metal band, Asbestosdeath, along with Chris Hakius (drums), Matt Pike (guitar) and Tom Choi (guitar). Cisneros performed bass guitar for the band, and they released two EPs in 1990. Shortly thereafter, Choi left the band.

Cisneros, Hakius and Pike renamed themselves Sleep. In 1991 they released their debut album, "Volume One". They soon gained a devoted underground following in the doom metal scene. In 1992 they released their next album, "Sleep's Holy Mountain", which is widely considered a key release in the early development of stoner metal. Between 1995 and 1998, Sleep worked on what would become their final album, "Dopesmoker", a single song lasting one hour. However, their record label refused to release it, and in 1998 Sleep disbanded. The album was released in shortened form during 1999, and in its entirety during 2003.

Immediately following the breakup of Sleep, guitarist Matt Pike formed the band High On Fire. In 2003, Cisneros and Hakius decided to form their own band. The duo named themselves Om, with Cisneros on bass and vocals and Hakius on drums. They released the albums "Variations on a Theme" in 2005, "Conference of the Birds" in 2006, and " Pilgrimage" in 2007. The music of these albums is similar to that of latter-day Sleep, but is much "calmer" and Cisneros sings with chanted vocals. In January 2008, Hakius decided to leave the band. Cisneros has since recruited Emil Amos on drums; the band recorded a 7" titled "Gebel Barkal" which was released on Subpop August 15, 2008.

Discography

*1990 – "Dejection"
*1990 – "Unclean"
*1991 – "Volume One"
*1992 – "Volume Two"
*1993 – "Sleep's Holy Mountain"
*1999 – "Jerusalem"
*2003 – "Dopesmoker"
*2005 – "Variations on a Theme"
*2006 – "Conference of the Birds"
*2006 – "Bedouin's Vigil"
*2006 – "Rays of the Sun / To the Shrinebuilder"
*2007 – "Pilgrimage"
*2008 – "Live at Jerusalem"
*2008 - "Gebel Barkal"

External links

* [http://omvibratory.com/ Official website of OM]
* [http://www.myspace.com/variationsontheme OM on MySpace (includes samples)]
* [http://www.myspace.com/rifffilledland Sleep on MySpace (includes samples)]
* [http://www.myspace.com/asbestosdeath Asbestosdeath on MySpace (includes samples)]