Is Sleep’s Dopesmoker still the heaviest album o...

Sleep’s Dopesmoker is legendarily heavy. On any midway first rate sound system, it’ll rattle your ribcage. It’s type of like being slowly assaulted by a therapeutic massage chair. In 2015, Guitar World named it the heaviest album ever recorded. “You’ll undoubtedly not discover something heavier,” wrote Ethan Varian.

On November sixth, for no reason in particular, I used to be in the correct temper to just accept that problem.

I wished a riff that may flatten me. I listened to 26 extraordinarily heavy albums, beneficial by pals and strangers. 4 challengers made it to a semi-final spherical, the place I listened to them back-to-back adopted by Dopesmoker. One album was so heavy I did the back-to-back pay attention thrice.

And I’ve to say: I’ve discovered one thing heavier.

However to start, we’ve to debate heavy as an aesthetic. Heavy is, by some means, not the identical as brutal or aggressive. The purpose is getting bludgeoned: rhabdomyolysis, osteolysis, being left crushed on the pavement.

Dopesmoker is the usual I’m measuring in opposition to. It’s such an intense album that if I’m listening to Dopesmoker, that’s just about all I’m doing. The 2022 model of the album, a remaster for streaming companies, consists of two songs: “Dopesmoker” and “Scorching Lava Man.” 

“Dopesmoker” the tune is multiple hour lengthy. It’s characterised by a pounding megalithic riff, which varies barely on every repetition. It’s presumably the loudest minimalist composition I’ve ever heard. The guitars are downtuned two steps from customary tuning, which makes them sound denser. There’s a ton of bass that always echos the guitar and makes it sound even heavier. 

The tune strikes like a granite statue come to life. The guitar, the bass, and the vocal monitor all transfer collectively like a hymn. It takes eight minutes to get to the enduring first line: “Drop out of life with bong in hand.” The vocals sound like chanting. The drums are recessed within the combine — the cymbals are what’s most noticeable — and pretty easy.

“Dopesmoker” is thick. It’s additionally sluggish. That’s what makes it so visceral. The guitar solos, whereas wonderful, aren’t actually answerable for heaviness. Largely, they render the riffs heavier by comparability.

Throughout my quest to match or exceed this customary for heavy, the most typical recommendations I obtained had been Electrical Wizard’s Dopethrone, Bongripper’s Devil Worshipping Doom, and Boris’s Amplifier Worship. I dropped all of the recommendations I may right into a Spotify playlist and made notice of those I’d have to take heed to on Bandcamp. Some bands, resembling Sunn O))) and The Physique, had a number of entries.

Listening to all 26 albums I collected was sluggish going as a result of I solely listened. This wasn’t background music. Normally, I’d sit down and simply concentrate on an album per day.

If I needed to isolate a standard musical lineage all of the albums in competition, it’s Black Sabbath. (Duh?) There’s a type of purist high quality to the Sabbath worship, notably from Church of Distress and the subgenre of stoner steel. One of many different albums in consideration was Godflesh’s Streetcleaner, which was hanging on this context; it was surrounded by materials it had clearly impressed. The 2 different bands I’d level to as formative for the search for heaviness are the Melvins and Sunn O))), which was the one band that freaked out my cat.

The heaviest tracks I listened to on my quest had been aggressively anti-commercial; it’s exhausting to think about them being performed on company radio. Black Boned Angel’s Verdun is one tune that’s virtually 52 minutes lengthy. Khanate’s self-titled album appears totally bored with ideas resembling “grooves,” “tune construction,” and “sanity.” Shallow North Dakota’s Mob Wheel was bludgeoning.

Famously, Dopesmoker itself wasn’t initially launched as a result of it had no business prospects. London Information had promised Sleep full creative control after which, upon listening to the album, shelved it. (This was among the many tensions that led to the band’s breakup.) 

The slowness that makes music actually heavy stands in distinction to TikTok-ified music, which is usually sped up if it’s not already upbeat.  It was refreshing to listen to music that felt insistent on itself as an expertise.

From all my listening, 4 contenders emerged: Boris’s Amplifier Worship, Hell’s Stay at Roadburn, Bongripper’s Empty, and The Physique / Thou’s collaboration Launched from Love / You, Whom I Have At all times Hated.

It appeared attainable I’d discover that Dopesmoker was the top by default — a testomony to an aesthetic nobody was attempting to attain anymore. However Empty is from 2024, Stay at Roadburn was launched in 2018, and Launched from Love / You, Whom I Have At all times Hated is from 2015.

To deal with the semi-finals, I listened to every album back-to-back with Dopesmoker, which made judging surprisingly simple. Amplifier Worship, Empty and Launched from Love had been knocked out virtually instantly.

This left me with Hell’s Stay At Roadburn. It’s an odd selection because it’s mainly a reside model of Hell’s self-titled album, nevertheless it’s decidedly heavier, notably the songs “Subodin” and “Machikitos.” That could be partly as a result of reside songs work in a different way than studio variations — not least as a result of there’s a band as a substitute of Matthew S. Williams, who data as MSW, doing all of the components himself.

Stay at Roadburn isn’t just heavier than Hell’s self-titled; it’s additionally heavier than Dopesmoker.

So, what renders Roadburn heavier? For starters, the guitars are actually tuned decrease — I believe to drop A flat reasonably than drop C. And although the songs on Roadburn usually use repetition, there’s additionally variation on the tempo, which usually slows (“Helmzmen” type of grinds to a halt). There’s extra fuzzed-out suggestions.

However the deciding issue is the drums, that are a lot increased within the combine on Roadburn than on Dopesmoker, which suggests I can really feel the bass and tom. On “Machitikos” particularly, the pummeling drums underline and thicken a guitar solo.

For guitar purists, my verdict could also be suspect. In spite of everything, I’m considering drums in a riff-based medium. There are, nonetheless, solely so some ways to get heavy, which makes the drums the equal of the full-body swimsuits the Olympics banned for making swimmers too quick. Roadburn would most likely nonetheless be heavier with the drums decrease within the combine — most likely — however the drums make it decisive.

Hearken to each albums back-to-back on good audio system. (Headphones received’t get the job executed right here.) As soon as you are feeling Roadburn in your sternum, I don’t assume there shall be any room for argument. Spending two hours listening to music as an exercise — whereas doing nothing else — is one thing individuals ought to do extra usually. Music remains to be highly effective, when you’re keen to concentrate.