Sleeptoken the hot new metal band that has become a fast rising sensation from viral videos on tiktok to youtube shorts. Sleep Token are a British rock band from London, formed in 2016. The group is an anonymous, masked collective led by a frontman using the moniker Vessel. They have been categorized under many different genres, including alternative metal, post-rock/metal, progressive metal and indie rock/pop.
Take Me Back To Eden starts with a slow build with Chokehold kicking off the precession, around the 2 min mark the instrumentals kick off sounding like a chainsaw has just started up, and then we go back mellowy with Vessel's sing-song lyrics which are heartfelt. When the "You've got me in a chokehold" hits the instrumentals swell to accompany the message being sent, love has got a chokehold on our singer and it's not letting go.
After Chokehold we are ushered straight into my fave prior to the album the viral mega hit The Summoning. Now the summoning starts with heavy instrumentals, but again we divulge into a slow melodic tempo with Vessel the singer delivering the words in a near sinister fashion, this one is so catchy, and I have been singing along to it since I was first shown it by my best mate James. James is obsessed with this band, and so he has made me go and check out SleepToken's latest album and here we are as I am typing my thoughts on the album live as I go. The heaviness of this song intertwines with catchy slow melodic laid back sound and one moment you will be headbanging, the next you will be slow bobbing moving side to side or on your knee's singing along to the sky giving your emotions all into this song. The screams performed on this one are also so good! Around the 3:25 mark we are hit with a groovy heavy breakdown that makes you want to stomp your feet and tip bins over BUT again we are quickly hushed away to calm down and chill with the music as it build's to a softer near jazzy like sound then. Sing with me now "Oh and my love, did I mistake you for a sign from god, or are you really here to cut me off, or maybe just to turn me on. Cause these days, I would be lying if I told you that, I didn't wish that I could be your man, or maybe make a good girl bad. I got a river running right into you, I've got a blood trail, red in the blue, something you say or something you do, the taste of the divine!" Oh my god this smooth as silk, erotic breakdown in the song is so mind-blowing, it's so different but so good! Had no idea that would work so well, Sleeptoken really knows how to mix genre's and sounds together well.
We get to Granite now a slow, pop, synthy melodic song. Vessel goes into a full rap breakdown in this one, and it is quite impressive I must say. It's yet another great mix of genre's and sound, and then we have rap like what? Damn, he got bars that can flow like water just so smooth. We have a breakdown around the 2:40 mark where we are hit back with the metal to get us headbanging in a groove again and Vessel smoothes things off accompanying the metal.
Aqua Regia starts with such a beautiful laid back synth sound and joined by a lovely piano piece as Vessel make's the lyrics flow flawlessly. Piano again is so lovely with this song, it's a softer song by its nature, the acoustic guitar blends that come in are also so stunning. Catchy and chill overall.
Vore is next, and this one is HEAVY! Full on screams are here echoing in my ears like a pig to slaughter. Sleeptoken really are a band for everyone, there are songs here for everyone to enjoy. Other than the screams Vessel is whispering along until we hit near the 2min mark where the song meets a chill and Vessel is clean singing along before more of the hard hitting drums and guitars come back at us like fireworks on the 4th of July. The high notes hit before the scream comes back in is amazing. This switch from aggressive to clean vocals is impressive. I feel for me this is one of their weaker songs, I am not so fussed on Vore as I am with the rest at this point, but that's not saying Vore is bad because it's not, it is good.
Ascensionism comes now, and it's starting slow and has the melancholy like feel with its minor piano notes. Beautiful soft sung lyrics, and then we get back into trap like beats following Vessel spitting bars yet again. This is one that will get you grooving moving your head and shoulders to, it's a great flow to be fair to it. We get some whispering vocals and then out of nowhere hit back with heavy metal like woah hang on Ves, I wanted to be more prepared before my flight or fight response kicked off haha. We switch back to the softer vocals with piano soon after my fight or flight response got me all geared up anyway haha. BACK TO FIGHT NOW AS THE METAL RETURNS IN FULL HEAVY SWING TO END THE SONG!
Are You Really Ok? Plays right now, and it starts slow and acoustically with a sweet laid back guitar tuning us into Vessel's soft lyrics. A very soft rock kind of song then the heavy instruments kick off around 3mins mark but don't worry it's still pretty soft and then around 4mins mark the heavy instruments get laid back, and we are bare witness to the soft stylings once more to close us out of the song.
The Apparition comes next, and it starts with Vessel isolated and then an electric, dare I say Spanish style guitar accompanies the vocalist. 1MIN mark we get some synthy keyboard and then drum and bass, what kind of experimentation lies in this apparition? Vessel continues to near rap with the flow of lyrics he delivers along with the drum and bass instrumentals. 2min 20 mark we go back to the heavy nature as Vessel pours his emotions into the lyrics, and then he delivers lines as quiet as a mouse and then the instruments close us off with synth and drum and bass.
DYWTYLM - A near laid back Caribbean like instrumental to start with like an autotuned Vessel singing along. Do You Wish That You Loved Me is the song here if you could not tell from the acronym anyway there's a weird like blend then of computerized sounds before Vessel carries on asking his question of love? This is lovely and laid back, I really liked the unique instrumentals in this.
Time for Rain, Vessel starts off pouring his emotions into the piano on this track. As usual with sleeptoken this one starts slow but builds to some metal rhythms as Vessel keeps his lyrics flowing like a fountain. I don't know how they do it, but I am sure glad I am hearing it work out so well for them. We go from the metal back to the slow powerful emotions poured out with the piano accompanying Vessel, and we quickly get that burst of metal to end the rain.
Time for the penultimate song on the album which is the title of this album, yes it's time for Take Me Back To Eden. Slow start now will this build or will it remain calm and soft. Of course the metal comes into play from 2min 30 mark only for it to leave again 30 seconds later. Vessel comes at us with his hard hitting flow as he raps the lyrics out, damn this vocalist can do anything he wants. When the rapping starts we get the piano and sound of like a rainforest with rain and birds tweeting until Vessel comes back soft with the tempo of the Piano picking up. 5min 30 mark the other instruments join back in until 6min mark where they stop for a brief moment then we get all the instruments back in harder once more. Screams close out the song with heavy instrumentals accompanying it.
Euclid is our closing song now, what a bizarre journey of music this has been, Sleeptoken really are the future, and they have a bright one from what I have heard here. Euclid starts with Piano and Vessel flowing the lyrics then we get this near robotic synth vocals before switching back to the same piano chilled tempo with Vessel flowing the lyrics like a running water tap and this switch happens a few times in this song, it's really quite something else. Lovely song actually and we do get rushes of the heavy instruments before the soft nature plays back and this happens on and off in this song a few times. Robotic vocals and synth and a piano closes this album off.
If this is the future of metal, we are in uniquely good hands. Sleeptoken are the hot new band we should all keep an eye on because the only way forward is going up past Eden now.
4/5
