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Album Details

• Artist: Sleep
• Album: Dopesmoker
• Label: Tee Pee
• Year of Release: 2003
• ME Rating: Indie Classic
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2005-07-08

If my calculations are correct it isn't until about the 8 minute mark where the first lyrics actually come into play on this single song album. The lyrics come lumbering with something to the effect of "Drop out of life with bong in hand". That's pretty much what you need to do to invest your time into Dopesmoker, the hour and 3 minute opus from the sludge/doom rock masters. This was one of those infamous label/band battles that kept the album from coming out for almost a decade and ultimately ended up in the bands demise (so sad). But here it is, Sleep's masterpiece and one of the most definitive sludge rock albums of our time. I'm not sure if I smoke enough dope to make complete sense of the lyrics. They are all biblical in nature mixed with heavy dope references: "Rides out believer with the spliff aflame/Marijuanaut escapes earth to cultivate". But really, it's not about the lyrics on this one. It's about the droning heavy Black Sabbath-ish riffs that seem to go on forever. I really can't say that I have gotten through the entire album (including the 10 minute bonus track that sounds like a raw, unmastered demo). It's a lot of drone to make it through but I've come back to this album over and over, especially in the past year since Jesu has released their latest. It's a tasty treat and one that was well worth the fight.

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