SLEEP
“The Clarity”
(Southern Lord)
Sleep’s cult status as the trendsetter in stoner doom metal continues to grow despite the lack of new music released this millennium. That the band continues to actively tour (around guitarist Matt Pike’s High On Fire commitments) only contributes to rumors of potential new music or even a new album. For now, though, fans have “The Clarity.” Originally released digitally as part of the Adult Swim Singles program in 2014, the song still represents the only new track the band has released since 1998’s ill-fated “Dopesmoker” album, an album originally rejected from the band’s record label because it featured one epic 60-minute song (it became an instant genre classic once it did get released). The re-release of this single, slated for Feb. 10, will get the 12-inch, 180 gram vinyl treatment. The B side will feature the iconic spaceman artwork used by the band.
Staccato guitar notes herald the beginning of the nearly 10-minute track, eventually giving way to a repetitive, two-note power chord. But therein lies the song’s genius and appeal: the power chord is elemental, and combined with the bass and drums--heavy on the snare and crash cymbals-- leads to metal transcendence. Singer Al Cisneros doesn’t sing the lyrics about mind altering adventures, but rather chants them with cryptic and choppy word choice: “Toward the weed fields / to that which holds the worlds / walks the sinsemillian / refutes death / remains stoned constantly.” About halfway through, the trance is broken by a soaring guitar solo, only to dive back into the mid-tempo riffage and eventually come full circle to fuzzed-out guitar notes to let listeners down easily at the end. Although certainly different in its arrangement and sound, the track plays like a tighter version of “Dopesmoker” in other ways.
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