Dopesmoker

Sleep | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 8, 2012)
• Original Release Date: 2012
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Southern Lord
• ASIN: B007KWD7BK
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,340 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

1.Dopesmoker
2.Holy Mountain

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars How "Jerusalem" SHOULD have sounded June 17, 2003

By W. Perry Aggers

Format:Audio CD

Holy mother of GOD is this heavy. A more proper length and mix of "Jerusalem", this newly released juggernaut realizes the band's vision of their much-publicized and infamous uber-dirge, complete with more emphasis on the rhythym section's power when necessary and 13 minutes of added music. No longer broken into six separate tracks that run into each other, "Dopesmoker" is one 65-minute track and a bonus live recording of "Sonic Titan", where one can hear a smidgen of what sounds like a High on Fire riff here and there.

This version promises to blow out speakers of all kinds, as Al's bass is far heavier and prominent, but only when it's necessary. Pike's guitar is slightly edgier and compliments the newly restored bass sound nicely, leads screaming and clearer. Chris's drumming turns out to be an underrated part of "Dopesmoker", as you hear new and unearthed parts of his thundering backbeat that were otherwise overshadowed on "Jerusalem"

Best heard on a customized mix (preferrably with the bass turned slightly down for balance), "Dopesmoker" can take it's place as a fully established classic among the doom/stoner/drone genre, a far overdue release that will satisfy fanatics of crushingly heavy riffing and long improv. You'll feel it in your chest.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The HEAVIEST thing ever made EVER!!! October 26, 2006

By 24hr Coyote

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Smoke; Thundering drums; More smoke; Hulking buffalo-fuzz bass lines; Towering resin-caked riffs played on the crustiest guitar ever fretted; Shaggy green sasquatch-like vocals that do more chanting than singing; Lyrics chronicling bong-fogged Old Testament events.
Sleep opened a portal to something ancient, epic, vast, slow as molasses and as vivid as a Vietnam flashback, and raised the bar unattainably HIGH for stoner rock/doom bands that followed.
Not exactly 'Stoner Rock' though, Sleep were more like shamans. Having little to do with Reggae musically, but from the same realm as Rastafari Holymen. This album is its own genre. There's nothing angry or hostile about any of it, but its the HEAVIEST music I've ever heard.
This is an earlier, extended version of 'Jerusalem'. Theres more space in the recording, not so dense. It sounds a lot rawer, which, for this type of music of course, is ideal. The added live track "Sonic Titan", is buoyant in contrast, sounds kinda like a "Holy Mountain" song.
The Arik Roper artwork is pretty bitchin too.
If you like it transcendental, loud, and numbingly heavy, this is the ticket. Turn on, tune in, drop out...Maaaaaannnn!

19 of 24 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Enter the dirge. July 23, 2004

By Shotgun Method

Format:Audio CD

Before Matt Pike formed the excellent doom metal outfit High On Fire, he took part in one of the most uncompromising stoner jams of all time with the band Sleep. I'm not particularly interested in Sleep's other works--the general consensus is that they are little more than Black Sabbath tribute records, but Dopesmoker/Jerusalem is pretty unique. The differences between Dopesmoker and Jerusalem: Dopesmoker is longer by about 10 minutes, has better production, cooler cover artwork (in my opinion anyway), and is not arbitrarily sliced up into parts like Jerusalem. Jerusalem was edited by their record label--the band hated it, but it does make this jam a bit more accessible (and you can skip ahead to the parts you like if it gets boring). Also Dopesmoker contains an additional 10-minute track labeled Sonic Titan, recorded live.

Anyway, back to the title track: It is an hour-plus long jam; the motif is established early on, and most of Dopesmoker is a series of variations on that main riff. It is monotonous, droning, SLLLLOOOOWWWWW, and oh yeah, heavier than a herd of pachyderms. This album will seriously test the limits of your sound system if you're going to play it at the appropriate volume (which of course is loud enough to be mistaken for low-flying 747's). The bass alone will exact a pounding on your chest cavity.

Musically, it is good despite the monotony. Pike's solos are excellent, as usual, and Chris Haikus beats the skins capably. Cisnero's vocals are sparse but perfect in conveying that hazy atmosphere, and the lyrics are about Christ and pot ("green herbsmen serve rightful king"...duuude). Definitely different from your average metal.

Needless to say, something like this has very limited appeal and is kind of tough to rate. Even some fans of the genre are going to find Dopesmoker a boring experience without, um, certain controlled substances. I for one think Dopesmoker is pretty good. It's very trance-inducing and atmospheric "ambient metal" that is well off the beaten path. I can't see that many people listening to an album like this all the time, but it should be experienced at least once. If you like the sound but prefer more abbreviated song structures, pick up High On Fire's Surrounded By Thieves.