Sleep - Hemispheres

When this album was initially announced, it was extremely shocking to contemplate a Sleep album without frontman Matt Pike involved. The lead-off single, "Have Spacesuit Will Travel" did little to stoke interest in the forthcoming full-length.

While the band's return to activity similarly came out of the blue — after 15 years of silence — The Sciences ended up being not only a powerful return to form but also one of 2018's best albums. That is not the case with Hemispheres, unfortunately.

Despite elisting talented replacements in Dale Crover (drums) and Bubba Dupree (guitar), the band sounds like a shell of its former self. Nothing on Hemispheres hooks me in, and the material lacks the heavy atmosphere I associate with Sleep records.

As someone who celebrates Dopesmoker — and all 63 minutes of its stoner-rific glory — it pains me to call this album boring and meandering, but that's what it is. I almost wish it was worse, as Hemispheres comes off as immemorable and indistinct; bad records at least give you something to talk about, this was just mediocre and bland.

The circumstances of Matt Pike's departure are currently unknown, but it seems very clear that he is a key piece of the Sleep formula. I'm grateful that I was able to see the full band play live, in the fall of 2019, as it seems unlikely I will get another chance — and this album is sufficiently uninteresting that I'll pass on the current incarnation.

It pains me to say it, but this album is very "meh." It exists; it's not the worst thing I've heard all year, but it's among the least interesting.

PUBLISHED: 2026-09-08