“I wake up to a suicide frenzy.“
For many, it will seem that Sleep Token have sprung up overnight. Before the surprise release of singles “Chokehold” and “The Summoning” at the start of 2023, the masked collective (who nominally worship an ancient deity known as Sleep) sat at a quarter of a million monthly listeners. Modest for a modern metal outfit, certainly, particularly one so introvert, but not internet breaking. Since then, their presence has skyrocketed. Sleep Token are everywhere. The name ‘Vessel’ seems to be on everyone’s lips. In the corners of the metal scene, however, this has always been the case, ever since the truly special rollout of their debut album, Sundowning, in 2019, when each song was released biweekly at sundown local time. For many, that became a ritual. Since then, the British outfit have grown, but they’ve not lost their theatrical edge.
At times, Sleep Token’s music can feel dark and esoteric, like there are always more secrets lurking beneath the instrumentation, beneath the allegorical lyricism. It swathes you in it, from the fathomless ambience to the chunky guitars, making you feel like you are part of something important. Something more. Yet, Vessel’s smooth and emotion-wrought vocals convey a sense of honesty. The music is there for everyone, to be adopted by the listener in whichever way they see fit. Anyone who has read my attempt at analysing the lore will know just how deep you can submerge yourself in Vessel’s audible pain. For a band whose aesthetic, marketing, and fanbase is so cultlike in appearance, perhaps the thing that makes Sleep Token so special is its inclusivity. The intimate nature of their live performances and the rapid growth of fan groups across social media demonstrate the space their music creates for all to bare their souls.
This is especially true with the band’s latest offering, Take Me Back To Eden (TMBTE), which feels more unfiltered than ever before. The lyrical messages feel stripped to their core whilst retaining the nebulous poetry that has always defined their songwriting, and Vessel’s soaring delivery sounds every bit as genuine and aching as it does when you’re stood watching him live. Moreover, as an outfit they’ve pushed their already impressive blending of genres further, in all sorts of weird directions. Such was immediately evident from second single “The Summoning”, which navigated from thall to jazz-fusion without a moment of hesitation. The other four singles which open the record are equally varied: the slow, enchanting build of the chunky “Chokehold”; the dark bounce of the synth-driven “Granite”; the measured maturity of sensual pop ballad “Aqua Regia”, which may be the prettiest song of the year with its gorgeous vocal melodies, jazzy piano solo, and transition into beautiful clean guitar; and “Vore”, the no holds barred blackgaze piece which will undoubtedly draw comparisons to the likes of Loathe.
The first new material comes twenty-four minutes into the album in the form of “Ascensionism”, which incidentally eclipses the singles. A true odyssey through the various musical influences of Sleep Token, the seven-minute epic opens with a simple, haunting piano melody over which a jaded Vessel sings, “Well I know what you want from me. You want someone to be your reflection, your bitter deception, setting you free. So you take what you want and leave.” Then it takes a swift turn, diving fully into the RnB sound which underlined “Granite”. Alternating 808s and crisp high-hats underpin some wonderful, charismatic vocal flows before the guitars kick in and the song opens up first into a cosmic post-rock passage, and then into a groovy breakdown replete with bends and pinch harmonics. The song returns to the opening keys, gradually building until it culminates once again in some disgustingly low chugs. Carl Bown’s (While She Sleeps, Bring Me The Horizon) production across the record is truly stellar, but here it truly shines: the mix widens as the song builds, and the bass with it, resulting in a song which is at once vast and ambient but also colossal on the low end so that the breakdowns feel like being swallowed by a black hole.
Following on from “Ascensionism”, any song would seem like a weak cut. Unfortunately, that is compounded by “Are You Really Okay” standing alongside “DYWTYLM” (Do You Wish That You Loved Me) as arguably the weakest track on the record. That is not to say it is not a great piece in its own right; it merely suffers from the high standards set by the rest of the album. From the first nylon-stringed note, it’s clear that “Are You Really Okay” is a different style for Sleep Token, sounding like a cleaned-up recording of a classic lighter-swaying ballad from the likes of Woodstock. Seemingly destined to one day score a coming-of-age movie, it is certainly a grower, with some truly cutting lyrics, but as a whole takes a little too long to get into the swing of it.
“DYWTYLM”, whilst lyrically potent, fails to progress or open up sonically in any meaningful manner despite being four minutes. For Sleep Token, that makes it still very enjoyable, but it feels rather incomplete even in spite of its sleek production. As a long-time fan of electro-pop/indietronica artist EDEN this mixture of C418, The 1975, and Ed Sheeran with a healthy dose of vocal processing is a soundscape I absolutely love, but “DYWTYLM” doesn’t go far enough. Some variation from the rather repetitive beat, such as a fully realised chorus, drop, or synthesized solo would have went a long way to making it stand out. The syncopated rhythm, synth, and lyrics are all nice in isolation, but the length and relative lack of dynamism leave the complete package feeling like an extended interlude.
“The Apparition” is a return to form, pairing ghostly synthwork with sashaying, RnB production, and hefty guitars. The sheer amount of layers, including ridiculous backing falsettos from Vessel during the bridge, make for a superbly textured track which gets better with every listen. The injection of RnB into their sound lends a certain freshness and swagger which is felt all across Take Me Back To Eden. “Rain” develops from a predictably gorgeous piano melody into a bouncy track led by syncopated clapping and chunky rhythms. Both tracks feel like epics in miniature, mimicking the labyrinthine genre-bending of “Ascensionism” in a more concise and accessible package. Lines such as “I wake up to a suicide frenzy, loaded dreams still leave me empty” and “I’m coiled up like the venomous serpent, tangled in your trance and I’m certain you have got your hooks in me” are delivered in such a bold and infectious manner, lending the tracks a real bite which sets the tone for the record’s thematic conclusion.
Together, “Take Me Back To Eden” and “Euclid” wrap up the album perfectly. Where “Ascensionism” feels like a number of equally majestic songs from different genres strung together, the title track is a straight up soundtrack which, alongside the aforementioned, makes a convincing claim for being the best song in the band’s discography. I cannot possibly wax lyrical enough. It’s cinematic, it’s refined, and it’s gripping throughout all eight minutes. Oozing with ambience, you begin the song feeling sequestered in a dark forest, and by the end floating in the sky. The culmination of “Take Me Back To Eden” is unequivocally the heaviest Sleep Token have ever been, with the song exploding into battering-ram chugs and Vessel launching into unhinged blackened vocals which make “Vore” look tame. Across the song, it is potentially Vessel’s most impressive vocal performance, and the unabashed heaviness towards the end allows the crushing bass and II’s rapid barrage of kicks to really shine.
TMBTE as a whole is packed with self-references, but “Euclid” takes the cake, closing with an unmistakeable callback which had me teetering between reverential chills and the brink of tears. Compositionally, it’s a simple song, but it’s minimalism done right, with twinkling keys painting a surprising, uplifting serenity. “Euclid”, succinctly put, is closure. It’s a song of separation, of self-assurance, of healing. It is a perfect note on which to end the trilogy, the perfect send-off for Vessel. Euclid is famously recorded as saying there was no easy path to geometry except painstaking study of his works, and similarly it is clear, as the key-synth melody fades away, that there is no quick path to healing except by allowing oneself to feel all of the emotions expressed across the last three albums.
“Just running forwards, a life like wires
As I see the past on an empty ceiling.
I play along with the lies and anyway
But hope to god you don’t know this feeling.
Yet in reverse you are all my symmetry,
A parallel I would lay my life on.
So if your wings won’t find you heaven,
I will bring it down like an ancient bygone.”
As with all of the band’s offerings, Take Me Back To Eden is packed with immaculate vocal melodies, meticulous percussion, and lyrics which instead of merely tugging at the heartstrings, rip them apart. Vessel and drummer II flex across the record, further cementing themselves as among the best in the world. Vessel’s vocals are playful, stretching the upper end of his range with absurd falsettos on the likes of “The Summoning” and “The Apparition” whilst also weaving in more uncleans and some truly accomplished rap flows. II’s repertoire of tight grooves and creative fills are once again the unsung backbone.
Take Me Back To Eden is, for the most part, a masterpiece. Despite its length, all of the tracks have a unique sound profile and mood, which makes for a diverse and rewarding listening experience, somehow managing to continually genre-bend and innovate across over an hour. Outside of “Are You Really Okay” and “DYWTYLM”, which are fantastic tracks within their respective genres, if a little safe, every track is Sleep Token at the top of their game, both creatively and performatively. Which means near-perfection. That “The Summoning”, which is my favourite currently-released song of the year, does not even crack the top four or five on the album is a testament to the impossibly high bar Sleep Token have set for themselves and for album of the year. If for whatever reason the band’s aesthetic has prevented you from listening, I implore you to throw on the record, close your eyes, and let the music speak for itself.
Take Me Back To Eden will release this Friday, May 19th, via Spinefarm Records, and you can pre-order it here.
9.5/10