What We are Listening to: Sleep
During the 2017 Psycho Fest in Las Vegas, Nevada, Sleep emerged from a wall of sound flanked by a bong smoking astronaut; the visual representation of what they have been trying to portray since reforming. Fast-forward to April 20, 2018, and the band opens their first proper album in two decades with a similar wall of noise before a monstrous bong hit and thud of down-tuned guitars.
Sleep in 2018 is a different beast than 1998 when Jerulsalem/Dopesmoker was first released. Today’s sleep is heavily road tested, whereas in 1999 the band had spent much of the past several years recording a single epic track for their major label debut – a decision that brought about the end of the band; or so we thought.
The Sciences, however, is familiar, though tighter and punchier than previous Sleep outings. Where Holy Mountain and Dopesmoker were slower, heavier Sabbath worship efforts, there are times during The Sciences that the band picks up the same kind of gallop that made the Birmingham legends (Sabbath) famous – the power of The Sciences is its ability to alternate from that gallop to its more druggy pacing.
There is nuance in The Sciences that can only be heard at earthshaking levels, which is to be expected. The bass playing is clean and crisp, the drums land hard and heavy slightly behind the typical beat, and the guitars are layers of fuzz that hover in the mid to low tone ranges. The harmonic elements and double tracking of the guitars pull this release away from other bands in the genre – The Sciences finds its voice in its subtlety.
By the time "Sonic Titans" epic end run solo is unleashed Sleep have already set in the hooks. The Sciences is an exercise in trance and breaking of the trance - in this regard it is well above anything the band has released to date. Of course, that means there will be some detractors who prefer the more straight trance inducing ideas of their prior two efforts that don't make much of an effort to break up the pulsing rhythm of the record(s) - note: Volume One is a much different beast than more heavily discussed albums.
It is a testament to the band's focus that they were able to, for the most part, keep this record release a secret until the day before it came out. The ensuing purchasing crashed Third Man Records site several times - much like the incidents surrounding the release of the last My Bloody Valentine record. Like the aforementioned album, there is so much baggage to wade through based on their prior out-put, its regard, and their popularity surge post-hiatus/break-up, that it will take time for this album to properly be thought about. But like MBV's latest outing, The Sciences stands on its own during initial listens - and will not fall into a forgotten shelf any time soon.