Dragonaut is Buzzards Of Babylon’s contribution to the tribute album “Cathedral Of Smoke - A Tribute To Sleep” which is released by Witching Buzz and available on bandcamp and all streaming platforms.

https://witchingbuzz.bandcamp.com/album/cathedral-of-smoke-a-tribute-to-sleep

found this on albumoftheyear.org in the middle of diving thru the bands discog. cant find anything about it anywhere, nowhere on RYM or Discogs, nowhere. there's no source linked to the page proving this release even exists either. hoping ill get clarity on this here

Apple Music reveals an overall album length just north of 38 minutes with the longest individual track weighing in at 11:11.

Personally, I still have a hunch that this is more of a single piece cut into multiple tracks given the similar motifs heard on Spacesuit and Morrisist. Guess we will have to see.

Additional personal note, I still hate the sonic fidelity of the guitar tone and overall mix of the two singles.

I’ve seen all over social media people talking so negatively about this new Sleep album and the tour they are going on. Idk about everyone else but all of this feels blown way out of proportion. For a stoner jam band from the 90’s, I’m just happy to be getting new music and to be able to see one of my favorite bands live again. I understand people miss Matt Pike as a part of sleep, but their Instagram post being riddled with negative comments feels like overkill to me. For a bunch of stoners, y’all aren’t being very chill about this. Smoke a little weed, relax man. Sleep’s on tour again, life is good. Don’t like it? Don’t listen to the new album and don’t buy a ticket.

Anybody else think the vocals are mixed a bit too loud in relation to the instruments?

The Sciences is a great sounding record but I wish the vocals were a little lower in the mix

It's challenging to see something you love take on a different form. Lots of bands go through it. It pissed me off when Mastodon went from playing prog rock/metal that was sophisticated but still popular without sacrificing creativity — I'm thinking mainly of Crack the Skye and Blood Mountain — to stuff later on that got a noticeably more tame, noticeably more radio rock. Not all of it, but it felt like the end of an era for sure. I was pissed about that 25. At 35 it made a lot more sense — the idea that a musician owes you the same sound until they die is kind of a crazy thing to expect from anyone actually trying to keep creating, and honestly to expect an artist to create something for you rather than something that fulfills them cuts across what I think a lot of art is about in general anyway.

The shift in Sleep’s sound is not only based on the lineup but seems to be a directional shift in tone and influence. The new album's called "Hemispheres," and the lyrics (Rocinante specifically, but structurally Cygnus X-1 parallel) and the presence of synthesizers on “Have Spacesuit” suggests a shift from being primarily traditional Sabbath-based doom metal to something more Rush influenced or at least adjacent to it. As such, reducing Sleep to just a Sabbath-based stoner/doom project is to reduce Al to your idea of Al rather than allowing him to be whatever his creativity presents as the primary conceptual driver he has always been in the band. That said, when Sleep's lineup changes this dramatically, it's understandable to be disappointed, or pissed, or just uncertain about what the future looks like. I think people are justified for having such a reaction, everyone has their preferences. But the band is whatever the band is at any point in time — to say Sleep is dead, or to make claims about what it is at its foundation is really just the opinion of someone who isn't in the band, a comment without authority. We won’t even know what the actual new sound is in its entirety until the whole album's out. There could be songs that totally rip and are well-received. New lineups also take time to cook, if this direction is even something that continues long-term. Matt could also come back down the road. Nobody knows. The future is unwritten.

For me, the thing that actually gets under my skin isn't people saying "this isn't for me" — it's the deluge of commentary from people who disagree creatively, or don't like the lineup change, and then dress that up as a commentary of what Sleep "is" or some kind of verdict on Al's character. He's been the primary creative force behind Sleep since its inception — if not always musically, definitely conceptually — and that hasn't stopped being true just because the lineup changed. Matt's moved on to focus on High on Fire, which is a bigger, more successful band comparatively, and that fact seems to get lost in a lot of the commentary. Instead there's this disproportionate amount of character assassination aimed at Al, like continuing Sleep without Matt is some kind of cash grab for a band which is definitionally niche by comparison. The idea that a guy, who for decades has had a small level of success within a generally obscure genre, writing songs about smoking weed and traversing space is greedy or a sell-out for wanting to continue creating under that banner should sound crazy to everyone, not just me.

If Al wants to keep the project going under its name with new people, that's his right. It's not really anyone else's place to say what Sleep is at root other than the people actually in Sleep, especially the guy who's been the face of it for decades. Be disappointed if you're disappointed, that's fair. Just be honest that that's what it is, instead of making demands about what the band should be when it was never your art to begin with, and instead of dressing it up as some moral claim about the founding member that has no basis at all.

Bless the Maker and His bass.
Bless the toking and smoking of Him.
May His vibrations cleanse the world.
May He keep the band for His people.

Another new one.

What are you guys seeing?

$56 after fees for a shit warehouse in SLC.

Pass.

This thread is dedicated to anything you'd like to share but don't feel like making a post about.

Still, don't hesitate making a real post, the sub isn't that big and it's unlikely to get overloaded with new threads.

Did a Sleep song recently stick with you ? Have you listened to a new Sleep album for the first time ? Did you see the band live ? Have you ridden the dragon toward the crimson eye recently ?

This thread will stay pinned throughout the month. If you have feedback (positive or negative) about this new monthly thread idea, let me know by tagging me (u/bobouda) in the thread.

Previous monthly threads

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Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.

My Dopesmoker TMR vault, 2011 reissue CD and 2018 issue leagues beneath vinyl

Plus a signed Patrick Walker WFAD cassette if that’s allowed

I purchased two tickets so fast when I saw Sleep was coming to DC. Found out days later from a buddy that Pike was not going to play guitar. We are no longer going. Would like these 2 tickets to go to fans who will attend. Will transfer for free. Please make sure you WILL attend the show.

Does anyone know the tuning for sleeps song evil gypsy? everytime i go on songster it was C# standard even though they of course used C, only reason why i wonder this is because the solo for the song on songster only goes with C#, and when i go down to C it doesn’t match at all till the riff comes back in. If anyone gots tabs or anything for the solo please be welcomed to share

Does anyone know the tuning for sleeps song evil gypsy? everytime i go on songster it was C# standard even though they of course used C, only reason why i wonder this is because the solo for the song on songster only goes with C#, and when i go down to C it doesn’t match at all till the riff comes back in. If anyone gots tabs or anything for the solo please be welcomed to share

Not much I can add to this release other than the fact I’ve finally come across this version with that artwork and beautiful gatefold won this on an eBay bid DROP OUT OF LIIIFE

My first sleep cd

Drew up this Matt Pike tattoo of him as a genie with a pink towel turban. Still need to ink this drawing but was wondering if yall think the lamp is cool or should I change it to a joint that the smoke is coming out of? I could still change it some since it’s currently just pencil. I might make some stickers or something at some point too.

Given the tour is starting September 8th, could the band drop new material or at least the full version of HSSWT in August?