Beyond the Walls of Sleep

Feedback into distorted down-strokes, the guitar a dark invocation. The tone swells, richer, fuller, as tentative cymbals are heard chiming like birds witnessing an ominous red dawn. Thud Thud Thud as the kick brings a pulse to the proceedings, the bass as muddy as the guitar, the cauldron's brew thickening like porridge, an overworked glue pushed forward only by the unfaltering cymbals steady crash.

There is a shift; the guitar tone begins its clean ascent to the realm of Iommi, the bass now not a thickening echo but a countering force. The drummer begins to march the troops forward, the formation having tightened and the arms shouldered and ready. Presentation before the general has begun, the cymbals roll, the formation pauses, the guitar restates the invocation.

A voice, straining to be heard in the farthest rows, the deepest reaches, begins the ceremony. The musicians offer not support but challenge, fighting the call of solemn intonation, their groove, their force something to be reckoned with outside the ritual. The guitar has its own power to summon, thick with electrical discharge.

The invocation returns, the guitar restates its purpose, and the ceremony continues. The distortion, feedback and crackling thunder has reasserted its dominance.

A shift, as the guitarist acknowledges the thinner strings, the bottom of the neck, hammer-ons and pull-offs equaled by the kick and tom-toms, the crashing cymbals. The bass player finds a space in between, and a tube-driven warmth fills the gaps.

Again, a return. The invoked being is called by name, "The Weedian – Nazereth". To call a being requires name and location, so as to separate the desired from all others so called. The notes of the invocation proceed a second calling. A third is expected, to seal the spell. The ritual form follows course; invocation by sound, by name, by sound, by name – but no! There is a challenge, the guitar unwilling to cede its own rights to the vocal leader.

The challenge is fairly met, as the guitar, alone states its case, then hesitantly falls into line for the voice to state his own. The ritual leader parts the crowd with his voice, but is left somewhat unintelligible by the continued bucking and squealing of the temporarily subordinate guitar. He states a lineage, a history, claims past to justify present. Before the invocation can continue, the guitar once more raises the question of leadership, but is brought quickly in line. There is no argument with the Priests of the Weedian.

"Arise/arise/aris/ari/ar" I must question here - the traditional three-part summoning is incomplete, the danger is real. The priest, so called, continues fearlessly, his accompaniment now strong, united, challenges put aside for the glory of their Lord.

They approach the halfway point, and with the forces once more in formation, the guitar restates the invocation. The smoke thickens, and begins to coalesce as a description is given by the ritual leader. He describes the rites for his followers to partake in, to bring about the proper mindset for meeting their Lord. It is a Mass, not a summoning as I had heretofore surmised. With all in place, the priest must step aside and let the music carry forward.

The guitar tone switches back to its early, muddy, foul discharge. It dances around a restatement of the invocation but plays tricks, unwilling to quickly reach its purpose. The bass comes close in, menacing, forcing the guitar back to its proper place and sound. Once again the leader steps forward and raises his voice.

A mere two lines, a regrouping of sorts, before once again the guitar sallies forth. Like before, the guitarist has found a voice in the higher register, but instead of the hard attack he finds a sliding warmth, softer. The bass and drums recede as an echo is added to the strings, their keening rather Eastern. Soft – almost feathery, like down – is the kick drum that joins in behind, the cymbals back to the tentative chiming birds we heard so long ago. The peaceful lull is short - the bass brings us back as the priest is ready to continue, having finished this part of the ritual.

The next section is short, a mere four lines, a history of their Lord and his resurrection in the flame. The guitar fills the gap quickly, like the Iron Man. The gap filled, the higher register again appears, this time triumphantly, as dirty and rough as it began the proceedings. There is something guttural and mocking about it, as if - just perhaps - there is a longing to be free of all this, to move on.

The band reels in those flights of fancy, pulling the guitar back down to the depths. The dominant force is, must be, the priest, who now has finished with the tale of The Weedian and chronicles the path of the believers, the proper path with the priests as guides. The reading of the ritual – its history, its purpose, its path – is complete.

A blessing is said:

Drop out of life with bong in hand
Follow the smoke to-uh the riff-filled land

And the band plays out.


This has been a real-time commentary on the experience of listening to Sleep's magnum opus Dopesmoker.