Sleep

Sleep grew out of the San Jose band Asbestosdeath in the early 1990s, with bassist and vocalist Al Cisneros, drummer Chris Hakius and guitarist Matt Pike. The debut album Volume One was released in 1991, after which second guitarist Justin Marler left and Sleep continued as the trio of Cisneros, Pike and Hakius.

The second album, Sleep’s Holy Mountain, was released by Earache Records in 1992. Sleep then signed to the major label London Records, but the label rejected the band’s next recording, a single song lasting about an hour, as unmarketable. An edited version titled Jerusalem was also not released by London, and the band broke up in the late 1990s. Jerusalem eventually appeared in 1999, and the full original recording was officially released as Dopesmoker by Tee Pee Records in 2003.

After the split, Pike formed High On Fire, while Cisneros and Hakius formed Om. Sleep reunited in 2009, and Jason Roeder of Neurosis took over on drums from Hakius.

On 20 April 2018 Sleep released The Sciences on Third Man Records as a surprise, announced only a day before release. It was the band’s first new studio album since the Jerusalem/Dopesmoker sessions.

In January 2025 Roeder said he had been dismissed by the band’s manager in November 2024. In June 2026 Sleep announced a new line-up of Cisneros, Melvins drummer Dale Crover and guitarist Bubba Dupree of Void, without Matt Pike. The album Hempispheres, the band’s first without Pike, was released digitally on 3 September 2026 through Third Man Records, with the physical release set for 30 October, and the band began a North American tour in San Diego on 8 September.

Current line-up: Al Cisneros (bass, vocals), Bubba Dupree (guitar), Dale Crover (drums)