"Leagues Beneath" is a single by the American
stoner doom
Stoner rock, also known as stoner metal or stoner doom, is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of doom metal with psychedelic rock and acid rock. The genre emerged during the early 1990s and was pioneered foremost by Kyuss and Sleep. ...
band
Sleep
Sleep is a sedentary state of mind and body. It is characterized by altered consciousness, relatively inhibited sensory activity, reduced muscle activity and reduced interactions with surroundings. It is distinguished from wakefulness by a de ...
. The song was released for free digitally on May 23, 2018 through
Adult Swim
Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim
Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...
and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...
's 2017 singles series,
marking Sleep's second entry following 2014's "
The Clarity
"The Clarity" is a single by the American rock band Sleep. The song was released digitally for free on July 21, 2014 through the cable network Adult Swim's 2014 weekly singles series. The release of "The Clarity" also marks the first release of ne ...
".
"Leagues Beneath" was released a month after the band's 2018 return album, ''
The Sciences
''The Sciences'' was a magazine published from 1961 to 2001 by the New York Academy of Sciences. Each issue contained articles that discussed science issues with cultural relevance, illustrated with fine art and an occasional cartoon. The period ...
'', which marked Sleep's first full-length studio release in twenty years.
Later in 2018, "Leagues Beneath" was released on etched vinyl through
Third Man Records
Third Man Records is an eclectic, vinyl-focused independent record label founded and owned by Jack White, Ben Blackwell and Ben Swank. The company operates out of three locations—Nashville, Tennessee, Detroit, Michigan, and Soho, London—with ...
.
Composition
Musically, "Leagues Beneath" is a long, slow epic that begins with
B-tuned guitar and gradually builds by introducing new elements.
Al Cisneros
Al Cisneros (born September 23, 1973) is an American musician. He is the lead singer and bassist for stoner rock/ doom metal bands Sleep and Om. He also was a member of Shrinebuilder and Asbestosdeath (the precursor to Sleep) and has put out ni ...
' vocals are not heard until nearly six minutes into the track. After the song's protracted crescendo, it concludes with a somber passage where layers strip away and give way to clean, psychedelic string sounds.
Phil Witmer of ''
Vice
A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...
'' praised "Leagues Beneath", writing that it is "possibly bigger than anything on ''The Sciences''",
and Brock Thiessen of ''
Exclaim!
''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...
'' called it "sprawling" and "a total scorcher".
''
Revolver
A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...
'' wrote that the song is "droning, transcendental,
ndpunctuated with next-level riffing."
At nearly seventeen minutes, "Leagues Beneath" is the group's longest track since 1999's "
Dopesmoker
''Jerusalem'' and ''Dopesmoker'' are two versions of the third album by the American heavy metal band Sleep. The former title was released in 1999 by The Music Cartel and the latter was released by Tee Pee Records in 2003. The music for these a ...
" and, by some metrics, constitutes an
EP.
Track listing
Personnel
Sleep
*
Al Cisneros
Al Cisneros (born September 23, 1973) is an American musician. He is the lead singer and bassist for stoner rock/ doom metal bands Sleep and Om. He also was a member of Shrinebuilder and Asbestosdeath (the precursor to Sleep) and has put out ni ...
– vocals, bass
*
Matt Pike
Matt may refer to:
*Matt (name), people with the given name ''Matt'' or Matthew, meaning "gift from God", or the surname Matt
*In British English, of a surface: having a non-glossy finish, see gloss (material appearance)
*Matt, Switzerland, a mu ...
– guitars
*
Jason Roeder
Jason Roeder is the drummer of the Oakland
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Ar ...
– drums
References
External links
"Leagues Beneath"at
Adult Swim
Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim
Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...
and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...
{{authority control
Adult Swim singles
Sleep (band) songs
2018 songs
Williams Street Records singles