Written By Caine Blackthorn
Hemispheres: Sleep’s First New Album in Eight Years
Stoner metal titans Sleep have announced Hemispheres, their first new studio album in eight years. The record arrives September 3 digitally and October 30 on physical formats via Jack White’s Third Man Records.
The follow-up to 2018’s The Sciences also marks a major turning point for Sleep, serving as the band’s first album without founding guitarist Matt Pike, who is also known for his work with High on Fire.
Alongside the announcement, Sleep have released a new single, “The Morrisist.” It follows “Have Spacesuit Will Travel,” which arrived in June.
Sleep Enter a New Era on Hemispheres
The lineup behind Hemispheres finds founding vocalist and bassist Al Cisneros joined by Dale Crover on drums and Bubba Dupree on guitar.
Crover brings a formidable history of his own, most notably through his decades with Melvins as well as his work with Redd Kross. Dupree is a considerably more unexpected addition. The guitarist emerged from Void, the fiercely influential Columbia, Maryland hardcore band whose chaotic attack became part of the DNA of American hardcore.
On paper, Cisneros, Crover and Dupree make for a fascinating collision of musical histories. According to Cisneros, however, there wasn’t much uncertainty once the three musicians actually began playing together.
“The vibe of the first jam was obvious,” Cisneros said. “It was blue sunglasses-era Iommi in the quality, and equally awesome is Bubba is also one of the coolest people I’ve been able to make music with.”
That reference to Tony Iommi feels particularly appropriate for a band whose colossal riffs and hypnotic repetition have helped make Sleep one of the defining names in stoner and doom metal.
A New Chemistry Takes Shape
Bringing Crover and Dupree into the fold gives Sleep an unusual convergence of heavy music lineages. Crover’s decades behind the kit with Melvins bring a sludge-heavy, experimental sensibility, while Dupree arrives from the ferocious hardcore world of Void. Against Cisneros’ bass-driven approach and unmistakable vocal delivery, the combination opens the door to something familiar in weight but potentially very different in character.
That makes Hemispheres more than simply a long-awaited follow-up to The Sciences. It is the first opportunity to hear what these three musicians can build together across an entire record, with each bringing a distinctly different history into Sleep’s slow, massive framework.
The first evidence of that chemistry arrived with “Have Spacesuit Will Travel.” Now “The Morrisist” offers another glimpse of the trio before Hemispheres arrives in full this September.
Hemispheres Track Listing
1. Have Spacesuit Will Travel
2. The Morrisist
3. Hempispheres
4. Arrival of the Industry Ships
5. Whole Wheat Mountain Well Baked
Matt Pike’s Departure From Sleep
Pike’s absence also casts a considerable shadow over Hemispheres. When Sleep returned in June with “Have Spacesuit Will Travel,” the band described the song as its “first mission without Matt Pike on guitar” and said Al Cisneros wished his former bandmate well, but offered little explanation for the split.
The abrupt change immediately sparked questions among longtime fans, particularly given Pike’s central role in Sleep’s sound and history. Reports and online discussion surrounding his departure have suggested that the separation may not have been his decision, although the circumstances have not been publicly clarified by Pike himself.
Whatever happened behind the scenes, Hemispheres will provide the first real measure of what Sleep becomes without one of the musicians most closely associated with its monumental guitar sound.
Sleep will take the new material on the road shortly after the album’s digital release, kicking off their summer/fall 2026 tour on September 8 in San Diego, California.
Sleep 2026 Tour Dates
Sleep will take their new incarnation on the road beginning September 8 in San Diego, with an extensive run through the West Coast and Southwest before returning in November for dates across the Midwest, East Coast and Canada.
September 2026 Tour Dates
Sept. 8 – San Diego, CA
Sept. 9 – Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren
Sept. 10 – Albuquerque, NM – Revel Entertainment Center
Sept. 12 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theater
Sept. 13 – Austin, TX – Levitation Festival
Sept. 14 – Oklahoma City, OK – Tower Theatre
Sept. 16 – Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre
Sept. 17 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex
Sept. 18 – Boise, ID
Sept. 20 – Vancouver, BC
Sept. 21 – Seattle, WA
Sept. 22 – Seattle, WA
Sept. 23 – Portland, OR
Sept. 25 – San Francisco, CA
Sept. 26 – San Francisco, CA
Sept. 27 – Santa Cruz, CA
Sept. 28 – Los Angeles, CA
Sept. 29 – Santa Ana, CA
November 2026
Nov. 4 – Minneapolis, MN
Nov. 5 – Milwaukee, WI
Nov. 6 – Chicago, IL
Nov. 7 – Detroit, MI
Nov. 9 – Toronto, ON
Nov. 10 – Montreal, QC
Nov. 11 – Burlington, VT
Nov. 12 – Boston, MA
Nov. 13 – Hudson, NY
Nov. 15 – Philadelphia, PA
Nov. 16 – Brooklyn, NY
Nov. 17 – Washington, DC
Hemispheres arrives digitally September 3, with physical editions following October 30 through Third Man Records.
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