Sleep Reunites for U.S. Dates

Holy shit I’m stoked on this… Sleep, the preeminent stoner metal band from San Jose, CA, reunited for the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in London back in May of 2009, and have just announced that they will be taking that act on the road for a brief U.S. tour at the end of this summer.

Here’s the press release and tour dates I got today:

LEGENDARY METAL BAND SLEEP ANNOUNCES SPECIAL U.S. LIVE PERFORMANCES

GROUNDBREAKING CALIFORNIA POWER TRIO TO PLAY RARE LIVE DATES THIS SEPTEMBER; PERFORM ENTIRE CLASSIC ALBUM “HOLY MOUNTAIN” AS PART OF 2010 “ALL TOMORROW’s PARTIES” FESTIVAL

Legendary stoner rock band SLEEP, who split in 1997 after the release of two hugely influential albums – Sleep’s Holy Mountain (1992) and Dopesmoker (2003) – has announced September, 2010 U.S. tour dates.  The iconic California band will kick things off by performing amongst the featured acts at the 2010 “All Tomorrow’s Parties” New York Festival (set to take place September 3-5 in Monticello, NY); sharing the stage with Iggy and the Stooges, Mudhoney, Sonic Youth and more and performing its now-classic Sleep’s Holy Mountain record in its entirety.  Live dates in Philadelphia, PA, Brooklyn, NY, Chicago, IL, Austin, TX, Portland, OR and San Francisco, CA have also just been announced.

SLEEP debuted with 1991’s Volume One album, recorded for San Francisco label Tupelo.  In the years that would follow, the band gained a devoted fan base within the growing doom metal scene and developed a sound and style that showcased a love of all things retro, from the blatant Black Sabbath / Blue Cheer influences, to its fixation with 1970′s-style tube amplification.  The group’s 1992 release Sleep’s Holy Mountain is widely considered a seminal album in the evolution of stoner metal.  Upon its release, the album became a favorite of the heavy metal press and the band was heralded, along with fellow Californians Kyuss, as leaders of the emerging “stoner rock” scene.  In May 2009, SLEEP performed the album live in its entirety as part of the All Tomorrow’s Parties-curated ‘Don’t Look Back’ series In London.  Now, the band will treat U.S. fans to the classic album in full as part of ATP New York this September.

In the years since the band’s self-imposed hiatus, its members have formed the critically acclaimed hard rock bandsHIGH ON FIRE and OM, and more recently Shrinebuilder.  For the upcoming September tour, original SLEEP members Matt Pike (HIGH ON FIRE) and Al Cisneros (OM) will be joined by guest drummer Jason Roeder of Neurosis.

Once referred to as “the ultimate stoner rock band”, SLEEP evolved in the early 1990s from the band Asbestosdeath and has exerted a considerable, consistent influence on modern heavy music ever since.  The band followed the release ofSleep’s Holy Mountain by signing a major label deal with London Records and then proceeded to deliver an epic, single 60-minute magnum opus that it refused to “edit or split up into sections under any circumstances.”  After years of red tape,SLEEP decided to break up rather than surrender the album in anything but its intended form, cutting short (at least initially) the career of one of the most talked about and talented heavy rock bands of the last two decades.  SLEEP’s music has been featured in films by Harmony Korine and Jim Jarmusch.

SLEEP tour dates:

September 3 Monticello, NY             * As part of the 2010 All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival (w/ Iggy and the Stooges, Mudhoney, Sonic Youth, etc.)
September  7 Philadelphia, PA            Starlight Ballroom
September  8 Brooklyn, NY                  Brooklyn Masonic Temple (w/ Lichens)
September  9 Chicago, IL                   Logan Square Auditorium (w/ Lichens)
September 10 Austin, TX                      Mohawk (w/ Sub Oslo)
September  11 Portland, OR                 Roseland Theater (*As part of Music Fest NW w/ Scott Kelly, YOB, etc.)
September 12 San Francisco, CA        Regency Ballroom

For more info, check out www.myspace.com/rifffilledland

Someone posted the whole Sleep set from ATP for download on RapidShare, which you should grab because it’s awesome; and you can see footage of the band’s ATP reunion show over at the RoadBurn site.

Here’s the video for “Dragonaut.” I’ve posted this classic before, but it seems like an appropriate time to put it back up…such a dope song / video:

Have I mentioned how fucking stoked I am for this show? God damn.