Sleep announces first album in eight years with new lineup

Sleep, the legendary stoner doom metal band from San Jose, has announced their new album Hempispheres. The record drops digitally on September 3rd and in physical formats on October 30th through Third Man Records, the label owned by Jack White. It follows The Sciences from 2018, making it the band's first studio album in eight years.

Hempispheres is also the first Sleep record without founding guitarist Matt Pike, who is also known as the frontman of High on Fire. Stepping in on guitar is Bubba Dupree, best known from the hardcore punk band Void. The drum seat is filled by Dale Crover of the Melvins. Founding singer and bassist Al Cisneros remains the anchor of the band. Cisneros was enthusiastic about the new chemistry, saying: "The vibe of the first jam was obvious. It was blue sunglasses era Iommi in the quality, and equally awesome is Bubba is also one of the coolest people I've been able to make music with."

The record was tracked at the Melvins' studio with producer and engineer Toshi Kasai, a longtime collaborator of the band. Hempispheres contains five tracks: "Have Spacesuit Will Travel", "The Morrisist", "Hempispheres", "Arrival of the Industry Ships" and "Whole Wheat Mountain Well Baked". The opening track "Have Spacesuit Will Travel" was already released back in June. The new single "The Morrisist" is now out as well. That song features a clear nod to Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi, with the lyric "Stands the Iommicist", which underlines the riff driven approach of the album.

Alongside the album, Third Man Books will also be releasing a Sleep Comic Book. Issue one of that series ships on September 22nd. Sleep will be supporting Hempispheres with an extensive North American tour kicking off on September 8th in San Diego and running through November 17th in Washington D.C., with shows in cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Toronto and Brooklyn.

No concert dates have been announced for the Netherlands or Europe yet, but the rebirth of Sleep with this new trio and their first album in nearly a decade is a major event for heavy music fans worldwide.