Reykjavík’s X/OZ imprint — the label run by Exos, one of Icelandic electronic music’s quietest and most consistent champions — has long specialised in deep, head-down dub techno. OHM arrives on it for the first time as a solo artist, following years spent as a collaborator alongside Exos, Octal Industries and Kvadrant. His debut EP Seiðingur is a four-track record whose title, drawn from the Old Norse seiðr — the shamanic magic of the sagas — signals something steeped in ritual.
Going Back opens in thick haze. A sub bass pulses low beneath warm, smeared chords that roll through long delays, whilst the kick sits buried in reverb and tape hiss, more felt than heard. It’s spacious, meditative dub in the classic mould, and it eases the listener in gently. As We See It Coming is the pivot: the tempo lifts, the percussion tightens into shuffling hats and a cleaner four-to-the-floor beat, and the same chordal warmth is pushed forward with a patience that suggests OHM has learned the value of restraint from his years in Exos’ orbit.
Shiva is the EP’s peak-time heart — a relentless, stripped-back club track driven by a single hypnotic motif and a propulsive, muscular groove. There is little decoration here; the tension comes from what is left out, and the effect is hypnotic rather than aggressive. The closing title track Seiðingur then releases the pressure entirely, pads rising like morning light over a glacial landscape as the drums recede to a whisper. It is a sunrise closer in the truest sense, and it makes the journey from opener feel deliberate and whole.
As a debut, Seiðingur is remarkably assured. It does not grab you by the lapels; it works on you slowly, its arc from atmospheric dub to peak-time pressure and back to stillness mapped with real care. Played loud in the right room, these four tracks tell a complete story, and they suggest OHM is far more than a reliable collaborator—an artist who has found his own voice, and a welcome addition to the X/OZ family.
