“We go beyond the farthest reaches, where the light bends and wraps beneath us.”
Full disclosure: I fucking love Sleep Token. The enigmatic UK metal outfit has always been near and dear to me since I discovered them through a friend back in late 2018. From their strange cult-like image, to their unorthodox marriage of melancholy piano ballading and crushing metal breakdowns; this group has fascinated me to no end from the get go. Their genius is no better exemplified than through the marketing campaign for their 2019 debut full-length Sundowning, though.
The campaign saw each track from the record released in succession, once every two weeks exactly at sundown UK time, allowing locally-based fans to watch the sunset as they listened to a brand new Sleep Token jam. Given the erratic and varied nature of their sound too, it made the experience that much more enthralling. What kind of tune will we get this week? A djent banger? A piano ballad? A song about shagging? There was no way to truly know what was coming next, and it was one of the most exciting and involved album release experiences I’ve ever been a part of.
Now, two years on, Sleep Token have returned with their sophomore full length, This Place Will Become Your Tomb. Understandably, the group have taken a more traditional route in terms of the album’s release. Make no mistake though – this album is no less unpredictable than Sundowning, extensive marketing strategy or not. In fact, I’d argue the widely varied and truly different nature of This Place Will Become Your Tomb versus the group’s previous releases stack it up just that more exciting upon a full listen, despite the lack of a significant release build up for each song.
Opening track “Atlantic” sets the stage with a mesmerizingly gorgeous piano ballad, led of course by Vessel’s soulful, crooning vocals. The lyrical content seemingly tackles grief and guilt from the poetic angle of an ocean burial, with Vessel chanting “Flood me like Atlantic, weather me to nothing, wash away the blood from my hands” in a tangibly pained tone. In its latter half, the track eschews these haunting, cinematic horns and synths before dropping into a low-tuned rockdown version of the track’s chorus in typical Sleep Token fashion. Closing out by dropping out all the instrumental elements outside of the piano and Vessel’s voice once more, “Atlantic” opens This Place Will Become Your Tomb in a beautiful way – tapping into the group’s core strengths in their ability to craft tangibly somber piano ballads, juxtaposed masterfully by their yin to their musical yang with the raw, emotional release of a brutal breakdown that adds so wonderfully to the weight of the emotion in their music.
“Atlantic” leads into second track “Hypnosis” in such a perfect way that it feels intentionally structured for an optimally hype live show opening. Trading in the former track’s more somber, melodic sensibilities for a djentified take on an Around The Fur-era Deftones tune, “Hypnosis” is a track that I always wanted Sleep Token to make, but I just didn’t know it. Feeling less like a typically melancholic endeavor, and more like an appropriately horny Deftones worship track, it demonstrates a relatively new side to Sleep Token that rears its head a few times across This Place Will Become Your Tomb. It’s all absolutely welcome, too. This shade of attitude and raw energy suits Sleep Token perfectly. Make no mistake too – “Hypnosis” is heavy. One of the heaviest tunes this band has written, in fact. Its blindsiding, brutal eight-string breakdown; complimented wonderfully by one of the few uses of unclean vocals across the band’s discography makes for one of the most memorable songs the group have ever written, and one that would translate fantastically live.
With that, I feel it’s worth noting that, much like their contemporaries Loathe, the Deftones influence across This Place Will Become Your Tomb is undeniable. That’s not to say it’s anything egregious, they absolutely make the sound their own, but its quite an interesting and welcome change from their previous material. Tracks such as “Like That” and “Telomeres” (the latter of which I will discuss at length later) demonstrate that the group aren’t afraid to wear their influences on their sleeve, but further that they aren’t afraid to take risks in leaning into those influences, venturing into brilliantly strange and uncharted territory for their own sound.
There are a couple of slightly shaky moments across the album, admittedly. “Fall For Me” bridges the gap between singles “The Love You Want” and “Alkaline“, and while the layered acapella vocals on display are a novel idea on paper, I feel that in execution the lack of any instrumental release leave this track feeling too much like an extended interlude for me to be enthusiastic about. Don’t get me wrong – it’s a gorgeously constructed track on a sonic level, however on a songwriting level it feels a tad aimless.
Mid-album cut “Descending” suffers similarly, but in a far less obstructive way. While the track lacks any real release, the dark palette of the synth work and deep, booming pad drums sound absolutely sublime. Vessel’s falsetto-led vocal performance here feels particularly haunting too, giving the track this sense of tension. However, as mentioned before, by the end the track feels like it fails to capitalize on that building tension without a true sense of release. With that said, I feel that the minor shortcomings of these tracks don’t significantly impact the album experience much at all. Both tracks earn their place on the record sonically, and while I feel that they could have been executed in a stronger fashion, they’re still undeniably strong tunes in isolation.
It would be an understatement to say that aforementioned late-album cut “Telomeres” took me by surprise. Tapping into the similarly shoegaze-influenced sounds of Deftones‘ White Pony, and more recently Loathe’s I Let It In and It Took Everything, it’s a startling left turn for the group aesthetically. With that said, I can say almost without a shadow of a doubt that “Telomeres” may not only be my favourite song of the year, but also my favourite song that Sleep Token have ever written. From its gorgeous lyrics to its entrancing atmosphere; from its silky smooth guitar solo and mind-bogglingly complex drum fills; “Telomeres” is one of the most truly beautiful and masterfully crafted songs I’ve heard in some time.
Penultimate track “High Water“, to me, feels like the album’s true closer. With some heartbreaking lyrical content, as Vessel screams “I can’t hold myself together” over the track’s techy closing breakdown; along with the brilliant touch of a callback to the synth motif from “Jaws“, it feels like a truly climactic moment in the album. Perhaps more pertinently, however, I find its relationship with actual closer “Missing Limbs” interesting. Given the final track’s more reserved, acoustic nature; drenched in a similar level of melancholia as Sundowning’s “Blood Sport” (sans a breakdown), the lyrical themes on display here feel more like an epilogue chapter to the story of This Place Will Become Your Tomb, with “High Water” being like the true closer to the album on a sonic level. Both of these songs are emotionally devastating, however, with the latter of the two tracks delving into a feeling of helplessness to help a partner dealing with emotional trauma.
While in equal parts more reserved and ballistic than its predecessor, This Place Will Become Your Tomb is representative of much of the very best Sleep Token have penned to date. The valleys may be lower than on Sundowning, but its peaks are just that much higher (no pun intended) that I truly feel they have surpassed themselves. With a refined songwriting edge and amplified performances across the board, This Place Will Become Your Tomb is an absolute treat from beginning to end, and one of the strongest albums I’ve heard all year.
This Place Will Become Your Tomb will be available on September 24th via Spinefarm, and you can pre-order the record here.
9.5/10