Review Summary: A truly exciting effort, Eden makes previous albums sound like proof of concepts in comparison.
The anonymous collective hailing from the UK are as mysterious and interesting as they are a frustrating listen for genre purists. Sleep Token are a concept band dedicated to an ancient deity they refer to as “Sleep” – their lyrics function as both communications with Sleep, and personal musings for their vocalist “Vessel”, who also composes all the music. These compositions serve as manifestations of emotional interactions with Sleep (or people in Vessel’s personal life), and the resulting songs are dripping with intensely sensual vibes. It can all be rather exhausting if you’re not in the specific mood required for it.
The “metal for people who don’t like metal” mantra also carries a possibility to annoy both crowds; Vessel’s R&B-tinged over singing combined with djent breakdowns isn’t exactly a recipe for wide appeal. However, the unique way the band use genre-fusing dynamics coupled with their anonymity gives them a unique presence in the metal scene that should excite those who place importance on originality.
Sundowning and
This Place Will Become Your Tomb are certainly original works, but they both have distinct flaws. With
Take Me Back to Eden, their third full-length, Sleep Token have addressed these blemishes in the process of creating their most fluid and strong release to date.
The album flow of
Eden is much more balanced and natural than previous albums. “Chokehold” is absolutely the best candidate for album opener of the twelve tracks with its downright enormous build comprised of ambient guitar and Vessel’s croons. It eventually explodes into a soaring riff that’s mostly the same note repeated multiple times. There’s piano and background vocals complimenting what’s going on here, and it all works together despite there not being anything particularly special about each individual element (other than the spectacular drumming). That’s Sleep Token in a nutshell, though. The following track and album highlight “The Summoning” completely changes their usual MO of constant building into crescendos by pummeling you immediately with one of the heaviest riffs they’ve written before quickly transitioning into Tool-esque offbeat verses and soaring choruses capped with Vessel’s magnificent falsetto. Unexpectedly, there’s also a jazz-like guitar solo here (!) along with Sleep Token staples like chunky breakdowns and long ambient passages. In one of the most surprising moves of their entire catalogue, the song ends with a funky love-making number, with a fuzzy bass effect taking ferocious command of the section.
Another surprising track is “Vore”, which other than the gorgeous choruses, sounds like Deftones playing black metal. Contrast this with more laid back tracks like “Granite” and “Aqua Regia”. The former is a buttery smooth R&B number with trap beats that wouldn’t be out of place on a Boyz II Men record (except for its breakdown near the end) and the latter is an ambient jazzy tune straight out of an underwater video game level. Like “Granite”, Vessel has some soulful delivery here, but the piano takes a bigger role this time around. Thanks to the more cohesive songwriting present on
Eden, these two back-to-back tracks manage to avoid
Tomb’s problem of having long stretches of extremely similar and unremarkable songs running together by having stronger individual identities and more memorable melodies.
Vessel’s vocal range has also expanded, including a more developed scream. Since Sleep Token are such a vocally driven band, the result is these twelve tracks spanning a bigger variety of sonic soundscapes than previous works. The album flow and nuance throughout
Eden’s entire running time also help it correct
Sundowning’s flaw of being more of a collection of songs than an album. Pervasive idiosyncrasies and foreshadowing repeat throughout the album that make the transition between contrasting songs like “Aqua Regia” and “Vore” not be jarring like “Give” and “Gods” are on
Sundowning. In addition to introducing new sonic elements, they have also fine-tuned the classic Sleep Token formula of building up to an extremely earned breakdown, resulting in even more effective dynamics. “Ascensionism” and “The Apparition” boast stellar examples of this, with the latter adding a dose of Vessel rapping over trap beats. “Rain” serves as this album’s “Alkaline”, offering up a carefully crafted slice of their more immediately accessible side. The title track is a culmination of everything present on
Eden and a fantastic 8 minute representation of the progress they’ve made as a whole. They manage to maintain interesting compositions throughout the album all the way to the end of “Euclid”, which features a neat callback to “The Night Does Not Belong to God”, the opening track of
Sundowning. This seems to make their first three albums a conceptual trilogy.
Sleep Token leaning so heavily into their concept can create a disconnect between their intention and what the listener hears as a final product. The placement of breakdowns and ambient passages among the other sonic elements wouldn’t make much sense in traditional songwriting, which is one major reason the music is lost on some (the other being Vessel’s incessant over singing). On the other side of the
token, the creative freedom this gives them is fascinating. Many artists cover a large variety of genres, but to do so while maintaining cohesion is another feat entirely. Once you empathize a bit with the reasoning behind the song structures and realize they’re a means to convey emotional themes, the flow of the compositions start to make more sense. What sets
Eden apart from their previous works, however, is the music itself is more realized and strong enough to stand alone. Vessel has seemingly realized his distinct voice can be more effective without constant showmanship and it gives the music more room to breathe than before. It’s now easier than ever to appreciate the rest of the band, and that alone should be enough to win over some new fans.
Maximum enjoyment of Sleep Token has always largely hinged on whether you’re all-in on the concept; the emotional weight of these songs isn’t nearly as strong without the thematic context. With
Take Me Back to Eden, however, they have improved nearly every aspect of their songwriting enough to negate the need for all the context in order to be powerful and unique.
Eden makes previous albums sound like proof of concepts in comparison, and it’s a truly exciting effort that further cements Sleep Token as a force within the world of creative and original metal. If you weren’t a fan before this record and it still isn’t enough to sway you, you can at least enjoy the absolutely phenomenal drumming; like everything else on
Eden, it’s better than ever before. It really feels like they are finding their sound, even if it’s likely to change again on future records.
