It is clear from the moment you press play on track one of ‘Even In Arcadia’ that you can forget everything you thought you knew about Sleep Token, the mysterious band clearly intent on subverting all of their listeners’ expectations once again.
Since they last graced us with 2023 offering ‘Take Me Back To Eden’, the group have quietly grown to become the most exciting sensation in UK metal, not only continuously pushing themselves into more exploratory territory but bringing in swathes of new fans with them, expanding the reach and influence of the genre as a whole. Following the crowning glory of 2024’s sold out arena tour, anticipation for new music has never been greater. However, that increased pressure and scrutiny appears to have only fuelled their fire further as they deliver undoubtedly their most confident and accomplished collection yet.
A single alarm-like synth riff welcomes us into ‘Look To Windward’ as Vessel begs his subject to ‘hault this eclipse in me’ over rising, plucked strings and swirling, duelling vocal lines before reducing everything back to a single whisper that grows into a lengthy scream, a clear statement of intent and perfectly setting the stage for what is to come.
Pushing their wide palette of sounds to the very limit, the band move skilfully between the anthemic stylings of singles ‘Emergence’ and ‘Damocles’ and the playful R’N’B, almost garage-like beats of ‘Past Self’ and ‘Dangerous’, the former easily making for their most poppy, accessible and radio-friendly track to date. Yet while the compositions push outwards into previously unchartered realms, lyrically Vessel moves inward, revealing more of his soul than ever before.
‘Caramel’ has already unveiled itself as a timely and clever dissection of fame and its subsequent traumas but equally ‘Past Self’ asks ‘Are you gonna dance on the line with me? You know it’s not a game or fantasy, and I don’t even know who I used to be’, the narrative and masks the group hide behind no longer sufficient in shielding them from forces outside of their control. The direct nature and specificity of many of the references could be off-putting, but they instead allow the listener to further understand the anonymous figure at the centre of them, Vessel’s aching vocal lines finding a way to make the concept of ‘trying to hide in the limelight’ relatable to anyone who has ever felt alone in a crowd. By intentionally keeping us at a distance, he has nonetheless built a bridge to his audience, connecting on a purely human level that transcends the theatrics.
The album’s title track will already feel somewhat familiar to dedicated fans, the opening chimes heard in previous teaser videos bleeding quickly into the piano part sent out to fans upon the era’s initial announcement. ‘Turns out the gods we thought were dieing were just sharpening their blades’, Vessel proclaims, bringing Eden’s mythical creatures into sharp view over a dramatic outro that perfectly soundtracks a movie that never existed.
But the undoubted highlight is ‘Gethsemane’, a six minute epic that begins with a simplistic, Beatles-esque keyboard riff and a lament of lost love – ‘I was your robot companion, you were my favourite colour’ – before we reach a series of strung out, proggy guitars reminiscent of ‘Infinity Land’-era Biffy Clyro, eventually transitioning into a heavier section that is then engulfed by trap beats, the group using all of the tools at their disposal to great effect, effortlessly blending together multiple styles without falling into anything remotely disjointed.
As the closing screams of ‘Infinite Baths’ fade into black, we are left with the realisation that this once in a generation band may have just made the defining rock record of the last decade, an LP built for a new generation unfazed by their quick-flying movement between worlds and ready to devour and analyse every intricate detail shared across their most personal work to date. Start counting down the days to Download Festival – the gates to Arcadia are about to open.
‘Even In Arcadia’ is out on May 09 via RCA Records.
Content shared from rocksound.tv.