Last year’s success story in the heavy metal scene was an English-based band by the name of Sleep Token. Formed in 2016 they combine elements of pop, metal and rnb to create a pretty unique sound that I think has contributed to their large amount of success. Their latest album Take me back to Eden has been their most successful to date. But is it deserving of the success?
Well the first part of the album certainly comes out with a bang. The opening track Chokehold is a fun, catchy song. The blend of piano, guitars and beats that remind of some trap songs works well together. This blending of instruments will continue throughout the album, however not all I think are as well done as this song. The second song The Summoning is a big stand out for me, another catchy song but this time with a much heavier sound. The best part of the song is the end where they break out a very funk inspired sound to really switch up the tone. My personal favourite track on the album is Vore the heaviest song on the album and one that makes me wish they leaned more into it as the screaming on the track is awesome to listen too, visceral and shrieky, it was a welcome addition to the track. The instruments similarly were heavier and beefier showing that the musicians in the band have some real talent.
One point I think this album flounders a bit, is in the beats. After the 5 track I find many of the tracks to be quite meandering and uninteresting to listen to, relying a little heavily on the vocals and lyrics. Speaking of which the vocals are where many people will either check out or fall deeper in love. The vocalist is simply called Vessel a character that is intertwined with the lore of the band. His voice is undoubtedly good but can fall into the overly done and dramatic at times, I personally didn’t have much of an issue and thought it made some the best tracks on the album really work.
For me songs such as Are you really okay? and DYWTYLM are some of the worst on the album, trying to be emotional and grand but not having the instrumentals or lyrics to really back them up. With early songs such as Vore, which isn’t a masterclass of writing, at least everything seemed to work together to create a song that captured a certain sound and feel. These songs again feel meandering and somewhat lazy.
After the first 5 tracks they just don’t seem to be able to capture that same sense of flow, aesthetic and blending of styles. Tracks like The apparition seemed almost their but the beat feels like it doesn’t match the other parts of the song and the enunciation of the lyrics is a bit drawn out. The final two songs include the title track Take Me Back To Eden and Eucild. Take Me Back To Eden was a serviceable song but for the big title track wholly disappointing. Maybe as a poems, these songs read better as cryptic writings of love but in a song I just have no investment in whats being said here. Euclid ends the album in a dull affair relying mainly on piano and a clap sample with some sprinkling of arena rock guitars.
Overall this one disappointed me as all the singles released gave me a lot of hope, if I reviewed this based off the first 5 tracks alone it’d be a decent 3.5 maybe 4 out of 5 and get a recommendation from me. But the rest of the album brings it down too much to be able to stick with those ratings, I’m still hoping in future they can steer more into their rock and metal side making higher energy songs rather than slow ballads. I’d still say check out the first 5 tracks here and maybe some of their previous work as well as there is quite a bit to enjoyed but the rest of this album I think can be missed.
Sleep Token: Facebook
Release Year: 2023
Label: Spinefarm Records
Category: Album
Country: UK
Reviewed by Billy Poulopoulos
