The Sciences

The Sciences
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Studio album by Sleep
Released	April 20 2018
Recorded	2016 - 2017 in California
Genre	Stoner Metal, Doom Metal
Length	53:00
Label	Third Man Records
Producer	Sleep and Noah Landis
Sleep chronology
The Clarity (2014)	The Sciences (2018)	Leagues Beneath (2018)
Alternative Cover

The Sciences is the fourth studio album by stoner metal band Sleep. Nearly four years in the making, The Sciences is the band's first studio album in twenty years (Counting the 1998 release of Jerusalem) and the band's first album with the current lineup of Cisneros, Pike and Roeder. Planned over several years and kept in the quiet, The Sciences was released as a surprise on 4/20 via Third Man Records.

Background

The origins of Sleep working on a new album date back to 2014, when Al Cisneros announced as such in an interview that spring. Some months later, as part of the Adult Swim Singles series, The Clarity was released on 21 July 2014, the band's first recording in nearly 20 years. The band kept quiet about a new album until September 2016 when Matt Pike announced that the band had plans to record in March 2017. On 12 April 2017, Sleep posted on their homepage a message in morse code confirming a new album is close to completion with Noah Landis as engineer, translating to the following: "INITIALIZE NEW TRANSMISSION 2017 CE SLEEP NEARING COMPLETION OF NEW ALBUM ENGINEERING ACCOMPLICE: NOAH LANDIS LOCATION: 37.8044 N, 122.2711 W RELEASE DATE: UNDETERMINED RECORD LABEL: UNDETERMINED".

On 19 April 2018 (20 April 2018 at the time in Australia due to time zone shifts), The Sciences was revealed as a surprise release with no announcement via Third Man Records. It is confirmed a split green/black edition by Third Man with alternate artwork is available exclusively at independent stores, limited to 1000 copies. The first edition green vinyl was also sold via Third Man Records and most record stores, limited to 10000 copies and sold out within 24 hours. Currently a standard black vinyl and CD version are available. The Sciences debuted at number 49 on the Billboard 200 (also peaking at 7 on the Top US Rock Albums and 2 on the Top US Hard Rock Albums), and was Sleep's first album to chart in the United States.

Musically, The Sciences is a stoner metal album built upon the distorted, downtuned, and slow bass of Al Cisneros playing alongside the similarly low guitar of Matt Pike. Repetition of riffs and passages is employed, working to create a "hypnotic state" supplemented by Cisneros' meditative vocal passages, drawing similarities to his other band Om. In keeping with Sleep's aesthetic, much of the lyrics have to do with marijuana and are delivered in a reverential, "quasi-religious" fashion. "Marijuanaut's Theme" even begins with Al Cisneros hitting a bong (Referred to as a "water pipe" in the album credits).

Along with the cannabis references, The Sciences makes multiple allusions to Birmingham heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath, whose sound inspired Sleep. Tony Iommi is referenced in the lyrics, and the song "Giza Butler" is a play on the city Giza and the name of Black Sabbath's bassist, Geezer Butler. Later in "Giza Butler", references are made to several things in Frank Herbert's 1965 novel Dune, including the gom jabbar (referred to as the "bong jabbar") and Muad'Dib (as "Muad'Doob"). The inner gatefold depicts a humorous breakfast layout with Tony Iommi engraved in toast, "Butler" brand butter and Bill Ward on the missing side of a milk carton.

"Sonic Titan" and "Antarticans Thawed" were both written by Sleep during the band's first run but never properly recorded. While the former song was played in the early nineties before Dopesmoker was finished, the latter had never been performed until the band's initial reunion in 2009 at Sleep's Holy Mountain at All Tomorrow's Parties in Minehead, England.

Tracklist

NOTE: Tracks 4 and 5 are swapped on the CD edition.

• 1. The Sciences (3:03)
• 2. Marijuanaut's Theme (6:39)
• 3. Sonic Titan (12:26)
• 4. Antarticans Thawed (14:23)
• 5. Giza Butler (10:02)
• 6. The Botanist (6:27)

Personnel

• Sleep - Producer
• Al Cisneros - Bass, Vocals, Water Pipe
• Matt Pike - Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, 12-string Acoustic Guitar
• Jason Roeder - Drums, Cymbals, Model Craft, Photography
• Noah Landis - Producer, Engineering, Mixing
• Bob Weston - Mastering
• Josh Graham - Layout, Compositing

External Links

• The Sciences on iTunes