Sleep Token
Even In Arcadia
(RCA Records)
Reviewing an album by a band like Sleep Token differs from other reviews. Sleep Token is a band that startles and confuses, even when they startle with a lack of an element rather than the addition of a different element. Sleep Token can outrage and seduce in equal measures without trying. As such, their songs should never, in my case, be taken on initial gut reaction alone. For instance, when I first heard ‘Chokehold’, I thought it was a nice piece of artsy metalcore and carried on with my day; later on, I felt compelled to revisit it, and two years later, the entire ‘Take Me Back To Eden’ remains a mainstay in my collection.
So, my initial reaction to ‘Even In Arcadia’ was, wow! That sounds really expensive! The cinematic production levels on this album are insane; this album is clearly primed for movie theatres, and where the previous releases possessed an intimacy and fragility, this has bombast sonically even in its quietest moments. On the first listen, the band was fleetingly used on frequently electronic tracks that tend to get trap-happy. I am, however, reminded that Vessel and II are the songwriters, and the band, as such, aren’t part of this process. That could be why, more than ever, this feels like a Vessel solo album, even though all Sleep Token albums bar the drums essentially are. That was the first reaction. On second and third listens the glory of opener ‘Look To Windward’ unfurls its expansive wings slowly to great effect. The reason why the singles sounded like the strongest tracks on the first spin was because we’d already had the chance to get acquainted with them. This isn’t a perfect album by any means. ‘Past Self’ and ‘Provider’ feel like filler tracks to my ears. However, ‘Gethsemane’ gives the guitar work a chance to shine in a welcome burst of Polyphia-style technicality. The biggest plot twist here is that any blackened fury is reserved for the raging climax on the closing track ‘Infinite Baths’. The fact that I feel like that needed a spoiler alert says a lot about this release.
This is a great album if you’re willing to give it time. The “that’s not metal” crowd won’t change their minds, nor are they meant to. This is Sleep Token going for the grandstands while contradicting it lyrically by giving the sense that they’re trapped on a ride that they can’t get off of. It’s frequently confusing, definitely challenging, and requires your interaction, but that’s the point.
Reviewed By George Miller