Sleep Token is a metal band with a Slipknotian predilection for masks and a fictional backstory a la Starset (but more mythology and less science fiction).
I think their music is generally classified as metal or rock, but with some pretty obvious influences from hip hop, jazz and straight up pop. Many of their songs will see them blending all these influences in one track.
(I was introduced to them through the track “Levitate” off their first studio album, which is incredible but a bit softer than much of their work — luckily I enjoy metal too. One of my favorite tracks of theirs is “Euclid” off their third album. Give it a listen. I have been known to cry while listening to it on my way into work, not because I’m on my way into work, I just really connect with the song for some reason)
Their latest album (studio album number four) is “Even in Arcadia,” and I want to about it a little bit and maybe get you to give Sleep Token a chance.
BUT FIRST.
Let’s talk about reviewing music.
I hate reading album reviews — especially READING them, from blogs on the internet. Every time I do I get two impressions:
- The author really wants to impress us with their own music knowledge
- The author is afraid
They can be afraid about a lot of different things. Sometimes they’re afraid that they’ll like something nobody else does and look like a bumpkin. Sometimes they’re afraid that they’ll like something everyone else does and look like a sheep. Sometimes they’re afraid that they’ll be wrong about their interpretation of the music and they’ll look like an idiot. Sometimes they’re afraid that they’re right about their interpretation, but the artist was just a commercial schmuck and didn’t mean it and you’re an idiot if you take it seriously.
Because of that, music criticism on the internet is always on guard, always two levels of irony deeper than need be, always looking to say something no one else says.
That sucks.
I’m going to say some stuff about a song on this album and maybe Vessel (the singer) will whip off their mask and go “YOU IDIOT! I WAS THE MASKED SINGER ALL ALONG AND NONE OF THIS MEANS ANYTHING!”
It’s a risk I’m willing to take.
Even in Arcadia has an obvious theme that runs through many of the songs. That theme is “Holy Crap, I got everything I wanted and it’s nothing like I expected!”
“Fame isn’t all it’s cracked up to be” is a common enough theme, but I appreciate the angle Sleep Token approaches it from. That angle reads to me as mostly just … sincere. Working through their current state of mind in their music.
In Caramel we get the lines:
They ask me “Is it going good in the garden?”
Say, “I’m lost but I beg no pardon”
Up on the dice, but low on the cards, I try not to talk about how it’s harder now
Can I get a mirror side-stage? Looking sideways at my own visage, getting worse
Every time they try to shout my real name just to get a rise from me
Acting like I’m never stressed out by the hearsay
I guess that’s what I get for trying to hide in the limelight
I guess that’s what I get for having 20/20 hindsight
Everybody wants eyes on ’em, I just wanna hear you sing that top line
I love the line “I guess that’s what I get for trying to hide in the limelight.” If you listen to the song you’ll be treated to some really fun instrumentation and some killer drums, along with some heartfelt lines about someone who is almost ten years down the line on a project they started looking around going “Yeah, I guess I should’ve seen this coming.”
Damocles is another straightforward song (lyrically and musically) that touches on a very similar subject, but from the other side. Where Caramel has an almost bemused undertone in regards to fame, Damocles is terrified at losing it all, or, even worse than losing it all, carrying on knowing you’ve already done your best work.
(and this is a genuine fear — their second album, This Place Will Become your Tomb was beloved by critics and their third, Take Me Back to Eden, was a commercial success that won some big mainstream awards. Where do you go from there?)
But the song that tackles the subject better than any other is the title track, Even in Arcadia. Here they return to their mythical imagery with lines like “turns out the gods we thought were dying were just sharpening their blades” and “what was missing from the scriptures will be written in my blood,” but the point of the song continues the theme of the album: what happens when you get what you wanted? What if you get there and it’s not what you thought it would be?
What sets Even in Arcadia apart from the other tracks on the album that tackle the same subject is how well the music mirrors the message of the lyrics.
The song starts with some tinkling sounds as prelude with some strings in the background., almost reminiscent of a music box being wound up. Eventually the prelude fades out and we start with piano and Vessel’s vocals.
Come now, swing wide those gates
‘Cause I have paid my penance kindle well in time for judgement day
Somehow I knew my fate
Turns out the gods we thought were dying were just sharpening their blades
Have you been waiting long … for me?
As we enter the second verse the song ramps up, echoes of the end of the first chorus turning into additional vocal tracks with some synth effects on them. We get some light percussion and ambient sounds.
The third verse ramps it up again. More vocal tracks, stronger effects on the vocals, and our piano is joined by some synths that wouldn’t sound out of place in a soundtrack in the eighties.
Then the calm before the storm — the third chorus is back to piano and vocals, although the vocals continue to build with a fantastic almost-scream from the vocalist. You’re ready for the traditional Sleep Token break down or drop or whatever. Something insane is about to happen.
And then … it doesn’t. Instead of distorted guitars and killer drums the pianos continue and are joined by a mournful cello solo, until the track gradually fades out.
Sleep Token have built their sound these sudden shifts in their music — they really love to surprise the listener — but they also really love to reward their listener’s patience with a cathartic break down. The fact that they don’t do that in Even in Arcadia really stands out. It’s … disappointing. All that buildup for … a cello solo?
As I listened to it I realized that they had captured, musically, the feeling they must’ve had as they reached this level of success they had been striving after for so long. I imagine their career felt like this build-up, where every new show, every new tour, every new single, every new album felt like a huge step leading to something incredible. And then they got there and went … oh.
The ending of the song is still gorgeous, but it’s not what you expect. It’s not what you WANT. But it has its own beauty.
We’re not all fantastic, talented artists, but we know that feeling. We know wanting something for so long, and then getting it and going … oh. Huh.
What do you do after that?
Josh Boyles 