Sleep, Dopesmoker (2003)

In the annals of post-Sabbath riffing, Sleep‘s Dopesmoker reigns supreme. “Dopesmoker,” the single, 63-minute track that comprises the album, is the stuff of legend, and rightly so. Recorded circa 1996 by the trio of bassist/vocalist Al Cisneros, guitarist Matt Pike and drummer Chris Hakius, and backed by the formidable, inimitable production of Billy Anderson, Dopesmoker is a story that’s been told time and again at this point, perhaps most completely in the 2008 documentary Such Hawks, Such Hounds, and so I’m not sure how much it really needs to be recounted here, but suffice it to say that the narrative behind the record’s creation has become nearly as central to the listening experience as the clarion riffing and the weedian pilgrimage that takes place in the lyrics of the extended verses, revolving around the Bay Area three-piece having issued the now-landmark Sleep’s Holy Mountain (reissue review here) in 1992 and subsequently jumped from Earache Records to London/Sire Records, spent their recording budget on reefer and turned in a 52-minute version of what became “Dopesmoker” to the label, only to be met with the kind of horror that only a major label can express to, say, an underground band who just turned in a 52-minute single-track album of unmatched stonerly excess. No doubt there were some priceless looks on a variety of the involved faces.

Then titled “Jerusalem,” that version of the extended piece did ultimately emerge — released first by the band as a self-bootleg with a cover by Arik Roper and then as Jerusalem by Rise Above Records in the UK and The Music Cartel in the US — in 1998, but with the song broken up over six shorter segments, the effect was nowhere near the same as when Dopesmoker saw its first issue — the track itself and a live version of “Sonic Titan” included — via Tee Pee in 2003. Sleep were long done by then, of course. Pike had moved on to High on Fire and Cisneros and Hakius were on the cusp of unveiling their new meditative duo Om, but one could easily argue that the arrival of Dopesmoker nonetheless played a significant role in igniting the heavy rock boom of the post-internet age. Finally with an avenue for the word of mouth regarding their righteousness that had long been spreading, Sleep were able to connect with an audience without even actually being a band anymore, and with Sleep’s Holy Mountain and the prior 1991 debut, Volume I behind them, their back catalog seemed like relics of a lost age of stoner authenticity — a source of influence worldwide already that has only continued to spread in the years since, bolstered in part by the emergence and ongoing relevance of Om and High on Fire, as well as the 2009 reunion of Sleep proper that has resulted in copious headlining and touring appearances as well as the release of the 2014 single The Clarity (review here), amid a contract dispute with Earache and near-constant rumors of a new full-length in progress on one level or another.

As for the song itself, “Dopesmoker” — which I’ve chosen to put here without the accompanying “Sonic Titan” — remains overwhelming in its scope. Its tonal thickness presents a morass from which Cisneros‘ guttural vocals rumble upward like some ancient call to arms, and when it comes to speaking to the converted, there are few lines short of “What is this that stands before me?” that have ever resonated as thoroughly as “Drop out of life, bong in hand.” Arriving after a solid eight minutes of hypnotic establishment of “Dopesmoker”‘s central riff, it is nearly impossible to measure the impact that single line has had on underground heavy rock. From there, “Dopesmoker” unfolds the tale of a journey rife with transcendentalist THC-ism, the setting a Zion that turns weed into an object of nigh-on-dogmatic ritualism, all the while Pike‘s riffing leads the way along a march punctuated by Hakius that’s no less epic than the lyrical thread. By the time they’re halfway through, their smoke-filled haze has become a churning universe unto itself, and then the guitar solo kicks in. About seven minutes later. Though often imitated at this point, the scale at which “Dopesmoker” works remains largely its own, and like any such monument, even those who’ve come along since to sound bigger or write something longer or whatever it might be invariably exist in its shadow. Its gospel ends with the stoned deliverance of the caravan and a return to the opening lines, but the riffing goes on for a few more minutes thereafter — as it should, pretty much into perpetuity. On repeat. Forever.

Southern Lord reissued Dopesmoker with new art by Arik Roper in 2012 and has gone on to do multiple pressings since in various vinyl and CD editions, so it is readily available for those who’ve yet to chase it down, but as one of the most essential heavy rock releases of all-time, I suspect a good amount of that is geared toward collector impulse rather than filling a gap, at least at this point. Either way, Dopesmoker has been and still represents a watershed moment of riffly creation. There will never be another one that hits in exactly the same way, from Sleep or anyone else, and even if that stems in part from the story of what went into its becoming, the result of that process — everything that went into its being — speaks to the core of one of the heaviest releases of all time. It resounds.

As always, I hope you enjoy.

—

What else could’ve possibly been heavy enough to close out the week that saw my son brought into the world?

Born at 8:09AM on Oct. 25, 2017, The Pecan came into this world after a plodding 41 hours of labor on the part of The Patient Mrs., whose water broke on Monday afternoon and who delivered the baby via C-section after grueling her way through on Wednesday morning. It was brutal, I don’t mind telling you. I write this post from the chair of the hospital room, my son cradled sleeping in my arms (every time I type with my left hand, his head moves a bit, but he doesn’t seem disturbed by it, which bodes well). We might get to get out of here this evening — Monday to Friday in the hospital has been long and The Patient Mrs. and I are both ready to go, I think — but otherwise it’ll be tomorrow, and then begins a round of family visits that I expect will continue through at least the next couple weeks. Already our mothers and sisters were hanging out in various waiting rooms for extended periods of time, attending his delayed arrival.

So, as for fatherhood: so far so good, I guess. Obviously nothing we’ve yet faced even holds a candle to anything to come pretty much as soon as we get out of here, but we’ve managed to keep him alive for two days, and I’m willing to take that as a win in the immediate. Last night was rougher than the first night, but after a couple hours of cluster-feeding, he slept for a solid four hours and so we did as well and I think that did us all a world of good. The Patient Mrs. is napping now with a pillow over her head. I went home for a bit yesterday and made myself some good coffee to bring back in my thermos, have been sipping that this morning, so we’re holding up. We’ve had talks about being in “survival mode” basically between now and next April — from here to Roadburn, is how we put it — and that seems like a reasonable timeline. We’ll see how it goes. We’re on an adventure.

You may have noticed the last two days were light on posts. Two per day still seems pretty good to me for a dude whose wife just had their first baby, so if you’re gonna complain about that, please don’t. There’s a lot of news to catch up on though, so I’m going to dedicate early next week to that and hopefully get into some early, soon-to-change pattern establishment for morning writing, etc. Here’s what’s in my notes for the week:

Mon.: News catchup, Lizardmen video premiere.
Tue.: SubRosa Subdued review; Operators video.
Wed.: Black Moon Circle review, whatever comes.
Thu.: Electric Wizard review, whatever comes.
Fri.: Fireball Ministry review, whatever comes.

That’s me catching up on reviews a bit as well, and it’s light on premieres on purpose to let me have some flex as I need to, so yeah, bottom line is it’s subject to change as always. Also more than always.

So there you have it. The Pecan has arrived. We’re in the midst of feeling things out, which I expect we will be for, you know, the next 20-odd years. Maybe more.

I hope you have a great and safe weekend. Please check out the forum and the radio stream.

The Obelisk Forum

The Obelisk Radio

Mammoth Volume, Mammoth Volume (1999)

Someday, some brave soul is going to reissue all the records like Mammoth Volume‘s 1999 self-titled debut and notch an asterisk in the history of Swedish heavy rock. Like the first Sgt. Sunshine offering (which actually has been reissued), the 2000 debut from Blind Dog — the still-going Sparzanza and Mustasch would soon hit the scene — and a mountainous slew of others, not to mention then-contemporary works by Dutch acts like 35007 (also reissued), 7Zuma7 and Astrosoniq or any of the countless bands Germany produced at the time, it’s a collection that remains distinctly undervalued in the context of when it arrived and what it brought with it. Consider as you listen to “Dervishsong” that the self-titled Queens of the Stone Age had arrived only one year earlier in 1998. By then, Europe’s heavy underground was already flourishing, acts like Dozer and Demon Cleaner releasing early, desert-style singles (also ripe for reissue, as I’ve said many times) to put Sweden at the forefront, and by 1999, the prefacing of the vintage-heavy movement Norrsken would do — members going on to form Witchcraft, Graveyard, and Dead Man — was nearly at its end. It was a time of transition, in other words, and bands like Mammoth Volume, with their easy, open grooves on songs like “Closer to the Sun” on this self-titled, and the continuing progression of their second and third albums, Noara Dance (2000) and A Single Book of Songs (2001), helped establish stylistic parameters that groups continue to follow nearly two decades later.

One can hear classic psychedelia alongside post-Fu Manchu roll in Mammoth Volume‘s “Shindig” and a direct conversation with Californian desert rock happening in the later “The Pinball Referee” that’s true to Kyuss-style tonality than most at that point could come. Comprised of vocalist Jorgen Andersson, guitarist/producer Daniel Gustafsson, bassist Kalle Berlin and drummer/producer Nicklas Andersson would explore jazzy fluidity on “Matthew 6:21” as naturally as chugging heavy swing on opener “Seagull” and the subsequent “Morningsong,” which made the leap from one of the self-titled’s most satisfying rolls into open acoustic strum and subtle post-grunge harmonies with all the care of a shoulder shrug — and only then got into the stoner-jangle-shuffle en route back to the chorus and into an organ-topped bridge in the second half. It’s a familiar story, or at least it should be, of a release that seems ready to get a due that, at the time, just wasn’t there for the getting. Indeed, with the growth and seemingly endless appetite that’s developed for heavy rock and roll on the part of its audience’s next generation over the last five or so years, it’s no stretch to imagine Mammoth Volume‘s Mammoth Volume working next to an entire catalog of repress-worthy outings from its era. If one is given to such daydreaming, anyhow.

If you’d like to do some more digging — “visit your local library!” — in the US, their records were released on a label called The Music Cartel, which also partnered with Rise Above at the time on outings by Cathedral, Orange Goblin, Electric Wizard, Sheavy, Lid, Firebird and Hangnail while also releasing records by Sally, Leadfoot, The Bronx Casket Company and righteous compilations like In the Groove and Rise 13 – Magick Rock Vol. 1. Ufomammut‘s Snailking was another pivotal The Music Cartel release, proving they were willing to take a chance on these relatively unknown acts when just about no one else would. Sure, Monster Magnet had a label deal, and Fu Manchu, and Queens of the Stone Age would soon enough, but fewer and farther between were people ready to step up and put out Sleep‘s Jerusalem, and like a less aesthetically inclined East Coast answer to Man’s Ruin Records (Frank Kozik‘s cover art was sometimes as much of an event as the music itself), The Music Cartel did that — as well as Mammoth Volume‘s first three full-lengths and the 2002 The Early Years comp that would end up as the band’s last physical release.

A few digital offerings followed, the most recent of them titled quizzically titled Loved by Few, Hated by Dolphins and put out as a free download from the band’s now-defunct website on the occasion of their official breakup in 2008. I’m not sure if members have gone on to other outfits or what, but if you have any info, I’d love to know in the comments.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy.

—

I’ve avoided talking about it, but it’s been an unhinged couple of weeks in the country where I live, and much as I’ve tried to live in a bubble of good tunes, Star Trek and Final Fantasy, I’ve not been unaffected. Having lived through the George W. Bush era as an adult-type person aware of the world around me, I’ve seen things get plenty fucked before — anyone remember 2006? — but even on that scale, it would be impressive if it wasn’t all so tragic and terrifying. You don’t need a big fascism-is-bad internet thinkpiece essay from the likes of me, and I can all but promise one isn’t coming, but I’ll just say that thus far, remembering “this isn’t normal” has not been a challenge.

But hey, music, right? Rock and roll?

Plenty of that to go around, and I’ve been working hard to remind myself of the love that I’m so fortunate to have in my life. That seems to carry me over, so I recommend it if you’ve been similarly disturbed.

I’ve been looking forward to this weekend since before the week started. A little dude-time and record shopping with the esteemed Johnny Arzgarth will be fun on Saturday, and otherwise I plan on relaxing and taking it easy as much as possible ahead of what’s sure to be more adventures next week. Writing, coffee, couch-time — all good things.

Here’s what I’ve got in my notes for next week around here (subject to change, as always):

Mon.: A batch of Radio adds and a video premiere from Drone Hunter, also news on two different fests and other tours.
Tue.: Godstopper track premiere, new Naxatras video, more news from Samsara Blues Experiment.
Wed.: Dool review, Against the Grain video.
Thu.: Six Organs of Admittance review, Lung Flower video.
Fri.: Keeping open pending a premiere, otherwise maybe Goya or Rozamov review, mood depending. Something heavy.

Of course, I hope you have a great and safe weekend, whatever you’re up to. Have fun, be safe, watch your back and please check out the forum and the radio stream.

The Obelisk Forum

The Obelisk Radio

Ufomammut, Snailking (2004)

[Please note: While I’m using a YouTube embed above because that’s the habit for these posts, Snailking is available direct from Ufomammut on Bandcamp here.]

Admittedly, it’s been a while since I pulled out Ufomammut‘s Snailking and gave it a go. Nothing — quite literally, nothing — against the Italian trio’s groundbreaking 2004 sophomore LP, but it’s not exactly like they never released anything afterwards. This year’s Ecate (review here), for example, would be bound to keep any Ufomammut fan occupied for a span, and I still feel like there’s more digging to be done before I’d be willing to say I thought the prior single-album-broken-into-two-releases Oro (review here and review here) had given up all its secrets. Snailking (previously discussed here) was the record that got me into Ufomammut. An underheralded US release came via shortlived imprint The Music Cartel, and while the band has followed that up with reissues in 2009 and 2011 through their own Supernatural Cat label, it’s still easy to label Snailking as something of a lost/would-be classic both for what it accomplished in itself and what it enabled Ufomammut to do afterwards.

The album itself is an absolute monster. At eight tracks/68 minutes, it feels almost insurmountable, but 28-minute closer “Demontain” doesn’t use all of its runtime. That song does underscore one of the key points that would later become essential to experiencing Ufomammut‘s work, however, and that is that it’s as much about the weight of the atmosphere the band creates as it is about the density of riffs or impact of grooves. Listening back to Snailking some 11 years after the fact, a song like “Odio” feels raw in comparison to a lot of what the trio have done since, but it’s important to keep in mind that even in their use of samples and synths to go with their sludgy riffing, Ufomammut were beginning the experiments that would become what we now think of today as cosmic doom in large part because of how they crafted it. The sometimes abrasive noise of “Alcool” and the rumble/explosion tradeoff of the earlier “Hopscotch” are the foundation points for Ufomammut‘s contributions to this aesthetic, and their roots in the likes of Neurosis and Sleep put them right in line with Oregon’s YOB, who are probably the only other band whose work has been so influential in the same sphere.

But it’s important to remember that Ufomammut are still writing their story, and that this album, which arrived four years after their 2000 debut, Godlike Snake, is but a pivotal chapter among several from the band. What they’d go on to do on records like 2008’s Idolum and 2010’s Eve (review here), their work in and with the Malleus art collective and their growth as a sustainable touring act has helped make them one of the finest groups of their generation, and while Snailking isn’t as expansive as what came after, it is in many ways a nexus point from which that Big Bang emanated.

Hope you enjoy.

—

I’m closing out the week early-ish on account of the fact that I’m interviewing Lori S. from Acid King at 4:30 (Eastern) and figure that’s as good a way to actually round out my day as anything else I can come up with. It was originally supposed to happen yesterday, the interview, but work stuff came up, as will apparently happen when one is gainfully employed.

…Sorry, had to stop for a couple seconds there and explore “gainful” in my head.

Might just have the Lorinterview (because portmanteau, that’s why!) up before next week is out, but if not definitely the week after since assuming everything goes to plan with the call we’ll be talking about the upcoming tour and it wouldn’t do to have the feature go up if the tour’s half over. We’re already almost halfway through September. Never mind July or August. What happened to June?

The last two weeks being four days at work helped, and having this past weekend to run down to Maryland for the Vultures of Volume II fest was huge for me. Thanks to everyone who got to check out either day’s review. I don’t think I did myself any favors with the second one being so long — I imagine most people who bothered to click in the first place either skimmed through one or two bands or just didn’t read it at all — but there was a lot to say. One day, 13 bands. That’s a lot to cover. Anyway, if you put eyes on any of it, thank you.

Also, if you didn’t see, Collyn McCoy made a passionate argument in favor of the forum yesterday and it was a joy to read. If you have a chance, I’d urge you to dig in and if you haven’t, please sign up to the forum and contribute there.

Next week, in addition to that interview (hopefully), look out for a track premiere on Monday from He Whose Ox is Gored and a review/full-stream on Tuesday from Leeches of Lore. Might try to review the new Windhand as well before the week is up. We’ll see how I wind up for time.

Thanks to everyone for reading this week, and please have a great and safe weekend. Please check out the forum and the radio stream.

The Obelisk Forum

The Obelisk Radio

Kind of hard to believe, but an Obelisk search for Roachpowder brings up nothing. This means either I’ve mentioned them before and all my back posts are deleted (and if that’s the case, I don’t want to know), or this post is the first time the Stockholm band have been discussed on the site. They were pretty killer. End of discussion.

Stay tuned next week as we’ll wrap the month of July. I have exciting news regarding both my life situation and The Maple Forum, so look for that to come before next Friday, as well as reviews from Horseback, Black Sleep of Kali and several others. Next week is my last in Vermont, and The Patient Mrs. and I are headed to Burlington over the weekend, so I hope to come back with some Buried Treasure-type goodies to report on.

Good fun all around. I hope you enjoy the Roachpowder track above and I hope you have a great and safe weekend. Cheers.

In light of the badassery of Ufomammut‘s subsequent releases — 2005’s Lucifer Songs, 2008’s Idolum and this year’s excellent Eve — the band’s second album, Snailking, is a record whose legend has grown much in the six years since its 2004 release. While the Italian drone metallers made their debut in 2000 with Godlike Snake, more and more, Snailking has become the measure by which fans judge each new album.

The band did a vinyl reissue last year through their own Supernatural Cat label, but the CD has been out of print in the US since The Music Cartel, which handled the original release, went under in 2005. Amazon regularly has copies for over $100, which is unreasonable (even half that is ridiculous), and mostly on eBay it’s just the vinyl being sold and resold. Fine.

I first encountered the album when it came out and was sent a CDR with a photocopied cover as a promo that I still have today for use on the college radio show I was hosting at the time. I never bought it before it was too late, until recently I came a chance to do so in a forum listing on StonerRock.com and decided to make an offer. Sure enough, for $25, I finally got a full copy of Snailking.

Not only do I feel good about the price — which I think is a rational amount of money to pay for an album that’s legitimately out of print and rare — but it’s given me a chance to go back and actually enjoy the record instead of just frustratedly staring at the CDR’s jewel case, mad at myself for not having bought the real thing when I could have. If you’ve never heard Ufomammut‘s Snailking and collect vinyl, the reissue is probably the way to go, but given my disposition otherwise, I was glad to have stumbled upon the opportunity the way I did. Sometimes you have to take what you can get.