This band is the reason why Roadburn Festival must get back to the tradition of having bands perform music to famous old movies. What Sleepbomb has done for “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” borders on impossible because they are able to provide that special kind of grandezza and sparkle that such a movie needs yet never lacking the crunch and grip of a modern Post-Metal record. If anybody can out-perform Swans this year, this band might be it!
There is something in the air about Sleepbomb and their own version of Post-Metal with a twist which lies in its very own conception. The band likes to score (old) movies and have already done so with, among others, Conan the Barbarian and Nosferatu (talk about different movies, huh?). Of course their favorite way of getting their music to its audience is via live concerts with them in front (or behind) a big screen on which the movie is shown. However, that procedure would be a kind of disappointment for so many people around the globe as we’d (most likely) never would have the chance to witness that multi-sensorial adventure. Now they publish their score to another movie - The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, the peak of German experimentalist movie making revolving around the story of a hypnotist using a somnambulist to commit murders for him. The movie is a highlight not only for the mental (pun intended?!) storyline but especially for its visual imagery using pointy edges and irritating, unusual contours.
Now when Sleepbomb score this movie they kept some of the playfulness and epic sparkle that the music for early silent movies had, with a grand instrumentation and a lot of likely higher-tuned elements. However, that would of course not suffice for an exciting musical listening, so the band added quite modern elements and this way bridge the gap between 1920 (the year the movie was released) and 2023 - imagine bridging a 100-year-gap just via sound?! What an achievement by the San Francisco-based quartet. And where could such exciting experimental music be released? Right, through a collaboration between Koolarrow Records (owned by none other than Bill Gould, whom you might from…. well, you should simply know him, ay?) and our favorite Belgians in Consouling Sounds who once again show their skill of coming up with great artists outside the trampled paths! Enjoy Sleepmbomb’s record here, best be in complete silence without any distractions apart from your own breath!
Consouling Sounds is the place for all Europeans to get their pre-orders in and Koolarrow Records does the same thing for all people in the US. However, if you want to experience the whole thing as close as possible to the live experience of a Sleepbomb show, then you can also get the BluRay version from the band’s own Bandcamp page
