Sleep

Sleep is an American stoner/doom metal band from San Jose, California, active from 1990. The group is a power trio in its core form and is associated with doom metal, drone metal, sludge metal, stoner metal and stoner rock. It earns early attention from critics and record labels, and is described as a major influence on heavy metal in the 1990s.

Origins and formation

Sleep develops from Asbestosdeath, a band formed by vocalist and bassist Al Cisneros, drummer Chris Hakius and guitarist Tom Choi. Asbestosdeath becomes a quartet when Matt Pike joins on guitar. The group records the singles Dejection for Profane Existence and the self-released Unclean. Choi leaves and later forms Operator Generator, It Is I, Noothgrush and Las Vegas group Black Jetts. Justin Marler joins as his replacement, and the band adopts the name Sleep.

Line-up

Members associated with Sleep include Justin Marler, Al Cisneros, Chris Hakius, Matt Pike, Jason Roeder, Dale Crover and Bubba Dupree. The classic early configuration centres on Cisneros, Hakius and Pike.

Career

Sleep develops a reputation early in its career and gains critical attention. Conflict with its record company contributes to the band’s breakup by the end of the 1990s. The group reforms in 2009 and plays sporadic live dates internationally after that. Its third album, Jerusalem, is notable for the scale of its production, with Matt Pike saying the band spends a large part of its label advance on cannabis and on customised amplifiers to create layered guitar tones.

Style and influence

The band uses cannabis-influenced imagery from the release of its second album. It is often linked with the stoner rock and doom metal styles, and critic Eduardo Rivadavia describes it as “perhaps the ultimate stoner rock band”.

Albums

Sleep releases four albums, including the comeback album The Sciences, which appears in 2018 and receives critical acclaim. The album marks the band’s return to full-length recording after the reformation.