Sludge metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that combines elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. The genre generally includes slow tempos, tuned down guitars and nihilistic lyrics discussing poverty, drug addiction and pollution.
Neurosis is an American post-metal band from Oakland, California. It was formed in 1985 by guitarist Scott Kelly, bassist Dave Edwardson, and drummer Jason Roeder, initially as a crust punk band. Chad Salter joined as a second guitarist and appeared on the band's 1987 debut Pain of Mind and then Steve Von Till replaced him in 1989. The following year, the lineup further expanded to include a keyboardist and a visual artist. Beginning with their third album Souls at Zero (1992), Neurosis transformed their hardcore sound by incorporating diverse influences including doom metal and industrial music, becoming a major force in the emergence of the post-metal and sludge metal genres.
Earache Records is a British independent record label, music publisher and management company founded by Digby Pearson in 1985, based in Nottingham, England, with offices in London and New York. The label helped to pioneer extreme metal by releasing early grindcore and death metal records between the late 1980s and mid-1990s. Its roster has since diversified into more mainstream guitar music, working with bands such as Rival Sons, the Temperance Movement, Blackberry Smoke, Scarlet Rebels and the White Buffalo. The company also hosted the 'Earache Express' stage at Glastonbury Festival in 2017 and 'The Earache Factory' at Boomtown 2018. The label's logo is a homage to Thrasher magazine, as Pearson was a skateboard culture enthusiast.
Al Cisneros is an American musician. He is the lead singer and bassist for stoner rock/doom metal bands Sleep and Om. He also was a member of Shrinebuilder and Asbestosdeath and has put out nine releases as a solo artist.
Yob is an American doom metal band from Eugene, Oregon, composed of singer/guitarist Michael Scheidt, bassist Aaron Rieseberg and drummer Dave French. Their most recent studio album Our Raw Heart was released in June 2018.
Matthew Pike is an American musician best known as the guitarist of stoner metal/doom metal band Sleep and the frontman of High on Fire. With High on Fire, Pike won the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance for the song "Electric Messiah".
Christopher Louis Hakius is an American retired rock drummer best known for his work in Om and Sleep.
Scott Michael Kelly is an American former musician. He was one of three founding members of California experimental metal band Neurosis, in which he was the band's lead vocalist and guitarist from its formation until his firing in 2019. Kelly retired from music in 2022 after admitting to many years of physically abusing his family.
Sleep's Holy Mountain is the second studio album by the American stoner doom band Sleep. It was released in November 1992 in Europe and March 1993 in the US through Earache Records.
Volume One is the debut studio album by the American band Sleep. Not long after Sleep's formation, the band went to Razor's Edge studios to start recording. It was the only album recorded with original guitarist Justin Marler, before he would depart from the band in fall 1991 to become an Orthodox monk. Volume One showcases a darker sound and stronger doom metal influence than Sleep's later work. The image featured on the cover is taken from the Salvador Dalí painting "Soft Self-Portrait with Fried Bacon".
Asbestosdeath was an American doom metal band from San Jose, California, the precursor to the highly influential band Sleep.
Justin Marler is an American musician. He is known for being a founding member of the stoner rock band Sleep and for leaving a burgeoning career in music to become a monk in an Eastern Orthodox monastery.
Stoner rock, also known as stoner metal or stoner doom, is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of doom metal with psychedelic rock and acid rock. The genre emerged during the early 1990s and was pioneered foremost by Kyuss and Sleep.
Shrinebuilder was an American stoner/doom metal supergroup consisting of various established musicians, particularly of the doom metal subgenre. Their first and only album, Shrinebuilder, was released in October 2009.
Jerusalem and Dopesmoker are two versions of the third studio album by the American stoner doom band Sleep. The former title was released in 1999 by The Music Cartel and the latter was released by Tee Pee Records in 2003. The music for these albums comprises an extended hour-length piece, developed over four years and recorded in 1996 under the auspices of Sleep's label at the time, London Records. When recording had completed, London was unhappy with the finished product and refused to release it, leading to Sleep's disbandment and the album surfacing on bootlegs and unauthorized indie releases in subsequent years. All versions of the album received very positive reception from music critics, who described it as a high-water mark in both the stoner metal and doom metal genres.
"The Clarity" is a single by the American stoner/doom metal band Sleep. The song was released digitally for free on July 21, 2014 through the cable network Adult Swim's 2014 weekly singles series. The release of "The Clarity" also marks the first release of newly recorded material in 15 years. Later, it was re-released on February 10, 2017 via Southern Lord Records as a 12" vinyl pressing and recut by Adam Gonsalves. In 2021, it was remixed and reissued again on the EP Iommic Life via Third Man Records.
Jason Roeder is the drummer of the Oakland-based metal bands Neurosis and Sleep.
The Sciences is the fourth studio album by American stoner/doom metal band Sleep. The album was released with little warning on April 20, 2018, through Third Man Records. It was the band's first full-length album since Dopesmoker (2003).
"Leagues Beneath" is a single by the American stoner doom band Sleep. The song was released for free digitally on May 23, 2018 through Adult Swim's 2017 singles series, marking Sleep's second entry following 2014's "The Clarity". "Leagues Beneath" was released a month after the band's 2018 return album, The Sciences, which marked Sleep's first full-length studio release in twenty years. Later in 2018, "Leagues Beneath" was released on etched vinyl through Third Man Records.
