Listen to the Melvins and Sleep’s Version of ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’
The Melvins unveiled a cover of Black Sabbath's classic “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath,” featuring Sleep singer and bassist Al Cisneros.
Rumors of the collaboration had surfaced in recent days, with the Melvins having teased “a dark sabbath in 10" form cometh duuuuuude” on Facebook two weeks ago, before Amphetamine Reptile Records confirmed the release with the comment “Smiling happy sunshine day!”
A test pressing sold on eBay for $885. It was described as “2 tracks total with Al Cisneros of Sleep joining the Melvins. The record itself is basic black vinyl with simply ‘side A’ printed on one side & ‘Melvins Sabbath 1/10’ handwritten on the other. … The sleeve has the artwork of HAZE XXL & with 2 hand-pulled linocut prints that were printed, torn & mounted by HAZE himself.”
Requests for further details from Amphetamine Reptile were met with the response, “We’ll let you know when we know.” You can listen to the song below.
Last month, Sleep released a 17-minute jam, “Leagues Beneath,” on vinyl, after having launched the non-album track in May. That followed the surprise release of their fourth album The Sciences, which, fitting for the stoner metal icons, arrived on April 20.
The inner sleeve of that album contained concealed images of members of Black Sabbath, including the face of guitarist Tony Iommi on a piece of toast. The Melvins’ most recent album, Pinkus Abortion Technician, was also released on April 20, and featured covers of material by the Beatles, Butthole Surfers and the James Gang, among some original tracks.
"Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" was the title track of Black Sabbath's fifth ablum, which was released in 1973. It helped secure their position as one of the most successful heavy metal bands of all time. It went gold in the U.S. the following year and eventually platinum in 1986.