Sleep — Dopesmoker

Sleep is perhaps one of life’s most taken for granted components - unless we don’t get enough of it. Its essential place in our everyday lives has obscured its more mysterious elements in our thoughts about it, although it (and the dreams which occur during its unavoidable spell) has fascinated artists, philosophers and deep thinkers long before recorded history. Regardless of your interest in changing consciousness (via chemicals; spiritual practice; sensory deprivation; repetitions in behavior, sight, and sound; etc) sleep is the one common altered state we all share. Sleep and dreaming are a place for the absurd, and acceptably so. It is with these ideas in mind that one can see the motivation behind the act which takes sleep as its namesake.

Following a steady rise in the early 1990s to a position pioneering some of the most basic components of the burgeoning stoner/doom movement, Sleep was primed to create their magnum opus. Writing for Dopesmoker began in ’93, but due to contractual difficulties with both Earache and London records the actual piece (an epic, 63 minute tour-de-force) was rejected and was not released in its original incarnation for another 10 years. Although Dopesmoker made it to the public in abridged format (the Jerusalem album, 1999), the combined effect of label setbacks, depleted motivation and loss of creative momentum spelled the end for Sleep. The monolith that is Dopesmoker was eventually committed to tape, however, and is fortunately not lost to the world (a fate which has befallen similarly gargantuan projects such as Jodorowski’s film adaptation of the quintessential sci-fi classic Dune). One has to simply marvel at the outcome transpiring in the first place. To commemorate this achievement Southern Lord is treating Sleep fans with a re-release of the album as a whopping 180-gram double LP with band-approved remastering. It is also made all the more resplendent with new artwork more appropriate to its lyrical vision (by none other than longtime Sleep artist Arik Roper).

Enough history – what is Dopesmoker all about? First to dispel two misconceptions:

Misconception 1: Dopesmoker is 63 minutes of one riff repeating ad nauseam. This unfounded attempt to write the piece off as a monotonous exercise in pointlessness is readily apparent to even the most casual listening inspection. While mostly monolithic in structure (and where repetition does play a major role), there are numerous and nuanced factors in the execution of the main theme (the CD version of the reissue actually comes with a “riff chart”!). This is most readily evidenced by the fact that the song’s progression is not predictable, yet simultaneously exists as a hypnotic and familiar entity even upon initial listens.

Misconception 2: You have to be stoned to enjoy or “get” Dopesmoker. This is patently untrue, and furthermore misses the point of the state this very special album is designed to invoke in the listener. What is actually much more important to wrench the fullest experience is high volume via headphones, home stereo system or PA (computer and laptop speakers are unacceptable in creating the sonic context). The greater the ability of the listener to cloak themselves in the rich, analog guitar tone, the lower their likelihood of resisting its time-transcending properties.

Despite the grand treatment that Dopesmoker has been given in this reissue, there is one painfully obvious catch-22: The song is split between three sides of vinyl. Unless you score multiple copies and your listening environment includes the appropriate DJ mixing apparatus, there will be an interruption not once, but twice during its duration. This is a painfully unavoidable circumstance but one that the band and Southern Lord have obviously chosen to accept. Being that Dopesmoker has never before appeared on this preferred medium (entirely appropriate for such an analog-centric work), the results are bittersweet. The only way to get around this interruption would be to encode the vinyl at 1/3 the normal speed – say, 10 rpm? But now the quality will take a huge dive and standard playback equipment doesn’t allow for such low rotations. It is unlikely the needle would even maintain integrity on the record’s surface in the low speed / high volume scenario. You do have a choice, however, as the compact disc version of the reissue will allow for uninterrupted listening of Dopesmoker.

You’ll notice I’ve not mentioned anything about the tracks on side D (live versions of Holy Mountain and Sonic Titan). These are a tough listen after wallowing in the indulgent sonic morass of the first hour and are best viewed as bonus material rather than the part of the album proper. These two tracks can easily be avoided entirely, or consumed outside the overall context of Dopesmoker as curiosities.

What else there is to it is impossible to describe with words, really. You either will get it, or refuse to go through what it takes to do so (acquire and play loudly in its entire duration without distraction on quality equipment). If the prospect of an unerring, authentically heavy and transcendent experience is not up your alley at least once in this life, I’m frankly not quite sure why you’re listening to music in the first place.