Al Cisneros – Ark Procession/Jericho

The Al Cisneros Ark Procession/Jericho vinyl is a rare EP on Drag City that collectors of heavy, meditative, and spiritually charged music will want to track down. Al Cisneros is best known as the singer and bassist for Sleep, the California trio whose slow, crushing approach to heavy music earned them a devoted following across decades of activity. His solo work exists in a different register than Sleep’s wall-of-amplifier approach, but it carries the same deep sense of intentionality. Nothing Cisneros puts out feels accidental, and this EP is no exception.

About Al Cisneros and the Al Cisneros Ark Procession/Jericho Vinyl

Cisneros has built a body of work outside of Sleep that rewards patient listening. His solo recordings and side projects share a concern with ritual, repetition, and a kind of ancient weight that sits underneath the music. The two titles here, Ark Procession and Jericho, carry obvious biblical resonance, and that fits neatly into the thematic territory Cisneros has always occupied. Whether you come to this record as a Sleep devotee or as someone who follows Drag City’s consistently unpredictable output, the context matters. This is not a cash-in or a stopgap. It is a focused, deliberate release from someone who has earned the right to move at his own pace.

The Release: Drag City, Catalog DC 558

This EP comes out on Drag City, the Chicago-based independent label with a catalog that spans decades of genuinely idiosyncratic American music. Catalog number DC 558 places it firmly within their modern run of releases. Drag City does not flood the market with pressings, and their records have a tendency to disappear before people realize they should have paid attention. The label’s physical releases are generally well-regarded for quality, and their roster carries serious weight among collectors who care about music that exists outside mainstream currents. An EP on Drag City from the bassist of Sleep is exactly the kind of release that slips through the cracks for casual buyers and becomes difficult to find later.

Why This Copy Belongs in Your Collection

EP-format releases from artists of Cisneros’s stature on respected independent labels are the kind of thing that defines a collection’s character. They signal that the collector is paying attention at the margins, not just buying the obvious titles. Ark Procession/Jericho is a small release with a clear artistic identity behind it. It is not a placeholder between bigger projects. For anyone building a serious collection of heavy music, experimental American independent releases, or simply the full catalog of everyone involved in Sleep’s orbit, this EP earns its place on the shelf. Drag City catalog numbers do not linger, and DC 558 is worth having.