While I’m no Stonerobixxx or No Gods No Vegetables, every once and a while I like to give you guys an insight to my favorite bands. Sleep was a pioneer in the stoner doom genre. Their catalog has inspired countless other acts and still to this day, the artists who played in Sleep are in some of the most meaningful metal bands of our time. You’ll probably recognize some names here:

Al Cisneros – bass guitar, vocals
Matt Pike – electric guitar
Chris Hakius – drums

Their album Jurusalem was first released as Dopesmoker, a single-track 63-minute long edit. Through various mishaps, the original edit was never pressed by their label, London Records. Eventually a friend bootlegged the album and split it into 6 tracks in 1998, against the wishes of the band. Later the official release kept this format. It wasn’t until 2003 that Dopesmoker was released in its intended single-track edit.

If you’ve never listened to Sleep, this is a good place to start. The band broke up, forming High on Fire and OM. Two other bands of note.