Secretive, enigmatic and taking both the metal world and the mainstream by storm, Sleep Token have steadily been building anticipation for their latest studio album, Take Me Back To Eden for months now. With singles like Chokehold and The Summoning already having clocked up well over 85 million streams on Spotify prior to the album’s release.
The mysterious masked collective might only have two studio albums under their belt, however, the cult-like following they’ve already gained has ensured almost every date on their forthcoming US and European tours are completely sold out. Further cementing them as one of heavy metals hottest properties in 2023.
Despite their meteoric rise to success over the past year, Sleep Token themselves have remained characteristically silent. Offering no interviews, or insights into their musical influences, instead relying on their Lovecraftian internal lore and the intrigue granted by their anonymity. Letting the music speak for itself, while their fanbase delves ever deeper into the mythos they’ve built around themselves. With the limelight well and truly upon them though, does Take Me Back To Eden live up to the stratospheric hype?
Chokehold’s moody synth intro and grinding down tuned chorus riff definitely get things off to a strong start. Giving Vessel’s haunting vocals a perfect backdrop. Follow up track, The Summoning keeps things going in much the same vein too. Bringing a little of II‘s double kick drum in to punctuate the songs main riff, but still leaving as much room as possible for Vessel to sink his lyrical hooks into the listener in the early going.
It’s at around this point that the genre bending Sleep Token are well known for really begins. While the band are often pigeonholed as progressive metal, tracks like DYWTYLM and Aqua Regia completely defy such classification. Being stripped entirely of the high gain guitar sounds and complexity of Take Me Back To Eden‘s opening tracks. Instead, relying on more ethereal soundscapes and R’n’B inspired vocal lines that engage the listener on a level that’s much more emotional than it is technical.
It’s no coincidence that these quieter, more introspective moments are often followed by some of Take Me Back To Eden’s heaviest tracks. Such as Vore, a ferocious combination of black metal and shoegaze elements with melodic overtones with a mammoth chorus that hits all the harder being immersed in the band’s more delicate side.
There are times that it feels as though these shifts in tonality are more calculated than organic. However, it never detracts from the overall experience and arguably helps to make Take Me Back To Eden the band’s most accessible release date. From The Apparition and its trap inspired drum beat, to Rain and it’s Elton John-esque piano intro that slowly builds to a discordant maelstrom of distorted guitars. It’s easily the band’s most polished album to date from a production perspective too.
No progressive metal record would be complete without an eight minute epic either and Sleep Token don’t disappoint. Yet instead of a technical showcase, it’s more like one final emotional rollercoaster ride. With the albums penultimate title track recapping almost every genre boundary they’ve crossed during Take Me Back To Eden’s hour plus long runtime.
Behind all of the mystery and tightly honed production. It becomes more and more obvious upon repeated listens that the real secret to Sleep Token‘s success is their songwriting. There isn’t a track on Take Me Back To Eden that doesn’t have a hook to it. Some lyrical, some musical and some that are purely atmospheric. With the end result being an album that keeps you both engaged and enthralled at almost all times.
So, does Take Me Back To Eden live up to the hype? Undoubtedly. There are some that will find it’s structure a little too deliberate. Or that will perhaps feel the production is a little sterile. Otherwise however, it’s a difficult album to fault and one that definitely serves as a fitting end to the trilogy that began with Sundowning back in 2019. The only other real question left is, where will Sleep Token go from here?
Take Me Back To Eden is available now on CD and vinyl via Spinefarm Records.
