Sleep Token It has consolidated as one of the metal bands that has most spoke on the current scene. The Londoners present their fourth album, ‘Even In Arcadia’, Continuing with the introspection as characteristic of the band, while introducing a subtle evolution in their sound after the aura of mystery magnified hiding the identities of their members behind masks and suits as well as groups such as Ghost or Slipknot.
Prior to the launch of the album, Sleep Token launched an enigmatic and carefully built promotion campaign. Through their website and social networks, followers could find hidden clues and encrypted coordinates that, when deciphered, led to an English monument and the picture ‘The Pastors of Arcadia’ by Nicolas Poussin, an idyllic and enigmatic place reminding us that, even in the best paradise, death is present. This symbolism game included messages in Latin, Morse Codes, Binarios and QR codes that, intertwined, revealed fragments of the new album.
The continuation of ‘Take Me Back To Eden’ (2023) starts with the voice in the foreground of Vessel, a name with which the enigmatic vocalist and main composer of Sleep Token is known, almost as a shaman pronouncing a spell in “Look to Windward”. A slow, progressive and enveloping theme that explodes towards Ecuador of its duration. The single appears below “Emergence”which exemplifies the duality of a soft piano melody wrapped in the Vessel’s ethereal voice, and gradually incorporating electronic elements with rhythms influenced by hip-hop. The song evolves towards heavy guitars and an unexpected saxophone interpreted by Gabi Rose.
“Past Self” has sounded more updated, towards a post Malone style sound. “Dangerous” is more epic and organic, while “Caramel” It combines a more modern pop with progressive metal elements.
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The second half of the album begins with the theme that gives title to the album, “Even in Arcadia”, starting from an intro that reminded me of Maynard James Keenan in A Perfect Circle and that grows towards heavier sounds before “Provider” builds a dense and environmental atmosphere with popes.
“Damocles” is sustained by delicate piano passages that provide an intimate and emotional atmosphere, an aura that remains in the falsity of “Gethsemane” and in the ethereal nuances of “Infinite Baths” until the final part explodes evidencing the capacity of Sleep Token to merge genres in a cohesive way.
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