Al Cisneros (born September 23, 1973) is an American musician. He is the lead singer and bassist for

stoner rock Stoner rock, also known as stoner metal or stoner doom, is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of doom metal with psychedelic rock and acid rock. The genre emerged during the early 1990s and was pioneered foremost by Kyuss and Sleep ...

/ doom metal bands

Sleep Sleep is a sedentary state of mind and body. It is characterized by altered consciousness, relatively inhibited sensory activity, reduced muscle activity and reduced interactions with surroundings. It is distinguished from wakefulness by a de ...

and Om. He also was a member of

Shrinebuilder Shrinebuilder was an American stoner/doom metal supergroup consisting of various established musicians, particularly of the doom metal subgenre. Their first and only album, '' Shrinebuilder'', was released in October 2009. History Foundin ...

and

Asbestosdeath Asbestosdeath was an American doom metal band from San Jose, California, the precursor to the highly influential band Sleep. History Asbestosdeath started life in the late 1980s as a trio consisting of Al Cisneros on bass, Chris Hakius on dr ...

(the precursor to Sleep) and has put out nine releases as a solo artist.

Music career

Cisneros' earliest musical interests included an appreciation of Black Sabbath, in particular their first four albums. In 1989 he formed the sludge metal band

, taking up bass and vocal duties, with

Chris Hakius Chris Hakius is an American retired rock drummer best known for his work in Om and Sleep. Around 1990, Hakius was in Asbestosdeath along with Al Cisneros and Matt Pike. Asbestosdeath broke up and the three would form Sleep. Hakius was Sleep' ...

on drums and Matt Pike and Tom Choi on guitar. Asbestosdeath released two EPs in 1990.

Sleep

Following Choi's departure, Cisneros, Hakius and Pike recruited

Justin Marler Justin Marler (born July 29, 1972) is an American musician. He is known for being a founding member of the stoner rock band Sleep and for leaving a burgeoning career in music to become a monk in an Eastern Orthodox monastery. In 1990, Marler j ...

on guitar and renamed themselves

. Cisneros jokingly called himself "Luke" in the early days of Sleep, in homage to "Luke's Wall", the title of the outro section of "

War Pigs "War Pigs" is an anti-war protest song by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in 1970, it is the opening track from the band's second studio album '' Paranoid'' (1970). Overview The original title of "War Pigs" was "Walpurgis", ...

In 1991 Sleep released their first 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 ''Sleep's Holy Mountain'' (also known as ''Holy Mountain'') is the second studio album by the American heavy metal band Sleep. It was released in November 1992 in Europe and March 1993 in the US through Earache Records. Release and reception ...

'', an influential album in the early development of

stoner metal Stoner rock, also known as stoner metal or stoner doom, is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of doom metal with psychedelic rock and acid rock. The genre emerged during the early 1990s and was pioneered foremost by Kyuss and Slee ...

. Between 1995 and 1998, Sleep worked extensively on their next album, ''

Dopesmoker ''Jerusalem'' and ''Dopesmoker'' are two versions of the third album by the American heavy metal band Sleep. The former title was released in 1999 by The Music Cartel and the latter was released by Tee Pee Records in 2003. The music for these a ...

'', a single song lasting one hour. However, their record label at the time refused to release it, and in 1998 Sleep disbanded. An abridged form was released in 1999 under the title

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. Dopesmoker in its entirety was first officially released by Tee Pee Records on April 22, 2003. On November 26, 2012, it was reported that Sleep had recently announced their own status as a "full, reunited band".

Om

In 2003, Cisneros and Hakius decided to form their own band named Om, with Cisneros on bass and vocals and Hakius on drums. As a duo, Om released the albums '' Variations on a Theme'' in 2005, '' Conference of the Birds'' in 2006, and ''

Pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

'' in 2007. In January 2008, Hakius decided to leave the band and was replaced by

Emil Amos Holy Sons is a one-man solo band built around American songwriter and drummer Emil Amos. Amos is notable for releasing "genre-bending" albums, according to ''LA Weekly'' music reviewer Chris Martins, and for being a prolific songwriter; one accou ...

on drums. Since then, Om has released the two full-length studio albums '' God Is Good'' and '' Advaitic Songs'' on the Drag City label, a 7" for Sub Pop entitled ''Gebel Barkal'', and the live vinyl-only LP ''Conference Live'' on Important Records. Om's 2012 tour for the Advaitic Songs album included Robert Lowe on backing vocals, guitar, synthesizer and tambura. Lowe had previously appeared on vocals and tambura on ''God Is Good''.

Solo

In December 2012, Cisneros released his first solo record ''Dismas'' on the band's own Sinai imprint, following the religious tones themed in OM but with more of a dub approach. A second solo record ''Teresa of Avila'' followed in March 2013. A 10" EP featuring two longer songs, "Ark Procession" and "Jericho", was also released in 2013. In January 2014 a 12" EP featuring five songs was released and in October 2014 a 7" featuring two songs and artwork by David V. D'Andrea will be released by Samaritan Press. Another 7" on the Sinai imprint followed the next month under the title "Lantern of the Soul".

Discography

With Asbestos Death

*1990 – ''Dejection'' *1990 – ''Unclean''

With Sleep

*1991 – '' Volume One'' *1992 – '' Volume Two'' *1992 – ''

'' *1999 – ''

'' *2003 – ''

'' *2014 – "

The Clarity "The Clarity" is a single by the American rock band Sleep. The song was released digitally for free on July 21, 2014 through the cable network Adult Swim's 2014 weekly singles series. The release of "The Clarity" also marks the first release of ne ...

" *2018 – ''

The Sciences ''The Sciences'' was a magazine published from 1961 to 2001 by the New York Academy of Sciences. Each issue contained articles that discussed science issues with cultural relevance, illustrated with fine art and an occasional cartoon. The perio ...

'' *2018 – " Leagues Beneath" *2019 – "Live at Third Man Records"

With Om

*2005 – '' Variations on a Theme'' *2006 – '' Conference of the Birds'' *2006 – '' Bedouin's Vigil'' (Split 7" with

Six Organs of Admittance Six Organs of Admittance is the primary musical project of American guitarist Ben Chasny. Chasny's music is largely guitar-based and is often considered new folk; however, it includes obvious influences, marked by the use of drones, chimes, and ...

) *2006 – '' Inerrant Rays of Infallible Sun'' (Split EP with

Current 93 Current 93 are an English experimental music group, working since the early 1980s in folk-based musical forms. The band was founded in 1982 by David Tibet, who has been Current 93's only constant member. Background Tibet has been the only const ...

) *2007 – ''

'' *2008 – '' Live at Jerusalem'' *2008 – ''Gebel Barkal'' *2009 – ''Conference Live'' *2009 – '' God Is Good'' *2012 – '' Advaitic Songs'' *2014 – ''Live'' *2019 – ''BBC Radio 1''

With Shrinebuilder

*2009 – ''

With Melvins

*2018 – ''Sabbath (EP)''

Solo

*2012 – "Dismas" 7" (Sinai) *2013 – "Teresa of Avila" / "Levitation Dub" 7" (Sinai) *2013 – "Ark Procession"/"Jericho" 10" (Drag City) *2014 – "Toward Nazareth"/"Indica Field"/"Harvester Dub"/"Yerushaláyim"/"Version" 12" (Drag City) *2014 – "Empty Tomb"/"Sepulcher Dub" 7" (Samaritan Press) *2014 – "Lantern of the Soul"/"Untitled" 7" (Sinai) *2020 – "Apple Pipe"/"No Tobacco" 7" (Zam Zam) *2022 – Sinai Dub Box (2012-2022) (Sinai) *2022 – "Suicide Of Judas" / "Akeldama" digital single (Sinai)

Appears on

*Six Organs of Admittance – ''River of Transfiguration.'' The Sun Awakens (Drag City) *Harvestman – ''The Hawk of Achill''. In a Dark Tongue (Neurot)

Equipment

Basses *

Rickenbacker Rickenbacker International Corporation is a string instrument manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California. The company is credited as the first known maker of electric guitars – a steel guitar in 1932 – and today produces a rang ...

4003AC (Al Cisneros Signature model) *

4420 *Rickenbacker 4080/6 * Rickenbacker 4003 *Rickenbacker 4003S5 *Rickenbacker 4004 *Rickenbacker 4003W Amplification *

Ampeg Ampeg is a manufacturer best known for its bass amplifiers. Originally established in 1946 in Linden, New Jersey by Everett Hull and Stanley Michaels as "Michael-Hull Electronic Labs," today Ampeg is part of the Yamaha Guitar Group. Although ...

SVT-VR *

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

Dual Dark 100 *

Ampeg SVT The Ampeg SVT is a bass guitar amplifier designed by Bill Hughes and Roger Cox for Ampeg and introduced in 1969. The SVT is a stand-alone amplifier or "head" as opposed to a "combo" unit comprising amp and speaker(s) in one cabinet, and was capab ...

810 *Orange 2x12, 4x12 Effects * Peterson Strobe Tuner *Chicago Iron Tychobrahe Parachute Wah *Orange Bax Bangeetar Guitar Pre-EQ * DOD Preamp Overdrive 250 (modified) *

Electro-Harmonix Electro-Harmonix (also commonly referred to as EHX) is a New York City-based company that makes electronic audio processors and sells rebranded vacuum tubes. The company was founded by Mike Matthews in 1968. It is best known for a series of gu ...

Pog 2 *

Mu-Tron ''Musitronics'', often shortened to Mu-tron, was a manufacturer of electronic musical effects active in the 1970s. Founded by Mike Beigel and Aaron Newman, the company's products provided filtering and processing effects and were derived from s ...

Bi-Phase

References

External links

Official website of OmOfficial Facebook page of OmOfficial Facebook page of Sleep
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cisneros, Al Musicians from San Jose, California Living people 1973 births Singers from California Guitarists from California American male bass guitarists Sleep (band) members Om (band) members Asbestosdeath members Shrinebuilder members 21st-century American singers 21st-century American bass guitarists 21st-century American male singers American heavy metal singers American heavy metal bass guitarists