I was asked to write a review on it, even though I have stated I will not write reviews anymore. So I wrote an unhinged rant instead, figuring no one in their right mind would publish it. Low and behold, it's been published. I disagree to some extent with just about everything that's been said here. I agree with Josh that there's a lot of distraction and hype. I don't think it's horrible, I give it a 7/10. I don't care for Marijuanaut's Theme or Giza Butler. The lyrics are BAD. Not just a little bad. And yes, I care about lyrics. For me, these songs are simply unlistenable because of the banality of the words being sung. I would love to never hear those songs ever again.
I care about riffs too. Sonic Titan and Antarticans Thawed both have sweet riffs, and tolerable lyrics. My fave track is The Botanist, which is different and interesting. I wish they'd done more of that, and it just ends without really going anywhere.
I prefer Roeder's drumming. Never cared for Hakius all that much. Other than that motherfucker could smack the shit out of the ride bell. I enjoyed Matt and Al's playing as well, even if the material left me pretty non-plussed. The production is massive. So is the hype
Overall, I'd rank it as my least favorite Sleep release. A huge step backwards from their prior releases. I'd expect much more substance from a band of such iconic stature. Disappointed.
Performances 10/10
Production 11/10
Marketing 11/10
Hype 1,000/10
Fan accessibility to physical copies 1/10
Jack White' wallet $100,000/10
Riffs 5/10
Artwork 2/10
Extras in the deluxe vinyl 11/10
Songwriting 5/10
Lyrics 1/10
Overall Schroe-dinger score 7/10. Might be awesome in a bizarro alternate universe, just not in the one I currently inhabit.
I hope the next Sleep release knocks my socks off like Holy Mountain still does to this day!
