Sleep – Iommic Life (The Clarity / Leagues Beneath)

Fucking killer shit. Fantastic pressing. God this band slays. Kinda strange one song pressed at 33 and the other at 45. Not sure reasoning unless it is just too long a song for 45, which is probably the case

Really nice presentation, heavy stock gatefold sleeve, excellent sound, deep and resonant. Great addition to my growing Sleep addiction 😁

Unlike a lot of people it seems, I didn't already have a copy of The Clarity and Leagues Beneath before this released, so I can't really compare to the previous pressings. However, what I can say is that both discs sound PHENOMENAL, which I was really surprised about. The mastering is excellent, and there's a wonderful degree of instrument separation and detail that I wasn't expecting, especially with such layered and heavy tracks that Sleep are masters of. The David Kloc art is excellent too, and so well reproduced that I'm tempted to frame it on my wall! The etchings are great too, and neither disc was really dished or warped as is so common with etched one-sided records. If you don't already have it- I would definitely recommend this little collection! (As an aside though, you can purchase both singles (not the remastered versions though) separately for a dollar less than this compilation from Third Man).

Did I already own both The Clarity and Leagues Beneath in their previous iterations? Yes. Did I still buy this edition anyway? Sure did. Was it necessary? Probably not. 4/20 cash grab? Maybe. Do I feel like a bit of a chump for buying this? Yeah, kind of. Would I buy it again? Sure would. We already know that the songs are awesome. Does the music sound different (The Clarity is remastered, right?)? Maybe? Hard to tell. Listening to masterings of The Clarity back-to-back I think this one might be a bit...ah...clearer as compared to the Southern Lord pressing. These pressings do sound great and the discs are very thick, which is nice with the etchings. Some of my etched records are kind of cupped due, I think, to the etching on one side and music on the other. My Southern Lord pressing of The Clarity is quite cupped. Both of these discs are nice and flat. The Dave Kloc artwork kicks ass. If you already have the music I think that might be the main reason to buy this.

This is probably the best sounding pressing I've heard from Third Man who have been pretty spotty in my experience. Really wish they'd knock it off with these cheap paper inner sleeves though