By: Mark Ambrose
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: April 20, 2018
Label: Third Man Records
“The
Sciences” CD//DD//LP
track listing
1. The Sciences
2. Marijuanaut’s Theme
3. Sonic Titan
4. Antarcticans Thawed
5. Giza Butler
6. The Botanist
The Review:
How the hell do you approach a release like
this? Any Sleep fan
had been hoping, expecting, waiting for a full-length to follow up the
band-disintegrating opus “Dopesmoker”. Even after original drummer Chris Hakius
departed amicably after a series of reunion dates in 2009, there was hope of
things to come. The immediate live participation
of Neurosis stalwart Jason Roeder, the sporadic
trickle of new output like “The Clarity”
single in 2014, and the ascension to “elder statesmen of metal” status of
Matt Pike and Al Cisneros made some monumental future output all but
certain. And in a particularly keen bit
of stoner humor, the trio dropped “The
Sciences” on, of course, 4/20. I
actually feel pretty bad for anyone else dropping their own passion projects on
a date that Sleep practically owns. And beyond the particular bit of gimmicky
scheduling, “The Sciences” is as
appropriate a paean to smoke altered consciousness as stoner metal worshipers
could have hoped for.
The introductory title jam is a wall of
savage, droning fuzz. It’s chaotic, gut
churning, and LOUD even through a pair of earbuds. Like a bongrip as rocket launch, the brief
number propels into “Marijuanaut’s Theme”. Cisneros’ bass tone and subtle variations is
a welcome counter to Matt Pike’s signature MONSTER playing, and his brief solo
breaks are invigorating. Each speaker is
palpable in Pike’s riffing, but he’s distinctly not hijacking as a repository
for High on Fire castoffs, or vice versa. His style with Sleep is
looser and dirtier, less Fast Eddie Clarke and more Tony Iommi. His ability to simultaneously melt faces in
two distinct outfits should never be discounted, but here, with less autonomy,
his soloing shows a joyfulness that you don’t often get in the gritty, paranoid
shredding of the most recent High on Fire albums. And, from a production standpoint, this is
completely beholden to power trio methods – when Matt shreds, there may be
multitracked lead freakouts, but there are no rhythm guitar overdubs. The whole thing could be pulled off live and
sound just as full as the record.
“Sonic Titan” is
one of those long fermenting cuts that first saw life decades ago, appearing as
a rough cut on the Tee Pee issue of the
(still incomplete) “Dopesmoker” in
2003. Anyone professing that the
“original” is better, is likely trying way too hard. This is a honed, heavy, beefed up track. Plus, Sleep is all about that
positively pornographic tone, and while the “Dopesmoker” outtake has a raw appeal, the warmth and fuzz crackling
across my speakers is perfect. Plus,
this may be my favorite use of bass wah post-Sabbath. In my brief scrolls through social media, Al
Cisneros’ peculiar vocal delivery seems to be a divisive issue: for those who
followed Om, Al’s style is not surprising, perhaps a
trademark, and even beloved. For others,
the flat affect is confounding. I’m of
two minds here – sometimes it sounds like the vocals are just a little too high
in the mix, but I also really love distinctive vocal cadences. To hear Cisneros fronting Sleep is a joy – and the register of his chants on “Sonic Titan” is a welcome departure
from the strained yelp of the earlier, live cut of the long gestating song.
“Antarcticans Thawed”,
a Lovecraftian epic with shades of spaghetti western in the opening, is the
best track, and features Al’s best, most intense vocal performance on the record. In comparison, “Giza Butler” is a bit too restrained. It sneers but never snarls, though the riffs
and mystical cannabinoid is a damned bit of fun that should be adapted into its
own issue of Heavy Metal (the fantasy mag, not the genre). And if “Giza…”
transports us to outer rim planets of continental nugs, the sweet, acoustic
denouement of “The Botanist” is an
instrumental sendoff that brings the most bleary eyed listener back to
equilibrium.
So can it possibly live up to the hype? Honestly, what could? This is not “Dopesmoker” part 2, or even a follow-up to “Holy Mountain”. But even
though this is heralded as a comeback record, it’s really a new permutation of
the gestating giant. From the first crashes and fills, Jason Roeder establishes
his own identity as a new element of Sleep. Whether here or with Neurosis,
he’s a titan of the kit. He, thankfully,
doesn’t ape Hakius’ beloved style – peppered with idiosyncratic snare work and
warped cymbal crashes. In reality,
anyone doing a “Hakius v. Roeder” rundown is playing a fool’s game: they stand
not so much in opposition as distinctly powerful eras of Sleep –
the playful, Loki style playing of Hakius and the muscular, Thor on drums
mastery of Roeder.
So it’s a bit of a cheat – Sleep but not the Sleep you expected. But in the course of 6 prog-infused stoner
metal jams, Cisneros, Pike and Roeder earn all the goodwill they garnered in
the post-“Dopesmoker”
wilderness. If anything, their well honed prowess
outmatches any expectations. Wherever “The Sciences” is ranked in the Sleep discography, it stands as a testament to a band who
had to wait nearly 20 years for the critical and music-buying public to catch
up. Or, more aptly to spark up, sit
down, and thrust themselves into the hazy riff worship they’ve been peddling
longer than nearly anyone still relevant in the metal game.
“The Sciences” is available here
Band info: facebook
