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"When we started, we were smoking lots of pot and taking acid, and the soundtrack to all of our fucking lives at the time was essentially Black Sabbath," says Al Cisneros, vocalist, bassist and chief somnambulist for the quintessential stoner-doom metal band Sleep, which formed in the early Nineties. "Our entire universe was Black Sabbath. We couldn't understand why the bands that we didn't like were playing so fast."



The record, which came out as a surprise release on 4/20, kicks off with three minutes of piercing feedback and gut-rumbling riffing (a track called "The Sciences" that guitarist Matt Pike concocted "trying to make Al laugh") and before kicking into 50 minutes of swinging, blues metal that worships at the altar of Black Sabbath. One of the standouts is titled "Giza Butler," a pun on Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler's name. The sludgy "Marijuanaut's Theme" starts with Cisneros lighting a bong filled with his favorite herb. And the band still plays at tempos just fast enough to keep them out of the ER. In other words, it's business as usual.

So it's been a surprise to the band members that the reception for The Sciences has been unlike any they've ever gotten. The LP, which came out on Jack White's label, Third Man, has sold enough copies that it peaked at Number 12 on the Billboard's Top Album Sales chart and Number Two on the Hard Rock Albums chart. Although the musicians have carried on in other groups – Cisneros heads up the drone ensemble Om, Pike fronts metal cult heroes High on Fire and drummer Jason Roeder hails from Neurosis – none have achieved this level of success.

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