Who is Sleep Token?
Sleep Token on paper is a metal band, but if you listen to even a single one of their songs, you realize that “metal” doesn’t really cover it. The band is its very own genre, pulling from rock, metal, techno, classical and even rap from time to time!
The band started off in 2016 and self-published their first EP simply titled One. The small album contains three songs, with “Thread the Needle” releasing prior to the rest of the EP. They signed with Basick Record for their second EP, Two, also containing three songs in 2017. They released their first album, Sundowning in 2019 with a different publisher. Their other two albums, This Place Will Become Your Tomb and Take Me Back to Eden were published in 2021 and 2023, respectively. The band recently announced another release, Even in Arcadia, due May 9th of this year.
The band is anonymous, going under the names Vessel, II, III and VI. Their music features rather heavy themes mostly surrounding toxic relationships. Some will say that the lyrics have a sexual connotation, and that is one way to analyse it, but if you take a deeper dive, it is much more than that. The band members follow a deity they created named Sleep, and Vessel would be the receptacle for that being. The band has a deep storytelling hidden in their lyrics, although a lot of it is left to interpretation. If you are interested in Sleep Token’s story, I highly suggest looking them up.
Sleep Token’s Take Me Back To Eden is the album that made the band skyrocket, mostly through the use of social media. “The Summoning” is by far their most popular song, and it is, in my opinion, one of the best as well.
The album, containing twelve songs, pre-released half of them. Among my personal favorites are “Rain”, with its echoey lyrics and “Take Me Back To Eden”, after the album’s name, as well as “Are You Really Ok?”, discussing mental health issues and depression.
The Actual Review
Take Me Back to Eden starts with the song “Chokehold”, where Vessel talks about someone, presumably Sleep, having control over him. About 30 seconds into the song, we are welcome with a genre shift from soft music to metal and heavy guitar chords. The song is 5 minutes of musical roller coaster, and a good tell of what the album’s sound is going to be.
“The Summoning”, which I mentioned earlier, comes next, starting off with amazing guitar, but slowing down during the chorus. Vessel’s vocal cords are executing amazing gymnastics, as he goes from extremely low to very high pitched in a matter of seconds. There is a good reason this song is Sleep Token’s most famous song.
Next up comes “Granite”, with its electronic start. This song is less heavy than the previous two, but still absolutely great.
“Aqua Regia” is fourth, one of the slowest songs of the album, with its techno-inspired notes and Vessel’s voice echoing through the chorus.
After two slower songs, the band wakes up any listener who was about to sleep with “Vore”, the heaviest song of the entire album. Vessel is screaming throughout the entire beginning of the song about the pain he is, and what Sleep puts him through. Then it slows throughout the rest of the song, which does not really contain a chorus of any kind.
“Ascensionism” starts with a slow piano introduction, a sort of apology for the heavy metal start of the previous song. This song is one of the few pieces who are close to being rap. I am no expert of the genre, however, so I could be mistaken.
The next song, “Are You Really Ok?” is absolutely devastating. It talks about overcoming depression and self-harm, and suicidal thoughts. Vessel is talking about his helplessness to aid someone close to him with these issues, and to me, just the fact that he is confronting that person with these issues means a lot. Music-wise it is a softer song, to emphasise the lyrics and the topics that were stated earlier.
“The Apparition” again has a beautiful chorus where Vessel asks someone (still probably Sleep) why they are never real, and here with him. The song itself has a very catchy melody that reminds me of the 80’s synthwave music.
The next song, “DYWTYLM”, as can easily be guessed by the title, talks about Vessel who wants love from someone. The title is an abbreviation for “do you wish that you love me”, which makes the subject of the song much easier to understand. The melody of this song is similar to the soundtrack of the video game GRIS, which is very interesting, although I am fairly certain that it is not voluntary.
The next song, “Rain” is my personal favorite of the album. The tone shift, or “drop”, happens in the middle of a sentence, it is completely unexpected, and that’s what I love about it. The song, like a lot of others, is a rollercoaster of musical ups and downs. Except, according to me, the rollercoaster is much more extreme. It is like comparing a merry-go-round to a triple-loop ride. Out of all their songs, “Rain” is the one I would recommend for anyone willing to learn about the band.
“Take Me Back To Eden”, named after the album, mixes up at the very least four different genres in eight minutes and twenty-one seconds. I say “at least” because there is probably more, but I can distinctly recognize four. The song starts off with soft piano and crescendos into a full moment of “screamo” at the end.
Finally, the last song, “Euclid” closes the album with a little message of rebellion. Vessel sings that “the night belongs to you”, and ends his song the way their first album started by sampling the first song of Sundowning, called “The Night Does Not Belong To God”, which I think is a very nice nod to their earlier works.
Sleep Token is a band that, as I have stated before a bunch of times, is very much worth listening to. Words are honestly not enough to describe the experience that is listening to this band, which is why I highly recommend the experience of listening to Take Me Back To Eden, it is a great starting point for anyone looking for a new musical experience, or to discover a new genre.
Will Nadeau
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