Sleep's Holy Mountain Explained

Sleep's Holy Mountain
Type:studio
Artist:Sleep
Cover:Sleep's Holy Mountain.jpg
Released:November 1992 (UK)
March 1993 (US)
Recorded:Razor's Edge Studio in San Francisco, California
Genre:Doom metal, stoner metal[1]
Length:52:09
Label:Earache Records
Kreation Records (vinyl reissue)
Producer:Sleep and Billy Anderson
Prev Title:Volume One
Prev Year:1991
Next Title:Jerusalem
Next Year:1999

Sleep's Holy Mountain (also known as Holy Mountain) is the second studio album by the American stoner doom band Sleep. It was released in November 1992 in Europe and March 1993 in the US through Earache Records.

Release and reception

The recordings that would become Sleep's Holy Mountain were originally sent to independent label Earache as a demo. The label immediately signed the band and released the recordings exactly as they were received. It was the last album to be released by the band as a fully functioning group for a while, as their subsequent albums up to 2018's The Sciences were released after the group had broken up.

The album, which includes the word "stoner" in the lyrics of two songs[2] and prominently features cannabis leaves in its album art, is widely considered one of the seminal albums in the evolution of stoner rock. It became a favourite of the heavy metal press and the band was heralded, along with Kyuss, as leaders of the emerging stoner metal scene.

The songs "Dragonaut" and "Some Grass" are used in the 1997 Harmony Korine film Gummo.

In May 2009, the album was performed live in its entirety as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties-curated Don't Look Back series.

Track listing

All music/lyrics written by Sleep except "Snowblind".[3]

2009 reissue bonus tracks

Credits

Pressing history

YearLabelFormatCountryOut of Print?Notes
1992EaracheCDU.K.Yes
1992EaracheLPU.K.Yes
2002EaracheLPU.S./U.K.YesLtd. 2,000; 1,000 copies on green vinyl (U.S.), 1,000 copies on 220g black vinyl (U.K.)
2007KreationLPU.S.YesGatefold jacket; pressed on multiple limited colors, picture disc, and black vinyl
2009EaracheCDU.K.NoIncludes a bonus track and video
2012Unofficial2xLPEuropeYesDouble LP in black and clear versions
2015EaracheLPU.S./U.K.NoEarache Full Range Dynamic (FDR) mastering

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 10 Stoner Metal Albums Ranked by a Metalhead Who Doesn't Smoke Weed. Kelly. Kim. Vice. April 20, 2017. May 21, 2017.
  2. "Look into the rays of the new stoner sun rising," "Holy Mountain" and "Stoner caravan from deep space arrives," "From Beyond," lyrics printed in Sleep's Holy Mountain CD liner notes, Earache Records, 1992.
  3. Web site: Rivadavia . Eduardo . Sleep – Sleep's Holy Mountain . . September 11, 2018 .
  4. "Engineered by Billy Anderson" and "Produced by Sleep and Billy Anderson" credits printed in Sleep's Holy Mountain CD liner notes, Earache Records, 1992.