voila_la_scorie It was while I was searching for heavy metal bands from Newfoundland and Labrador that I discovered Sheavy. One listen from "The Electric Sleep" and I was sure this was a band worthy of shelling out for a couple of discs at least. The problem was that actually buying CDs meant going to Discogs and looking for near mint if not mint. And hey, I found some!

According to the Wikipedia article about this band, this, their second album, saw a big improvement from the debut, and the band went over to Europe (not so far from St. John's, actually) to play and promote their music. Critics who heard the album were divided, with some claiming that this was a long lost Sabbath album and others putting down Sheavy as Sabbath clones at best. Now, I recently started to become of the opinion that nearly every stoner and doom metal band had to have Black Sabbath's "Master of Reality" played on daily rotation several hours at a time from their day of birth until they were teens just to ensure total and absolute indoctrination into how to create stoner and doom metal. However, I do contend that Sheavy's music is largely not Sabbath-like. Yes, there are a few riffs on this album the have the Tony Iommi call of doom feeling, but many other riffs seem to go a different route. I think the drumming and bass work is also more like what you'd hear from a band experimenting with the sounds and music rather than emulating it.

So we've got some really cool, heavy riffs and a band that sounds very comfortable in their own corner of the stoner rock arena. But those vocals! Man, if Ozzy just put his vocals through a filter that made them more scratchy - like Greg Lake's vocals in "21st Century Schizoid Man" - well then he'd sound just like Steve Hennessy. It's really uncanny how similar Steve sounds like classic Ozzy. On the second track, "Velvet", his voice is a little different because it's an acoustic track with a retro electric guitar sound and bass guitar that make the song sound like it's from 1969. But the rest of the album, man, Steve really could be mistaken for Ozzy.

One unusual thing is in the track "Oracle" which features a didgeridoo throughout the song. I've heard didgeridoos on other albums as an intro instrument (I think Cryptopsy has a song like that) but never used for an entire track, in this case 6:50 long!

This album is really for people who dig that slow and heavy atmosphere of stoner metal bands, but it doesn't feature any of those really low-toned, dragged out, over-distorted guitars like some bands have. Sheavy keeps the riffs moving. Some songs are a little less exciting. I mean, they start off cool and easy and bring in a bit of tension, but then they take time to really go anywhere. When they do, it's a sweet killer riff and sometimes a contrasting change of tempo. But then the song soon ends. That and the dense production sound are my only real criticisms of the album. Basically, it's a great 1990's, stoner metal album for when you're in the mood. But as I understand it, the band's sound evolved over the years and so I had to check out at least one more album...

Kingcrimsonprog Sheavy (sometimes typeset as sHeavy, to emphasise their heaviness) are a long running Stoner Rock/Metal act from Canada. The Electric Sleep was their second full-length studio album and was released in 1998.

Sheavy are an underrated but important contributor to the genre, who may not have had the same level of success as their American peers but who still managed to release powerful and enjoyable albums their entire career, and persist on constantly since their 1993 inception. The band are a perfect outfit to discover and explore for fans of Kyuss, Fu Manchu, Clutch and others. Of course, Sheavy are recommended for fans of Ozzy era Black Sabbath…. in fact, historically sometimes people confused the band’s doomier tracks as actual Black Sabbath tracks!

Singer Steve Hennessey sometimes does an incredible job of specifically mimicking the exact and particular nuances of Ozzy’s unique voice, which is impressive. The band aren’t always Sabbath clones however, sometimes the vocal style is quite different and very often the music will move outside of Sabbath’s remit, so there is still plenty of uniquely Sheavy style material to enjoy.

They have had a few line-up shifts in their time, but aren’t exactly an unstable revolving-door type band. Steve Hennessey and guitarist Dan Moore formed the core of the band for almost two decades, with Ren Squires on drums for at least one decade.

This album features a nice mixture between up-tempo buzzy rockers with melody and groove and then slow, doomy numbers or quiet tracks that show off the band’s large musicality and vocal talent. The whole album is full of impressive and interesting lead guitar work, with multiple solos and little flourishes of Talk-Box and other effects all over the place. The production is great, with a very warm, analogue sound to boot.

Highlights include ‘Saving Me,’ which is a bouncy riff lead rock number, the lyrically amusing ‘Automaton’ and the eclectic nine-minute album closer ‘Star Dust’ which explores several moods, from Pink Floydian sounds to big doomy riffs, to speedy solo filled sections.

Overall The Electric Sleep is an interesting and very enjoyable collection of warm, analogue sounding Stoner Rock/Metal tracks from a talented and underrated Canadian band who never gave up trying. The Electric Sleep is one of their better albums, and if you enjoy it check out Celestial Hi-Fi too. In Summary; highly recommended to any fans of the genre or the aforementioned bands.