It took me a few days of reading mostly non-plussed comments on Facebook before I finally got around to hearing “The Clarity,” the much-ballyhooed, “I can’t believe it’s not a reunion!” single from stoner-doom blueprint-writers Sleep. And don’t get me wrong, I hear all the criticisms in this 10-minute track. It sounds like OM; it sounds like half the songs on Holy Mountain; the vocals sound too clean; there’s too much noodling; Jason Roeder plays a little more like himself and less like Chris Hakius…and so on. Truth be told, if they’d released a full album of new material, I don’t think this would be the standout track. But as a standalone number, well, I certainly can’t complain. After all, you’re talking to a guy who owns four different copies of Jerusalem/Dopesmoker!
In case you’ve been living under a cock-rocker or something…you’re welcome: