SLEEP — Volume One (review)

Album · 1991 · Doom Metal

4/5 · 2020-12-06
siLLy puPPy

Initially formed as Asbestosdeath by the trio of Al Cisneros (vocals, bass), Chris Hakius (drums) and Tom Choi (guitars), the band that would become SLEEP released two EPs under that moniker before ultimately losing Choi who would go on to form bands like Noothgrush and then adding guitarist Matt Pike for changing its name to the more familiar one. In the beginning, Asbestosdeath was an extreme sludge metal band much more in the vein of Eyehategod than the fuzz maestros that cranked out such classics as “Sleep’s Holy Mountain” and “Dopesmoker” but during this intermediate stage SLEEP retained some of the sludge magic mojo while steering its sound more into a plodding doom metal band with sludgy accoutrements.

The band’s two EPs as Asbestosdeath only featured four tracks and all of them were reworked and re-recorded to fit into the band’s doom metal sound that was released with five new tracks on SLEEP’s debut album VOLUME ONE which came out the following year in 1991. Unfortunately Justin Marler would soon depart the world of music to start a life as a monk but stuck around long enough to participate in this album which is SLEEP’s only one to feature four members instead of the power trio they are known to be on future releases. This album found two simultaneous releases with the vinyl appearing on the Very Small label and the CD on Tupelo.

For anyone familiar with the stoner metal fuzz of the band’s later albums, this debut may come as quite a surprise as it is much more focused on the compositions rather than a meditative fuzz frenzy that would soon follow. In the album’s near 46 minute run the procession of the tracks range from quite and completive to furious and angst ridden. The opening chants prognostic the medicative route the band would soon embark upon but the music soon becomes choppy jagged guitar riffs tamed into doom ridden chunks although the sludge distortion and screamed vocals remains on VOLUME ONE.

While the riffs often have a Black Sabbath feel to them, the Eyehategod sludge methodology is also present and SLEEP finds itself in between the two styles somewhat equidistantly with moments of one aspect or the other dominating. There are also breaks that find bass led grooves lead the guitar and drums into complex almost progressive interludes and the vocals calm down to weird narrative prose. The album is well paced as the moments of slower pastiches mixed with the rampaging metal heft are perfectly nurtured for all the right effects to unleash. The dueling guitars may not seem prominent but adds an interesting off-kilter counterpoint to the overall mix. The drumming is often simplistic as in some sludge metal but Hakius also provided some stellar workouts including interesting cymbal action.

VOLUME ONE doesn’t seem to get nearly as much love as SLEEP’s following stoner metal releases but i find this to be one compelling slab of molten metal madness that perfectly fuses the best of sludge metal with the traditional doom styles of the 70s. The musicians are all top notch and throw in some excellent technical workouts from time to time between the plodding slow paced procession throughout the album. The tracks aren’t at all predictable with meandering riffing styles generating a series of unexpected deviations from a simple chord dominated style of doom metal. IMHO this one is woefully under-appreciated as doom metal aficionados seem to write SLEEP off as a stoner metal band and for some reason the stoner crowds don’t find this one to be very compelling. In many ways i find this debut to be the most interesting SLEEP album of all although i have to admit i’m a sucker for that fiery fuzz that follows.