Too busy for much in the way of words today, hopefully you get the idea though.

From Allmusic.com:

Setting heavy metal's evolutionary clock back to the stone-age days of Saint Vitus with their debut Volume One was seemingly not enough for San Jose's Sleep, who decided to time travel all the way back to the pre-historic days of earliest Black Sabbath with their second album, Sleep's Holy Mountain. Indeed, while Kyuss' Blues for the Red Sun and Monster Magnet's Spine of God are more frequently cited as the most influential and important albums in launching the American stoner/doom metal scene, not even these landmark releases compare to Holy Mountain for sheer devotion to unadulterated doom and copious weed consumption. In fact, as monolithic opener Dragonaut descends into a bass solo at its conclusion, one would be forgiven for expecting the band to segue straight into N.I.B. -- such is their similarity to classic Sabbath. Instead, they grind into The Druid, which despite a quick nod to the Sabs' Electric Funeral, actually begins to establish Sleep's personality, as riff upon massive riff in the form of songs like Evil Gypsy/Solomon's Theme and the groove-heavy Aquarian flow from the speakers like molten lava. In an age of machine-gun double-bass drums, Sleep's most startling quality had to be their seemingly endless patience. As they slowly embark upon the mammoth power chords of the title track and From Beyond, they also prolong the buildup of tension before delivering a final release of cathartic proportions. Besides greatly inspiring next generation doomsters like Electric Wizard, such unwavering dedication to weed would also set the stage for their controversial and unfortunate swan song Jerusalem -- featuring a single, mind-bending 52-minute track.

After the demise of Sleep, Matt Pike (guitar) went on to form the hugely successful High on Fire; the remaining two members Al Cisneros (bass, vocals) and Chris Hakius (drums) are now in the hypnotic psych-rock Om.

Sleep - Dragonaut (1992) (4.02 MB mp3: right-click and Save As to download; play using the handy little embedded player below)

There's no escaping the Black Sabbath connection:

Black Sabbath - Into The Void (1971) (4.02 MB mp3: right-click and Save As to download; play using the handy little embedded player below)

Fifteen years after the demise of Sleep, it's descendant Om has released it's third amazing, incredible album in a row: Pilgrimage.

From a review at PopMatters:

It definitely takes some time to get into Om, but don’t let impatience hinder you from experiencing the epic combination of peace and chaos that Al Cisneros and Chris Haikus convey through their music.

Om - Pilgrimage (2007) (6.13 MB mp3: right-click and Save As to download; play using the handy little embedded player below)

Which (sonically) brings us right back to 1967 and Pink Floyd's second album A Saucerful of Secrets:

Pink Floyd - Set the controls for the heart of the sun (1969) (4.93 MB mp3: right-click and Save As to download; play using the handy little embedded player below)

Oh, you're so observant! Yes of course that's not the cover of A Saucerful of Secrets: it's Ummagumma (1969). And the version of Set the Controls... is from the live part of that same album. It's a better version.

Labels: Friday farce, music