Sleep

"Dopesmoker"
(Tee Pee Records)
by Jonathan Mariante

Sleep are a band who were innovators of stoner rock/dirge metal. They are now history, but have decided to go out with a bang by releasing this album, which consists of one song that lasts over sixty minutes! Think you can handle that? A few years back, a shortened version of this album, titled "Jerusalem", was released, but this is the original, longer version of that, the album the band wanted to release in the first place, the "real" version, if you will. The album/song takes the listener on a trippy sonic journey. It begins with some doomy guitar riffs , akin to Sabbath, St. Vitus, or Pentagram, then the plodding, cymbal-heavy drumming kicks in. The album/track continues in this vein throughout. About eight and a half minutes into "'Smoker", the singing begins, courtesy of vocalist/bassist Al Cisneros. He sings in a guttural, despair laden wail, like a suffering man. After about fourteen minutes, we hit the first guitar solo (there are three in all). A song that lasts over an hour! This is quite a piece of work! One can argue that the band is/was being self indulgent, but, to give credit where credit's due, Sleep can certainly play! I was quite impressed by their talent! Songs that last sixty-plus minutes are not really my cup, but these guys are very good at what they do. They've gone the whole nine yards here (and then some!) and made a fine piece of classic style doom/dirge metal here, however lengthy. Arguably a masterpiece of this genre. And as if the original, restored album weren't enough, they've also thrown in a bonus (live) cut, the never before released "Sonic Titan". This is another Sabbath influenced dirge metal tune (parts of it reminded me of the beginning of "Into The Void") that's nine minutes long. One thing for sure, these guys sure know how to give you some bang for your buck! Too bad they decided to call it quits. The doom scene could use some guidance and ideas from bands like Sleep. I'm not saying all songs should be an hour long...but this is doom metal the way it should be done!

http://www.teepeerecords.com