Sleep (band)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Sleep | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Origin | San Jose, California, USA | |
| Genre(s) | Stoner metal Doom metal |
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| Label(s) | London Records Very Small Records Earache Records Tee Pee Records Music Cartel Records |
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| Associated acts |
High on Fire Om |
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| Former members | ||
| Al Cisneros Matt Pike Chris Hakius Justin Marler |
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Sleep is a stoner doom metal band.
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[edit] History
[edit] Pre-Sleep
Silicon Valley/San Jose, California, USA founded Stoner Rock band Sleep, evolved in the early 90's from the crust punk band Asbestos Death which was established by Cisneros, Hakius and guitarist Tom Choi. Asbestos Death expanded to a quartet with the introduction of Matt Pike on guitar, and recorded 2 singles - ‘Dejection’ for Profane Existence and the self released ‘Unclean’. Choi departed, and would later found Operator Generator, It is I, Noothgrush, and now in Las Vegas’ Black Jets. Asbestos Death recruited Justin Marler as replacement and switched the name to Sleep.
[edit] Recording Era
Their debut - Volume One was released in 1991 (see 1991 in music). Frequently compared to bands like Saint Vitus, Sleep soon gained a devoted fanbase within the developing stoner rock scene. The record showcased the bands penchant for lysergic dirges. Marler subsequently quit the band to take up the Monastic life, leaving the band as a power trio for the recording of their Volume Two EP (Off The Disc, 1991).
Earache received the bands next recordings in the mail as a demo. Recorded with Billy Anderson handling the production duties at Razors Edge studios in San Francisco, the tape showcased Sleep's love of all things retro, from the blatant Black Sabbath/Blue Cheer riffs, to their fixation with 70's style Orange and Green Matamp amplification. The label immediately signed the band and released the tape exactly as it was received. Record store shelves worldwide stocked Sleep's Holy Mountain (album) from March 1993 onwards. Around this time Earache released the very first Black Sabbath Tribute album also, Sleep contributed, with their own rendition of Snowblind being one of the highlights.
Sleep's Holy Mountain (1992) is widely-regarded as the band's creative pinnacle and is considered a seminal stoner/doom metal album. The album's release was followed by a potentially lucrative offer from London Records, and Sleep signed with them.
Under this contract, in 1995 they began work on their third album, Dopesmoker. Dopesmoker was actually one single song which was over one hour in length. The album was submitted to London Records, who declared that it was unmarketable and therefore could not be released. Sleep returned to the studio and then submitted their second attempt at the new album. They had retitled it Jerusalem, re-written some of the lyrics and trimmed it down to a lean 52 minutes, but it was essentially the same album and song as Dopesmoker. London Records again refused to release it. Frustrated and generally unhappy with the situation, the members of Sleep decided it was time to disband.
[edit] Post Sleep
In 1998, Jerusalem was released posthumously as an "official bootleg" by a friend of the group. Sleep and their former manager had full knowledge of this and gave it their approval. In 1999, Jerusalem was given an official legitimate release by The Music Cartel in the US and Rise Above Records in Europe.
Finally, in 2003 the original version of Dopesmoker was officially released by Tee Pee Records. It is generally considered the definitive version of the album. An excerpted version can be heard on Jim Jarmusch's Broken Flowers original soundtrack.
Cisneros and Hakius later formed the band Om while Pike formed High on Fire.
[edit] Discography
[edit] LPs
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