SLEEP.
The Sabbath-inspired stoners who invented a term and rattled the minds of lsteners, teetering on the edge of mainstream and underground before doing something completely balls-out awesome (awesomely insane to some) and shocking the higherups at London Records. Sure they lasted about as long as the original Misfits line-up (about 1990-1995) but they left a HUGE mark on the scene of "stoner rock" and "doom metal", eventually breaking up from being genreally unhappy with their outcome of the band.
With ever-changing vocalizations, engaging 70s-styled riffage and solos that'd make Tony Iommi crap his pants, Sleep seemed almost like a ressurection of Sabbath, even more hilarious that Sabbath was what, late in their Tony Martin years when this stuff came out? Plus they came up with the term "stoner rock", which no doubt made the people at stonerrock.com very happy. So without further due, here is...
SLEEP'S HOLY TRIBUTE
Asbestos Death - Unclean (1989, Asbestos Records)
For starters, before Sleep was inevitably formed, in 1989 the three main members and Operator Generator's Tom Choi formed AsbestosDeath. This stuff favored way more on the "doom" spectrum of metal, featuring way early takes on "Anguish" and "The Suffering". The vocals, done by Choi and Cisneros are extremely harsh complacent to the catatonic sound.
Asbestos Death - Dejection (1990, Profane Existence Records)
Dejection is the other AsbestosDeath release, featuring another two songs. Nail is a suspicious and unsettling number leading into a pounding of riffs and slow, howling vocals. I think Cisneros is singing more on this, but who knows?
There's also the song Scourge, which is basically an instrumental.
So yeah, that's why this is the tribute to Sleep and not the tribute to AsbestodDeath because, quite literally, their legacy is surmished in a nutshell. So let's get stoned, shall we?
VOLUME 1 (1990, Tupelo Records)
Still on the doom phase (And with a new guitarist), Sleep trudged forth with their first album, featuring three of those old Asbestos cuts and some other numbers that were slow, and more slow. They aimed to leave a good first impression and it showed, as they'd leave the Boner/Tupelo/Whatever label not long after.
The music itself?Introducing with a dark chant, the riffs and chords are very punchy, the vocals howling with a slow desperation with the rhythm section sloshingly along. The Suffering dosen't pick up speed like in the original Matt Pike sings on this too, absolutely growling.
In fact, there's almost no speed to be found. Just SLOWNESS and ANGUISH. And that song Anguish is painfully leading to a wailing forth and desperation of pain. Almost catactonic in sound, and yes that song is slow too but they get all Melvins-like with the intro with the fancy rhythm. And Sleep's stoner style shows a little more here, but the doom is strong in matter. It almost sounds suspicious, almost like a lost cut from Bullhead.
The only track that show any kind of speed is Nebuchednazzar's Dream, which has a mid-tempo riff to boot and The Wall of Yawn, which has a trampling intro leading back to SLOW. SLOW songs like PREY until they hit the end called Scourge, which dosen't appear on the LP or Cassette version.
Though Sleep was doom for the early tomes, the pot would take it's toll and bring out a stronger form of them.
VOLUME 2 (1992, Off The Disk Records)
An official bootleg (Does that make any kind of sense?) EP released to a simple 1000 copies, it features a killer Black Sabbath cover and two early takes from their forthcoming album at the time, showing a melding out of the doom genre and forming the "Stoner Rock" they beautifully coined.
On the A-Side is a cover of the Sabbath classic "Lord Of This World", which starts and ends with them parodying the Live At Last with the whole "We're Sleep! We love you!". Faithful, killer song with great vocals and it's tastefully funny to boot!
The B-Side? An early take of the Druid that isn't nearly as technical as the version they later composed. Has a real Caveman quality to it. The vocals also sound very primitive. When I first heard it, I thought Matt Pike was singing this, and if someone told me so I'd believe it.
There's also an early take of Nain's Baptism which is about the same as the album version.
All-in-all, a fun EP, but super-rare. This is what, 12 minutes of music and it goes for nearly two hundred dollars on EBay! If you can find it for say, a download, go for it.
LIVE AT THE GILMAN TAPE (1992, live bootleg)
Not an actual release, but a live bootleg, but still important as Sleep fans LOVE hearing old bootlegs of this band. In fact, I'm surprised nobody's went and made some crazy 5-disc set of a bunch of live stuff. As we all know, Sleep + sound quality dosen't mix. Just like The Misfits!
The show starts off er....cuts in wth the end of From Beyond, passing forward with a bunch of songs from Holy Mountain (Dragonaut and The Druid sound AMAZING live), one from Vol. 1, and an unreleased song, quoted "This is a brand new song. It's called Sonic Titan", which is a killer 9-minute riff-fest. Keep that particular track in mind for later.
SLEEP'S HOLY MOUNTAIN (1993, Earache Records)
It seems like Sleep just grabbed the world by the balls with this release, as it's nothing short of phenomenal. Rough, edgy riffs. A muddy, yet totally listenable production. Lyricism about getting stoned. Everyone just seemed to be smoked quite literally by this! And if you listened to it yourself, you'd be hard to doubt them!
The album kicking off with a catchy riff with the trippiest bass sound, leading into some of the most bonged-out metal you'll ever hear. Dragonaut really is a good way to have kicked off the album, and gives the right idea. Like Sabbath on pot with solos on the level of the Heaven And Hell album.
Al Cisneros seems to have found his form with voice, jumping between laid-back singing and irritable grunting, depending on the track. In fact, it almost sounds nothing like Vol. 1, save for Inside The Sun, which sounds like it could be on there, albeit as a faster, trippier track.
But besides that, everything else is a total slow trip. Like Monster Magnet kicking back and relaxing even at times. Every track is different, even with consistent lyricism, sometimes same-y riffs, and totally different singing tones on each track. Yt the ebb and flow of the album goes perfect. The songs work in their entireties, eve the ten minute "From Beyond", an absolutely crushing monster of a song leading into some of the best riffage you'll ever hear. This not long after Holy Mountain, an eight minute mass of riffs and pot-inspired lyrics!
The album admittedly does close with a somewhat empty instrumental called Nain's Baptism. It almost makes you want to go back to the eight previous tracks over and over, simply because they are so engaging. It's easily Sleep's most accessible album and a favorite amongst stoner and doom fans in general.
And to think, it only get's better.
LIVE AT THE HAZE THEATER (1994, live bootleg)
Let me put it to you this way. If anyone ever asked me what songs I'd like to see Sleep play most live, "From Beyond" and "Dopesmoker" would be on top of that list.
It's like this live bootleg was made just for me.
SNOWBLIND on MASTERS OF MISERY (1997, Earache Records)
I'd never believe any band could manage to Out-Sabbath Black Sabbath, but it happens here. The riff is slower and more crushing than the original, the solos are more energetic, and the voice? Al Cisneros damn near hits the voice to a science here. It's nothing short of incredible, and one of the best covers you'll ever hear!
Can't say the same for the rest of the covers on this tribute, but this one stands tall.
SOME EARACHE DVD WITH THE DRAGONAUT VIDEO (19something-something, Earache Records)
Featuring a bunch of Earache mainstays (90% of them no longer on the label), thie DVD notably features a music video of SLEEP! Dragonaut is shown in grainy B&W and is an absolute trip to watch. As if the Sabbath feel wasn't so obvious.
JERUSALEM (1995, bootleg) (1999, The Music Cartel)
Here it is, Sleep's opus and the last recording they did before inevitably folding. And it probably made the initial listeners s**t themselves. Too bad it didn't come out in 1995 because if it did, it'd either be a "musical revolution" or a "cult classic" or god knows what. Rolling Stone would have lost their minds over this.
Hell it's no doubt London lost it when they found out the Twenty Grand spent to make the album was spent entitrely on pot and equipment.
Amongst first glance, you'll simply see a picture of a guy bowing to the flame with the words SLEEP - JERUSALEM. On the back is what REALLY defines this album. A picture of a bong and the following track listing.
1. Jerusalem (52:08 )
One track, 50 minutes? Are you serious!?!? Well, to be honest, they did cut it into six "parts" but the album flows together too well to be listened to in an individual sense. Best of all, it's a 52-minute song...ABOUT WEED.
The song begins with a mammoth tone, leading into a slow, plodding riff that seems to drag for years. The notes drag out massively, almost like an earthquake. Try to imagine Sabbath overdosed on molasses and maybe it's the right idea here. Never mind the fact it's crisp and loud and absolutely massive, like you're in a desert amongst a never-ending sea of sand.
After about eight minutes of everything kicking in and crushing alive with the mighty riff and rhythm of amazing drumworks, Al's voice commands upon with the mightiness of it all, shouting "DROP OUT OF LIFE WITH BONG IN HAND". By no means he is singing, but rather sounding like Conan The Barbarian performing opera. A lethargic, stoned chant, so to say.
Speaking of lyrics, this song may have the greatest (And most hilarious) lyrics ever penned and put on tape. Here it is in it's entirety.
Jerusalem by Sleep
DROP OUT OF LIFE WITH BONG IN HAND
FOLLOW THE SMOKE TOWARD THE RIFF FILLED LAND
DROP OUT OF LIFE WITH BONG IN HAND
FOLLOW THE SMOKE TOWARD THE RIFF FILLED LAND
PROCEEDS THE WEEDIAN, NAZARETH
PROCEEDS THE WEEDIAN, NAZARETH
CREEDSMEN ROLL OUT ACROSS THE DYING DAWN
SACRED ISRAEL HOLY MOUNTAIN ZION
SUN BEAMS DOWN ONTO THE SANDCEAN REIGNS
CARAVAN MIGRATES THROUGH DEEP SANDSCAPE
LUNGSMEN UNEARTH THE CREED OF HASHEESHIAN
LEBANON
DESERT LEGION SMOKE COVENANT IS COMPLETE
HERB BAILS RETIED ONTO BACKS OF BEASTS
STONER CARAVAN EMERGE FROM SANDSEA
EARTHLING INSERTS TO CHALICE THE GREEN CUTCHIE
GROUNDATION SOUL FINDS TRUST UPON SMOKING HOSE
ASSEMBLE CREEDSMEN RISES PRAYERFILLED SMOKE
GOLGOTHA
JUDGEMENT SOON COME TO MANKIND
GREEN HERBSMEN SERVE RIGHTFUL KING
HEMP SEED CARAVAN CARRIES
RIDES OUT BELIEVER WITH THE SPLIFF AFLAME
MARIJUANAUT ESCAPES EARTH TO CULTIVATE
GROW ROOM IS CHURCH TEMPLE OF THE NEW STONER BREED
CHANTS LOUD ROBED PRIEST DOWN ONTO THE FREEDOMSEED
BURNT OFFERING REDEEMS COMPLETES SMOKED DELIVERANCE
CARAVANS STONED DELIVERANTS
THE CARAVAN HOLDS TO EASTERN CREED
NOW SMOKES BELIEVER
THE CHRONICLE OF SINSEMILLIAN
DROP OUT OF LIFE WITH BONG IN HAND
FOLLOW THE SMOKE TOWARD THE RIFF FILLED LAND
DROP OUT OF LIFE WITH BONG IN HAND
FOLLOW THE SMOKE JERUSALEM.
Even with just the riffs, there's solos snuck in that absolutely shred all over the place (There's about three of them, by the way, and they all rule!). Mainly to break the monotony as this is by no means diverse music. It's slowed down riffs dragging out an hour for chrissakes! And the vocals are so few and far between, they drag. For casual listeners and naysayers, this will be absolute torture but for anyone with some goddamned sense, it's an adventure into the mighty riff and lyrics like GROW ROOM IS CHURCH TEMPLE OF THE NEW STONER BREED. Everything just kinda comes out of nowhere, really hitting the listener when they least expect.
Amongst all the mass of it is a very sudden end at 52 minutes and 08 seconds. You'd almost wish it would never end as it pulls you in and never seems to let you go. It's a musical journey. A movie put to aural form. A very trippy movie, but a surprisingly one that you'll adore.
Don't even get started on listening to this on drugs. This, by far, has to be the BEST album to listen to on shrooms or pot, hands down. The riffs and drawn-out chords will engulf you under the influence and the chant seems to engage you upon the dying dawn, where hilarious lyrics become a hypnosis, amplifying your high into the stratosphere. You'll be absolutely floored by this if you smoke a few doobies. I was and it's a million times better that way. Even moreso than Holy Mountain.
Even though this was Sleep's last effort, they went out with a closer no band could ever match.
DOPESMOKER (2003, Tee Pee Records)
And years after Sleep called it quits, Tee Pee got a hold of the original, muddy-sounding, LONGER (because 52 minutes is just too short, you guys!) version of Jerusalem under it's original alias. DOPESMOKER. Now 65 minutes with the real Billy Anderson on the engine-ears, the saga completes itself. At times it sounds quieter than Jerusalem, but later on it pounds louder and harder than the original release. The lyricism is also different, strangely.
But they saved the best of it for last, as it's one track unlike Jerusalem's six "parts". One song, lengthed at a crippling 63 minutes and 31 seconds.
Well, excluding the 2LP, which makes it three 20-minute tunes with the best titles ever. I wonder where the ******** they came up with the titles, because nowhere on the vinyl are they stated.
"Drop Out of Life" – 21:10
"Creedsmen Roll Out Across the Dying Dawn" – 20:11
"Marijuanaut" – 21:08
"Sonic Titan (live)" – 8:57
As you can see, there's also a track here that's not Dopesmoker. Yes, a bonus track. The unreleased song from the Gilman Tape, entitled Sonic Titan, though on the CD it's 9:36. And yes, it's remastered so even a bootleg live cut can sound amazing under the right prerequisites!
Lastly, it's still in regular print, so you can even find this at FYE anymore.
DOPESMOKER on THE BROKEN FLOWERS SOUNDTRACK (2005 Decca Records)
Even more ridiculous is somehow, they edited Dopesmoker from 63 minutes.......to 4 minutes. Playing a snippet of it in the Bill Murray flick "Broken Flowers", it's a bizarre thing happening. Had London Records been not so shortsighted, perhaps they could have done the same to promote the bonged-out adventure as a single.
AsbestosDeath - Dejection/Unclean (2007, Southern Lord Records)
Essentially just the two seven-inches put together in one cheap (dur-hur-hur they call it "specially priced" wink package. Plus I guess they're remastered so they sound better, as the sound is very clear. Lastly, it got the vinyl treatment as a 10".
Soooooo....where are they now?
Matt Pike, still eager to play and shred his heart out, formed High On Fire in 1998. He also formed Kalas in 2003, but they broke up not too long after forming
Al Cisneros dissapeared from the music scene entirely until forming OM in 2004.
Tom Choi, after quitting AsbestosDeath, formed a bunch of bands, namely Operator Generator and It Is I.
Justin Marler alienated himself from music to become a Monk, save for when he joined along for the band The Sabians in 1999, which lasted until around 2004.
Chris Hakius moved deep into the California mountains with his family, eventually joining the Sabians in 99' and then forming OM in 2004, eventually leaving OM in early 2008.
And in conclusion...
If you haven't checked Sleep out by now, go do it. You're missing out. BIG TIME.
Oh, and Go watch this video of them live. It rules.
