Sleep is an American heavy metal band from

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

. Guitarist

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 ...

and bassist and vocalist

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 ...

have been the only constant members throughout its history, with several changes of drummers throughout their history. Critic Eduardo Rivadavia describes them as "perhaps the ultimate

stoner rock 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" and notes they exerted a strong influence on metal in the 1990s. The band first gained attention with their second album, ''

Sleep's Holy Mountain ''Sleep's Holy Mountain'' (also known as ''Holy Mountain'') is the second studio album by the American heavy metal band Sleep. It was released in November 1992 in Europe and March 1993 in the US through Earache Records. Release and reception ...

'' (1992). However, conflict with the band's record company contributed to Sleep's breakup by the end of the decade. Sleep's third album, ''

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 al ...

'', was released after the band's dissolution. The band reformed in 2009 and has played sporadic live dates internationally since. In 2018, Sleep surprise-released their comeback 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 ...

'', on

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 ...

, to critical acclaim.

History

Early years

Sleep evolved in the early 1990s from the band

Asbestosdeath Asbestosdeath was an American doom metal band from San Jose, California, the precursor to the highly influential band Sleep. History Asbestosdeath started life in the late 1980s as a trio consisting of Al Cisneros on bass, Chris Hakius on dru ...

, which was established by vocalist/bassist

, drummer

Chris Hakius Chris Hakius is an American retired rock drummer best known for his work in Om and Sleep. Around 1990, Hakius was in Asbestosdeath along with Al Cisneros and Matt Pike. Asbestosdeath broke up and the three would form Sleep. Hakius was Sleep's ...

, and guitarist Tom Choi. Asbestosdeath expanded to a quartet with the introduction of

on guitar, and recorded two singles - "Dejection" for

Profane Existence Profane Existence is a Minneapolis-based anarcho-punk collective. Established in 1989, the collective publishes a nationally known punk zine, zine (also called ''Profane Existence''), as well as releasing and distributing anarcho-punk, crust punk, ...

and the self-released "Unclean". Choi departed, and later founded Operator Generator, It Is I, Noothgrush, and Las Vegas' Black Jetts. Asbestosdeath recruited

Justin Marler Justin Marler (born July 29, 1972) is an American musician. He is known for being a founding member of the stoner rock band Sleep and for leaving a burgeoning career in music to become a monk in an Eastern Orthodox monastery. In 1990, Marler j ...

as replacement and the band adopted the new name, Sleep.

Recording era

Their debut album '' Volume One'' was released in 1991. Frequently compared to bands like

Saint Vitus Vitus (), whose name is sometimes rendered Guy or Guido, was a Christian martyr from Sicily. His surviving hagiography is pure legend. The dates of his actual life are unknown.Basil Watkins, ''The Book of Saints: A Comprehensive Biographical D ...

, Sleep soon gained a devoted fanbase within the developing

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

scene. Marler quit the band soon after to take up life as a

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

, leaving the band as a power trio for the recording of their '' Volume Two'' EP, which was released officially by Off the Disk Records in 1991. The band's next album was sent to the independent label Earache as a demo. Recorded at Razors Edge studios in San Francisco, with Billy Anderson as engineer, the tape showcased Sleep's love of all things retro, from the blatant

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

Blue Cheer Blue Cheer was an American rock band that initially performed and recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was sporadically active until 2009. Based in San Francisco, Blue Cheer played in a psychedelic blues rock or acid rock style, and ...

influences, to their fixation with 1970's-style tube amplification. The label immediately signed the band and released the tape exactly as it was received. ''

'' (1992) is widely considered the seminal album in the evolution of stoner metal. The album's release was followed by a potentially lucrative offer from

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

, and Sleep signed with them. Around this time, Earache released its first Black Sabbath tribute album, and Sleep contributed a cover of " Snowblind". Under their new contract, Sleep began work on its third album, ''

'', in 1995. Much to the dismay of executives at London Records, ''Dopesmoker'' was a single song, over an hour long. London Records declared the album unmarketable and refused to release it. They had it remixed, cut up into sections by David Sardy, which led to a deadlock with the band, Sleep being unhappy with the result. Frustrated and generally unhappy with the situation, the members of Sleep decided to disband.

After Sleep

In 1998, Sleep released ''

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

'' as an "official bootleg". One year later, ''Jerusalem'' was given an official legitimate release by

The Music Cartel The Music Cartel was a record label based in Port Washington, New York and active between 1998 and 2005. It was founded by former Earache Records general manager Eric Lemasters. Many of their critically acclaimed releases – including prominent ...

in the US and

Rise Above Records Rise Above Records is a London-based independent record label owned by Lee Dorrian (of the band Cathedral and formerly of Napalm Death). Founding Lee Dorrian started Rise Above Records in 1988 without the intention of the label being an ongoi ...

in Europe. Finally, in 2003 the original version of ''

'' was officially released by

Tee Pee Records Tee Pee Records is an American independent rock music record label in New York City, prominent for releasing music by Sleep, Witch, Graveyard, Earthless, High on Fire and the Brian Jonestown Massacre. It has housed many stoner rock bands. Rost ...

. It is generally considered the definitive version of the album. An excerpted version can be heard on

Jim Jarmusch James Robert Jarmusch (; born January 22, 1953) is an American film director and screenwriter. He has been a major proponent of independent cinema since the 1980s, directing films including '' Stranger Than Paradise'' (1984), '' Down by Law'' ( ...

's ''

Broken Flowers ''Broken Flowers'' is a 2005 French-American comedy-drama film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch and produced by Jon Kilik and Stacey Smith. The film focuses on an aging "Don Juan" who embarks on a cross-country journey to track down four of ...

'' original soundtrack. Cisneros and Hakius later formed the

band Om while Pike formed

sludge metal Sludge metal (also known as sludge or sludge doom) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that originated through combining elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. It is typically harsh and abrasive, often featuring shouted vocals, heavi ...

band

High on Fire High on Fire is an American heavy metal band from Oakland, California, that was formed in 1999. Matt Pike, the band's frontman and founder, also plays guitar for doom metal band Sleep. High on Fire won the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Metal Per ...

. In 2007 a CD compilation of both 7-inch releases of the pre-Sleep band Asbestosdeath was released on

Southern Lord Southern Lord is an American heavy metal record label that was founded in 1998 by Greg Anderson. It specialized in experimental metal: particularly doom metal, stoner rock, and drone metal. The label later expanded its line-up to include arti ...

Records.

Reunion and ''The Sciences''

In May 2009, Sleep reformed to perform two exclusive reunion sets in Britain as part of the

All Tomorrow's Parties "All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by the Velvet Underground and Nico, written by Lou Reed and released on the group's 1967 debut studio album, ''The Velvet Underground & Nico''. Inspiration for the song came from Reed's observation of Andy Warh ...

music festival. In the shows the band performed for the first time an unheard song that had been written during the ''Dopesmoker'' recording sessions, which was titled "Antarcticans Thawed." After the band's initial reunion performance, original drummer Chris Hakius decided to retire from music to raise a family, and he was replaced on drums by

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 ...

of experimental metal band

Neurosis Neurosis is a class of functional mental disorders involving chronic distress, but neither delusions nor hallucinations. The term is no longer used by the professional psychiatric community in the United States, having been eliminated from th ...

. The reconfigured lineup played the ATP New York 2010 music festival in Monticello, New York, where it performed ''Holy Mountain'' in its entirety. The band followed up this performance with a tour of the rest of the United States, playing headlining dates and festivals, through September. From 2010 onward, Sleep performed similar sporadic festival and touring engagements when the member's otherwise busy touring schedules permitted. In late 2012, in conjunction with an upcoming appearance at

Maryland Deathfest Maryland Deathfest (often abbreviated to MDF) is an annual American extreme metal festival founded in 2003 by Ryan Taylor and Evan Harting. The festival is held in Baltimore, Maryland during Memorial Day weekend, and it features many bands from ...

, the band stated that it considers Sleep to be a "full, reunited band." In 2014, Al Cisneros announced in an interview that the band was working on a new record. On July 21, 2014, a new song titled "

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 ...

" was released via Adult Swim Singles. In November 2017 the band members posted a message in

Morse code Morse code is a method used in telecommunication to encode text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code is named after Samuel Morse, one of ...

stating that they had almost finished recording material for a new album. On April 19, 2018, the band announced ''

'', their first album in nearly 20 years, to be released the next day on

. The release of ''

'' was a surprise, being released the day after it was announced, and created a lot of excitement within their fanbase. The album's release date, April 20, 2018, was also

Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...

weekend.

released a limited edition split-colored vinyl with an alternate cover to be sold at a limited number of record stores in the US on the release date. The album was met with critical acclaim. ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' wrote in their review, " he Sciencesmakes everything that was originally great about Sleep even better." ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' declared that the record gives "stoner-metal acolytes a bonafide miracle." On May 23, 2018, Sleep released a new song titled "

Leagues Beneath "Leagues Beneath" is a single by the American stoner doom band Sleep. The song was released for free digitally on May 23, 2018 through Adult Swim's 2017 singles series, marking Sleep's second entry following 2014's "The Clarity". "Leagues Beneath" ...

" through Adult Swim Singles and Third Man Records. On November 11, 2019, the band announced an indefinite hiatus. In early 2022, the band announced a return to live shows.

Style

Musically, Sleep's sound has been characterized as

built upon slow, down-tuned bass playing alongside similarly low guitar

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...

s. Repetition is frequently employed, working to create a "hypnotic state" supplemented by Al Cisneros' vocals. Sleep has used

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: ''Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternatively ...

-influenced imagery since the release of their second album, often delivered in a "quasi-religious" manner. In an interview about the making of ''Dopesmoker'',

acknowledged that the band spent "a lot" of their label advance on cannabis, and "a lot of time." Pike also said that about $75,000 was spent on customized amplifiers so the album would have numerous tone layers. He said the songwriting process for ''Dopesmoker'' was long, with the band "working on

he song He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

for like four years." Al Cisneros stated that smoking cannabis was vital to the song's creative process: "I was really dependent on the space I got into when I was using it ..The line, 'Drop out of life ith bong in hand' was kind of a creed at that point." Their record ''The Sciences'' makes multiple allusions to

, whose sound heavily inspired Sleep.

Tony Iommi Anthony Frank Iommi () (born 19 February 1948) is a British musician. He co-founded the pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and was the band's guitarist, leader and primary composer and sole continuous member for nearly five decades. I ...

is referenced in the lyrics of "Marijuanaut's Theme", and the song "Giza Butler" is a play on the city

Giza Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah'' arz, الجيزة ' ) is the second-largest city in Egypt after Cairo and fourth-largest city in Africa after Kinshasa, Lagos and Cairo. It is the capital of Giza Governorate with a total population of 9.2 ...

and the name of Black Sabbath's bassist,

Geezer Butler Terence Michael Joseph "Geezer" Butler (born 17 July 1949) is a English musician and songwriter. He is best known as the bassist and primary lyricist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He has also recorded and performed with Heaven & Hell ...

. Also in "Giza Butler", references are made to several things in

Frank Herbert Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr. (October 8, 1920February 11, 1986) was an American science fiction author best known for the 1965 novel '' Dune'' and its five sequels. Though he became famous for his novels, he also wrote short stories and worked a ...

's 1965 novel ''

Dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

'', including the

gom jabbar This is a list of terminology used in the fictional ''Dune'' universe created by Frank Herbert, the primary source being "Terminology of the Imperium", the glossary contained in the novel ''Dune'' (1965). ''Dune'' word construction could be clas ...

(referred to as the "bong jabbar") and

Muad'Dib Paul Atreides (; later known as Paul Muad'Dib, and later still as The Preacher) is a fictional character in the ''Dune'' universe created by Frank Herbert. Paul is the primary protagonist in the first two novels in the series, ''Dune'' (1965) ...

(as "Muad'Doob").

Members

Current lineup *

– bass, vocals, waterpipe (1990–1998, 2009–2019, 2022–present) *

– guitars (1990–1998, 2009–2019, 2022–present) *

– drums (2010–2019, 2022-present) Former members *

– drums (1990–1998, two performances in 2009) *

– guitars (1990–1991) Sleep @ Roadburn Festival 2019-04-14 178.jpg, Al Cisneros Sleep @ Roadburn Festival 2019-04-14 180.jpg, Matt Pike Sleep @ Roadburn Festival 2019-04-14 177.jpg, Jason Roeder Timeline

Discography

Albums

Note: The band's album ''Dopesmoker'' (2003) was originally released as ''Jerusalem'' in 1999 by

. This release was unauthorized by the band who discredit the validity of its quality and release. * '' Volume One'' (1991) Tupelo Recording Company * ''

'' (1992) Earache Records * ''Jerusalem'' and ''Dopesmoker'' (1999) The Music Cartel; (2003) Tee Pee Records; (2012) Southern Lord Records; (2022) Third Man Records * ''

'' (2018) Third Man Records

EPs

* '' Volume Two'' (1992) Off the Disk Records * ''Iommic Life'' (2021) Third Man Records **Released on 4/20/21, contains the remixed version of the single "

" and the single "

Non-album tracks

* " Snowblind" (

cover) on ''Masters of Misery'' (1992) Earache Records * "Dopesmoker (abridged version)" on '' Music from Broken Flowers'' (2005) Decca Records * "

" on ''Adult Swim Singles Program 2014'' (2014) Williams Street Records * "

" on ''Adult Swim Singles Program 2017'' (2018) Williams Street Records/Third Man Records

Music videos

* ''Dragonaut'' (1993) Earache Records

References

Bibliography

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sleep American doom metal musical groups American stoner rock musical groups Cannabis culture Heavy metal musical groups from California Musical groups from San Jose, California 1990 establishments in California 1998 disestablishments in California Musical groups established in 1990 Musical groups disestablished in 1998 Musical groups reestablished in 2009 Earache Records artists Southern Lord Records artists American musical trios Third Man Records artists Musical groups reestablished in 2022