This past Spring, Southern Lord Recordings unleashed a deluxe reissue of SLEEP‘s mammoth Dopesmoker LP on which the original studio tapes were completely remastered presenting the legendary album as the band had initially intended. The audio is clearer, louder, and offers up a true representation of SLEEP‘s hour-plus long Weedian chronicle. It even features brand new artwork by longtime SLEEP artist Arik Roper as well as an unreleased live recording of one of the band’s all-time best performances, “Holy Mountain” from San Francisco’s I-Beam in 1994.
In an 8.5/10 review of the reissue, Pitchfork proclaimed: “Loud and more lucid, Southern Lord’s greenest version of Dopesmoker pushes the record’s highs to higher places and gives the whole hour just a bit more power,” while About.com gave the offering a 4.5/5: “Finally mastered correctly by From the Ashes guitarist Brad Boatright, Sleep’s Billy Anderson-produced Dopesmoker is for all intents, a new album. Nuance is now heard and there is a bigger, brighter, more dynamic sound. With a live version of ‘Holy Mountain’ included on the album as testament to the band’s prowess, Sleep’s Dopesmoker takes its rightful place in metal’s periodic chart, as the heaviest metal of all. Added Pop Matters in a perfect 10/10 rating: “Ultimately, time dissolves when you soak in the atmosphere of ‘Dopesmoker’ or stare at its mirage-like apparitions. There are sights and sounds to be found nowhere else in metal. The enigmatically spiritual meets the corporeal thrum of titanic riffs and bass, along with that breathtaking wallop of percussion. The song offers a reverential bow to the incomparable power of the riff, and raises a baung to the potential metamorphosis offered by obtaining an enormous stash.”
The first vinyl pressing of Dopesmoker, which accounted for 8,000 copies, sold out in little more than two months! Due to overwhelming demand, Southern Lord is repressing the vinyl edition for those glassy-eyed souls who missed it the first time around. Like the holographic foil jackets that were provided for a portion of the first pressing, the second pressing will include a metallic silver foil jacket. It is of course a heavy-weight cardboard tip-on style Stoughton jacket and they look stunning! 180-gram blue vinyl with metallic silver foil jacket will be limited to 1,000 copies. 180-gram purple vinyl will be limited to 4,000 copies.
Order your copy today at THIS LOCATION.
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