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Shewolf has the great pleasure to once again open for doomers DMP and thrashers Graviton! If you’re in the area, come on out. Flyer by yours truly.

#brooklyn metal

Stoner/Doom Metal legends Sleep played two nights at Pioneer Works over the weekend as part of the Grand Ole Opera exhibition. The sparknotes synopsis of Sleep is that they broke up after their record label refused to release an hour long record about weed which went on to become a lost classic. More dedicated fans know that their entire discography is raunchy but that didn’t stop obnoxious fuckwads from yelling out, “Dopesmokerrrr!” after every song during the first night. The band reacted by opening the second night with a half hour long rendition of the song.

Sleep was broken up a good ten years before reuniting sporadically for the occasional show and recording. Its members stayed busy with projects like Om and High on Fire. In the past year, Sleep has gigged more frequently and started working on a new album but even with renewed attention, both nights at Pioneer Works were sloppy at best.

This was my first time seeing Sleep or any of its members live (excluding youtube) so I can’t compare but I’ll say that I’ve seen younger, less established Doom bands in far shittier venues that played tighter and sounded better. The other bands had something to prove, a hunger and a desire to crush skulls with riffs like an avalanche. There were moments of the Clarity where this nefarious will to power came across (goosebumps at the clean section of “Holy Mountain”) but on the whole it was as if they were either resting on their doomy laurels, playing through the fog of rustiness, or battling something worse.

Drummer Jason Roeder is quite good and was probably the most on-point performer both nights. He doesn’t lay into the grooves with the same laid-back ferocity as Chris Hakius but he’s a solid addition to the band, much more audible the second night due to better micing. Cisneros was solid, a few flubbed notes on his part but on the whole his tone was monstrous. Even though the Dopesmoker-esque growl of his singing voice is gone, it’s almost more menacing now as a throaty whisper.

The real LVP was Matt Pike. Pike is a guitar god. He’s the star of the band in spite of Cisneros being both bassist and vocalist. (Poor bassists never get any credit.) Pike was playing better solos at age 19 than most people can, period. It’s all the more impressive that while he had the chops to do things like High on Fire, he opted for the plodding, meditative patience required for Doom metal, only revealing his true power level in soul-searing solos. I heard he was trying to quit drinking recently and his personal situation isn’t my knowledge or business but especially during the first night, he started out in awful shape and came into his own as the show went on, leading me to wonder if there was more of an element of sobering up rather than just warming up.

Doom riffs may be simple but to play them articulately through a wall of amps ready to squeal feedback at any second is harder than it looks. I’ve seen younger bands do this with flawless execution and yet here was the godfather of 2nd wave Doom half-assing his way through his own legendary songs. It created this effect where I’d realize a minute or two in that I was hearing a song I know like the back of my hand on record. On the whole, I was listening to a band sporadically clicking into alignment but mostly playing at a disconnect. Due to all the unison parts, Doom probably requires the best ensemble playing of any metal subgenre. Any serious musician will tell you that slow music is far harder than fast music. It’s also no small feat to stay consistently in the pocket on music so slow. When done consistently, it’s skull-bludgeoning, when done sloppily, it’s mush.

Part of the issue was the wall(s) of amps. Pioneer Works is a cavernous venue with good acoustics but Cisneros had 4 8x12s and Pike had 8 4x12s. I stood near Pike the first night and while I could hear the sub frequencies of the bass, the guitar created a wall of flat, mid-rangey mush that rang out over everything. The second night, I stood on the Cisneros side and the bass sounded great but the guitar was overpowered. Only when I went to the very back of the venue was I able to get an accurate sonic picture, albeit a bit muffled by the crowd. That that much competing amplitude isn’t going to allow for a balanced sonic picture without ample space to spread (but don’t tell that to Doom metal musicians!)

All of this led me to question the rock scene in general. There are bands out their cutting their teeth, trying to put their best riff forward every second of every night while placing their lives on hold and slogging it through the discomfort of touring… and then here’s this established band who’ve been minted as legends for almost 20 years that barely played their songs with passable accuracy. Matt Pike probably would have failed some of his songs if this were guitar hero but the crowd didn’t seem to notice or mind, they were just so excited to see this legendary band whose music meant so much to them. Shouldn’t there be something negative to say about such blind adherence though? Sleep could have taken a shit on stage and at least 60% of the audience would have eaten it with a spoon. Maybe some people are okay with that (and to be fair the tickets were very affordable) but as musicians, it shows a lack of respect not only to the fans but to the music.

I should also mention that the audiences were pretty terrible. People were so fucked up they had to be escorted out by EMS before the show even began. Others tried to mosh every time a riff picked up steam (who the fuck moshes to doom metal?) and there was a song with a quiet, clean intro that the audience talked loudly through. (So what, you showed up to hear the heavy parts but the soft parts are just filler to you?) I don’t think it was general rock n roll douchery that caused Pike to close the show by leaning his guitar against the wall of amps and leaving the fans with a piercing squeal of feedback but a statement of distaste toward the audience.

The playing was tighter the second night and the highlight for me was hearing songs that were either unreleased or will be featured on their new album. Though not revolutionary like Dopesmoker, they suggest that their new album won’t just be a nostalgic cash grab, but a legitimately nasty cut of sludgey goodness. Okay, no more spoilers.

Sleep is my favorite Doom metal band. I take no pleasure in speaking poorly of them but I’m also not going to say they were great just because they’re legends. They displayed one level of disrespect for their fans by playing an hour and twenty minutes late both nights (classic rock par course) and another level by not doing their own music justice. In spite of the shakiness of these performances, I hope the fever pitch of interest in their music inspires them to keep jamming, keep recording, and to continue being the sentinels of what stoner/doom music can be for the rest of us mere mortals. The Doom scene wouldn’t be one iota of what it is today without their contribution. Hopefully like Sabbath and Saint Vitus before them, their story has only just begun.

#sleep #dopesmoker #holy mountain #doom metal #stoner metal #brooklyn music #pioneer works #matt pike #al cisneros #sleep band #sleep's holy mountain #don't mosh at doom shows you pretentious fuckwit #doom #sludge #metal #brooklyn metal

DMP returns to New York! Shewolf is opening! Thrash and doom on a Thursday night. Come out if you’re around! Flyer by yours truly. https://rhythmoffear.bandcamp.com/

https://dmpnewyork.bandcamp.com/

https://enemyofthestateli.bandcamp.com/

https://beware-the-shewolf.bandcamp.com/

#brooklyn metal #rhythm of fear #dmp #enemy of the state #shewolf