REVIEW
-
Artist:
-
Album:
-
Track:
This one defines a genre, albeit a little known one. Sleep's second album (Earache, 1993), completely sums up what stoner metal is pretty much all about. Slow, downtuned, droning guitars, Even slower, plodding basslines, and languid percussion all the way through. Released at the apex of grunge, it went against everything the record companies wanted the kids to buy as "alternative" music. It wasn't slickly produced, it wasn't the young man as the angry soulful hurt antagonist, and it wasn't from Seattle. The influence of these underground bands is really understated even now, but what kind of bands do you think rock n roll artists listen to? I mean, they're music freaks, too. That's probably the only reason some of this music is still around, cause the kids sure weren't buying it. It wasn't on their list of sounds to be force fed by the record companies. The reach of this group is as strong as any in the last twenty years, and most people still don't know about it. I imagine this one went even more unnoticed than fllow stoner gods Kyuss' _Blues For The Red Sun_, or _Welcome To Sky Valley_. I think Kyuss might have had a video. No videos here. Unless maybe a how to on Mariuana consumption. With their heads firmly in a cloud, these boys pounded out their Sabbath tribute songs with genuine reverence for the music that got them stoned all those years ago. The songs are dark, the lyrics are distorted, and buried in the mix. The guitars are like steady buzzsaws, the drums hit hard and low, you can feel them in your chest, compressing with each beat., and the mix is muddled at best. Listening to it is like being stoned, being fuzzy, dizzy. There is however, a nice savageness to it. They just crank em up, tune em down and go at it. It's metal for sure, not speed, not thrash, but a mystical, dark, cultlike metal without the makeup and without the obligatory loyalty to Satan tatooed theatrically on their heads. Their sound is theirs, it's very distinctive, most bands just sound alike, this is an especially easy trap to fall into with metal. I mean there are only so many ways to play loud long and fast. But Sleep doesn't sound like anyone but Sleep. Well Sabbath, but then they're supposed to. It can be hard to listen to, you have to try, it's challenging music, it tests you, it wants you to step closer, to think for yourself. Close your eyes while you're listening to it, catch some of the occult imagery, see if you hear it deeply enough to believe it like these guys play it.. But open them up in time to catch that joint on it's way around
Comments (7)