helterskelter.ca

SLEEP
1991 - Volume One.
1992 - Sleep's Holy Mountain.
1996 - Jerusalem / Dopesmoker.
more SLEEP.
way more Helter Skelter.

February 14, 1991 - 2026: 35 years of: Volume One.

From Salvatore Dali to Stoner Doom.

San Jose strikes with an unconditional mud-slide, nevermind Seattle ...this is the alternative. Fully awake and totally under the radar, one band shall set the pace for the dark 90s: SLEEP.

Monstrous riffing with monstrous consequences, as "Stillborn" and "The Suffering" creeps it's doomness upon mankind. The apocalypse of "Numb" bleeds out, while more loud heavyrock leaves the crowd into a deep "Catatonic" state. Fully snowblind under the sun, "Nebuchadnezzar's Dream" shine in blackness, as the finale of "Scourge" hits another nail in the coffin.

Doom or be doomed.

Signing with British extremist Earache Records and spearheading the other shade of the 90s, SLEEP's slow conquer shall begin with the Everest of modern acidrock: 1992's Holy Mountain CD.

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Volume One = full CD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtOKkrLGnyA&list=OLAK5uy_k7bg4zZuk-TklJIzorTUq2o95gcnUXHzk
Live in Berkeley in 1991
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRFpFLXqUwI

November 1, 1992 - 2022: 30 years of: Sleep's Holy Mountain.

*cough - cough - cough*

If BLACK SABBATH's 1971 Sweet Leaf didn't make it official, let's make it obvious. Call this the neo early-nineties counterculture effect. In a shape-changing 1991-92 scene, one band reanimated the dark mood vibe of heavyrock as they climbed up the holy mountain, this is SLEEP.

The bluesy guitar-tone riff sets the pace and then a massive wall of bricks falls into the arena. Pounding drums and the overdriven-bass rocks the house hard, as the "Dragonaut" flies high above. Track #2 is as loud and defying, as "The Druid" brings heavyrock knowledge to this new generation, diametrically opposed to the closing-track "Nain's Baptism" ...a spaced-out instrumental jam.

Time for "Some Grass" ...a nod to LYNYRD SKYNYRD.

Do no derange the "Evil Gypsy" as he prepares his potion surrounded by this misty haze. More deadly-tuned doom oozes from the 8:44sec title-track "Holy Mountain", an avalanche of heaviness and despair, while hip vibes are felt on the fast-paced "Inside The Sun", an obvious reference to BLACK SABBATH's mammoth-track "Into The Void".

Engulfed between MTV-Charting grunge or hyperspeed deathmetal, SLEEP was the perfect antidote to this new-school, while ironically using old-school techniques and equipment. This second CD sat the groove for the upcoming stone-rock / sludge movement of the mid 90s.

This heavy trio would once again break the modus-operandi of traditions with their 1996, released in 1999 Jerusalem one-track 52min CD. A Stonehenge in the doomrock scene ...AKA the Dopesmoker CD properly re-released in 2003.

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Dragonaut = video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMIS2BaDilY
Sleep's Holy Mountain = full CD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OWwgGYhsBs&list=PL6_qhP3eWX5PvNkVrVpNb4QjVpTOz9yBC
Live in San Diego in 1992
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt8aKL8p6jM

April 20, 1996 - 2026: 30 years of: Jerusalem / Dopesmoker.

A ten-ton epiphany.

Still under 1992's Holy Mountain CD haze, the pace shall now dwell in textures of low-B frequencies. SLEEP breaks the modusoperandi of the extreme: a one of a kind 63 minute mud torment.

Richter-scale defiant, the slow and long agony feedbacks into eternity. Drums eventually crashes, as the monolithic rhythm pushes eardrums on the edge. A catatonic build-up, not only in decibels, but in structure. The midpaced metal ravage with powerchords and endless ring. A jam experience, with unorthodox means and massive might.

After "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida", "2112" and CATHEDRAL's current "The Voyage Of The Homeless Sapien" trek ...another pride and joy shall put rocknroll on it's head. Recorded, refused and shelved by London Records, the material eventually saw the light of night in 1999 and later in 2003, under the new moniker: Dopesmoker CD.

Crafted in 1994 and intended for a 1996 release, we though is would be appropriate that the fictional date of 4/20 be applied here.

After legal arguments, the band would break up and spring back into action in both OM and HIGH ON FIRE. Now part of the stoner, doom and drone folklore and reforming due to renewed interest, SLEEP would eventually hatch 2018's The Sciences CD.

*
Dopesmoker = full CD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk67LzdK8QI

more SLEEP:

#Alternative-Metal 1992