San Francisco sludge/doom/post-metal collective Sleepbomb premiere new single and music video »The Basement Is The Safest Place«!
San Francisco, California based sludge/doom/post-metal band Sleepbomb premiere new single and music video »Cemetery Song« taken from their upcoming album, »The Sleeping Dead«, set to release on January 24th, 2025 via Koolarrow Records and Consouling Sounds.
Courtesy of Discipline PR:
Following the unsettling momentum of »Cemetery Song«, Sleepbomb’s newest track »The Basement Is The Safest Place« offers a climactic and emotionally charged experience from their upcoming »The Sleeping Dead« LP. The album, slated for release on January 24, 2025, promises to deliver more of the band’s signature blend of doom-laden soundscapes and cinematic tension.
Continuing to explore doom-laden soundscapes and their signature blend of cinematic intensity, »The Basement Is The Safest Place« stands out as one of the most harmonically rich and melodic pieces on the album. As vocalist and synth player Claire Hamard reflects, “This track is a rising apocalypse that never ends. There’s a beginning but no end to this piece, it keeps escalating. The lamenting vocals and classical organ bring a tragic aspect that matches the film’s dramatic violence.”
Photo by Fred Aube
The track encapsulates the film’s themes of entrapment and inescapable doom, layering haunting guitars and a driving bassline that grows ever more intense. Claire’s chilling vocals hover over the arrangement, creating a tension that mirrors the unfolding horror. “The huis clos is invaded,” Claire continues, “the brother eats the sister, the daughter eats the mother, in short, humanity is lost. Perhaps one of my favorite tracks on the album for its melodic richness.”
Bassist and synth player Tim Gotch adds, “Unlike »The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari«, we knew that the final product would not be a fully synchronized score due to rights issues and the large amount of dialogue in the film.” states Tim giving a look at band’s upcoming LP. “This meant that we were able to edit down some of the longer sections into a “song” format and really focus on the feel of the scenes for »The Sleeping Dead« record itself rather than retaining the full length of tracks just for timing requirements.”
Recorded, mixed and mastered at Earhammer Studios by Greg Wilkinson (High On Fire, Autopsy), »The Sleeping Dead« shows Sleepbomb in a heavy, focused mood.
Pre-order »The Sleeping Dead« LP coming out January 24, 2025 via Koolarrow Records in North America and Consouling Sounds in EU/ROW.
Sleepbomb is a San Francisco-based psychedelic doom project focused on full, original scores for genre films including the German expressionist silent masterpieces – The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu and Metropolis. Historically a live experience, Sleepbomb has performed their scores across the West coast of the US since 2003 and now has set their sights on expanding to the East coast and the world for 2025.
Originally stylistically close to a chaotic version of Throbbing Gristle vs Black Sabbath, Sleepbomb has been exploring experimental sounds and forms, guided by the band’s love of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Coil, Neurosis, Sunn 0))), Ulver and Swans, among others. Settling on a drone influenced style of doom metal as the overarching theme while exploring other genres as appropriate for each film’s particular style, Sleepbomb’s goal is to re-contextualize the experience of these well-known films. They succeed in this goal.
Sleepbomb joined Bill Gould’s Koolarrow records and Belgium’s Consouling Sounds in 2023 for the release of their score for the classic 1920 German expressionist film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. They are overjoyed to repeat this collaboration for their January 2025 release of »The Sleeping Dead«: excerpts from an alternate score for George Romero’s »Night Of The Living Dead«!
● Charlie Hernandez – Guitars
● Tim Gotch – Bass, Synths
● Rob Johnson – Drums and Percussion
● Claire Hamard – Vocals, Synths, Electronics
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well