this is a rather dangerous release for me. dangerous because i was never really convinced of the musical part but this damned album always had a certain aura of attraction that really appealed to me. so every time when another re-press of 'dopesmoker' rolled up i was torn. i listened to my digital copy over and over again but simply couldn't find a reason to justify a purchase.
i mean, ultimately this album is one riff played for over an hour. still the attraction remained. when southern lord announced the latest re-press to be released mid february this year, i tried the album again. my opinion didn't really change. it's still a riff played over an hour drooling into your auditory canal, but i realised that i only could scratch that itch of attraction by finally snagging a copy.
southern lord offered a clear green heavy wax version and after some thinking to and fro, i grabbed me a copy. after listening to it on vinyl i can say that the forced pauses that appear due to changing sides, does good to the musical experience. it breaks up a little the demanding piece of music that is 'dopesmoker'. another thing i realised while listening to it, it's best to really relax.
usually i do something while listening to music. you know, reading along to the lyrics, reading comic books, writing this blog, just something. but when i really feel like doing nothing, just lying around lazily on a rainy day, 'dopesmoker' is the perfect companion. as this doesn't happen too often, sleeps mammoth album won't get as regular spins as other albums get but i finally found an access to this record. on occasions like these i simply enjoy this album and eventually understand the attraction that always drew me towards it.
the history of this record, now called 'dopesmoker', is quite interesting. after the band released 'holy mountain' in 1993 on earache records, they signed to the major label london records. due to this label change, earache and london records started a conflict which even peaked in a lawsuit. because of this lawsuit, the in 1995 already written album called 'jerusalem' couldn't be recorded until 1996.
after the recordings were finished, london records refused to publish the material even though they intended to do so according to the contract between band and label. before 'jerusalem' even saw a release, the band broke up. after rise above records and tee pee records also released this album post break-up, southern lord did the latest release and al cisneros commented that this was the way the band intended it to be in the first place. southern lord records. 2016.
