#192 Sleep - Dopesmoker

Continuing the roll of stoner / doom metal classics recommended by Kyle.

While Dopethone was a masterpiece of texture on top of an insistent set of bass riffs, this is far simpler. For one, its one track. That goes on for an hour. That's the main thing you need to know here.

Within this song, there is a single bass riff, and half the time isn't a riff, just the same note "BRRROOOOAAAAMM..." over and over again. On top of that, we don't have finely balanced noise and texture, but rather far more distinct parts, guitar solos that come and go, vocals that come and go. The overall tone of the song ebbs and flows in subtle ways, the volume levels shift, the busyness nudges up and down, but eternally there is "BRRROOOOAAAAMM..." again and again. There are no tempo changes, nor style changes, an eastern flavored breakdown at the 40 or so minute mark being the only exception. This is more what I was expecting from the genre. It is unflinching and uninterested in entertaining you: it is interested in creating a space and thoroughly grinding it into your mind. Its like a six minute trance song slowed down to one tenth the speed, single-minded in its "BRRROOOOAAAAMM..."

So where does that leave it? The obvious comparison point to me is Metal Machine Music: both pieces are exercises in patience, whose main strength is the single-minded application of an idea so relentlessly that it becomes uniquely mind-altering. By comparison, this is downright listenable, but its still a slog, more interesting intellectually than it is enjoyable emotionally, more worth-having-heard than anything you want to hear again. And that's where I rest with it. I'm very glad I heard it. It echoed in my head as I went to sleep, and was still there in the morning, and shoot, that's worth something. But it is actually pretty boring, and I can't see revisiting it again any time soon. No score seems right, so I'll give it a "BRRROOOOAAAAMM..."

Ok, ok, fine 3/5