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When Brooklyn Vegan was cruelly shuttered, I felt the need to write a piece about the current state of music journalism. The positive effect was that it inspired me to finally kickstart this blog again. In that time, I’ve done reviews of Chat Pile, and a handful of artists who reached out to me, all of which were extremely positive. I’m not quite sure what this blog will look like going forward, but I do feel the need to highlight that talking positively about music does not equal PR, and that sometimes criticism is just criticism. All of this is to say, I feel compelled to write about the new Sleep album, partially because of the quality, and partially to keep this blog out of the realm of poptimism.

Sleep’s fifth album Hempispheres proves just how incredible of a riff machine Matt Pike has been. Matt Pike is not on this album. The guitarist was the key point of Sleep, separating them from the myriad of other stoner metal bands out there. Practically every stoner metal band (if not every) owes their existence to Black Sabbath and their legendary guitarist, Tony Iommi. Axeman after axeman has tried to copy Iommi’s style – slow riffs with significant distortion and a bit of a blues influence – but few have come as close as Pike. Sleep’s first two albums in the early 90’s established them as a credible doom metal band, and helped solidify the subgenre. In 2003 (and not 1999), the band released their masterpiece, the one-song album Dopesmoker. The band had already broken up, but reunited in the late 10’s, eventually releasing The Sciences, one of the best reunion albums in any genre of music. Cut to 2026, and both Matt Pike and drummer Jason Roeder are out, with the band now fully led by Al Cisneros, the founding bassist and vocalist. Everyone is worse off because of it.

Now, I’ve been glazing Pike, who I feel is one of the best metal guitarists of all-time. It should be noted that the reason he was booted from Sleep is very possibly due to his antisemitic conspiracy theory connections. Regardless of how true it is, he’s clearly a loony. It puts a stain on his albums with Sleep and High On Fire, who have always had some questionable lyrics anyhow. It’s not clear why Roeder also got the boot, but him and Pike have been replaced. Melvins drummer Dale Crover now sits behind the kit, a fantastic drummer with an insane pedigree. Bubba Dupree, an 80’s hardcore guitarist, now handles the axe. It’s an odd fit, taking someone known for playing songs at hyperspeed and asking him to handle punishingly slow riffs.

And when you write about Sleep, you need to devote a full paragraph to riffs. No one is listening to Sleep for the lyrics. Sleep’s riffs have always been fascinatingly direct, sounding simplistic while both completely original and fatally heavy. The riffs just aren’t here. I mean, they are, every song on Hempispheres remains centered on riffs, but they aren’t here. They’re mixed a little more quietly, and Dupree just cannot match the guitar tone that Pike was able to achieve. Cisneros often feels like the focal point on bass, but it sounds more like he’s trying to salvage the songs rather than make them deep and heavy. Each of the five songs on the album just feel limp. The music isn’t memorable, isn’t pounding, and just isn’t very fun to listen to. Crover manages to inject some life into some songs behind the kit, but it’s too little, and it isn’t his responsibility to keep these tunes chugging along.

I’ve noted that Sleep isn’t exactly a lyrics-focused band, but historically their lyrics have been better than this. Sleep have always separated themselves from other doom metal bands by avoiding really entering the stoner side of things. There’s a weird disconnect in the genre, where the music is presented as punishing and serious, but the bands often sing about doobies or general silly business. For every Froglord, there’s ten bands who can’t make the disconnect work. On Hempispheres, the band falls victim to it. The lyrics here are extremely weed-focused, and not in any sort of cool way. There’s bad puns, and weird plays on words. I mean, it’s called Hempispheres. Iommi’s name is also invoked, which the legend will probably not find particularly inspiring.

So why does this exist? Almost no one is helped by this record’s existence. The trio is on a big tour right now, which is arguably enough of a justification. But Hempispheres is the first mediocre Sleep record, and it’s real bad. It’s a stain on the discography of Cisneros. Dupree isn’t the right fit, and his record isn’t aided by it. The record is a stark realization of how integral Pike was, but serves as a reminder for who he is as a person too. The fans don’t seem to be particularly into this one either. It’s turned me off on seeing their upcoming show in Boston. I’ve seen Sleep once, on 4/20 at the State in Portland. It was an incredible show, where the band played the entirety of “Dopesmoker” and a second full hour after. Will Sleep sound as good live as they did in 2019? I can’t imagine that’s the case. What a waste.