25 May 2023 – album review by Lucas Bell
Opening the record is the first song dropped in the promotion to the release, ‘Chokehold’. The opening minute or so of this song feels haunting. The slow drive of the synths with the drawn out singing of the lyrics gives this weird creepy vibe that fits perfectly with the aesthetic of the band. The guitars after the chorus drive through your face at 100kms an hour, with the drums pounding so hard I thought the first time I heard it, it was going to trigger some sort of cardiac episode. The band’s biggest song to date, ‘The Summoning’ is the next track up, and I’m pretty sure I don’t have anything to add to the discourse of this song that hasn’t been said already. It’s heavy. It’s sexy. It’s violent. The last 90 seconds though is where the song gets hot and heavy. I wouldn’t be surprised if this song isn’t in everyone’s adult play time playlist by this point.
Song three is ‘Granite’, and out of all the pre-release tracks, this was far and away my favourite song. The song is about an ongoing toxic relationship, on the verge of ending. The pain and soulfulness of the second verse though is the part I absolutely adore. “Never mind the death threats, parting at the door, we’d rather be six feet under than be lonely” is a line that I can’t help by groove to with the vocal melody, as well as feel completely gutted, as I know this has been an emotional I’ve felt previously when in relationships that didn’t ultimately work out. So the pain feels relative.
‘Aqua Regia’ is a very interesting song, as it feels more like a song about social commentary about dating in the modern age. The song refers to a lot of things relating to motherboards, computing, and circuitry, and connecting to love via those means. The lyrics are very out there, but listening to them within the context I’ve seemingly built around it, it all makes sense. Definitely a song that brings the vibe down a bit. But definitely not a bad song. ‘Vore’ is up next and where those vibes went down on ‘Aqua Regia’, they pick right back up here. This by far, is the heaviest song Sleep Token have done in their career, next to ‘Gods’ from their first record Sundowning. There is a specific lyric in this song though that when I first heard it, it stuck with me. “Will we remain stuck in the throat of gods?” I’m not sure if this has anything to do with the concept for the band, and the Vessel wanting to move away from being a mouthpiece for Sleep. But this is the first (and not the last) reference to maybe the concept of Sleep, ending with this record.
We’re now at the sixth track of this record, and this is the first song we have yet to have heard that had not been pre-released in promotion. Expectations for me have been high on the non-released stuff, because when a band holds onto songs, sometimes they’re not as good as what has come out in anticipation. But holy hell, ‘Ascensionism’ is THE song of the record for me. I actually cannot explain this song. It’s a journey you need to experience for yourself. Clocking in at just over 7 minutes, the song travels a list of genres. With the slow, piano ballad driven 2 minute opening, to the R&B inspired verses that immediately precede it. The third verse though is definitely the most interesting, lyrically, as it has callbacks to ‘Chokehold’, ‘Vore’, ‘Granite’, and ‘Aqua Regia’ all within a matter of lines. At about the 3:50 mark though, the song completely transforms into a modern metal masterpiece, with the single lyric “Diamonds in the trees, pentagrams in the night sky” before drums, guitar, and bass all kick like a donkey to the chest. Honestly, if you haven’t heard anything from this band before, this is the song I’m recommending people listen to, just for a taste of the band.
The halfway point of the record kicks off with a slower ballad-y song, ‘Are You Really Okay?’ This song is beautiful, again, with the haunting vocals of Vessel over what sounds like an acoustic guitar, repeating the same riff for most of the song. For a slower song, this is definitely one of their best. The drums and bass kick in on the second verse and give the song more volume. But it honestly didn’t need it. There is an escalation in the instrumentation, much like the build in the song Atlantic from the last record, before closing off into the outro. ‘The Apparition’ is the first (and only song) I have yet to connect with. It’s a great song, and I know over time the song will grow on me, but off the first couple of listens, the song feels really out of place at this point of the record. The trap beat behind Vessel’s vocals are something we need more of though in Sleep Token songs. ‘DYWTYLM’ is the final pre-release song we got before the record dropped. This one is a good song. I have nothing to really add to it. But it feels like it’s a song that either you like, or you don’t. And for me, it’s just fine.
Something that I feel previous Sleep Token records have not been good at, are ending. The majority of the songs are front loaded to the albums, and the back end of the records are kind of dull. But Take Me Back to Eden changes this in a dramatic way. In what I would call the closing trilogy of songs, first up is the song Rain. The shortest of the three last songs, at 4 minutes and 12 seconds, the song to me, especially in the second verse, feels like an early Evanescence track. The way the bass and drums groove against the vocals just gives me that early 2000s alt metal vibe, which is an aesthetic I’ve actually kind of missed in my music.
Track 11 is the title track, ‘Take Me Back to Eden’. At a whopping 8 minutes at 20 seconds, this is the longest song. The opening to this track again, is another slow burn verse that build into a beautiful chorus, with the Take Me Back to Eden refrain that builds again at the end of the song. This song has the most references to all the other songs in it. And not just references to songs off this album, as there are references to ‘Distraction’, ‘Nazareth’, and ‘High Water’ through out, plus other references to ‘Aqua Regia’, ‘Chokehold’, and ‘Euclid’ littered throughout. Whether it’s vocal inflections, to lyrical references, to straight up returns of certain lines like at 6:45, where Vessel repeats the opening lyrics to the record “When we were made/It was no accident/We were tangled up like branches in a flood”, underscoring the massive instrumentation of the outro of the song. This song is a damn near masterpiece. But somehow, this isn’t the closing track to the record.
‘Euclid’ closes the record, in the strongest way. Driven by Vessel’s strong vocals and underscored by a beautiful piano riff, if you didn’t think TMBtE was the right song to end on, this was. This song feels like a kiss goodbye to Sleep, with the lyric “Call me when you have the time/I just need to leave this part of me behind” striking very heavy at times. Is this a call to Sleep that Vessel will no longer speak for them? Who’s to say. But if this is the last Sleep Token record, this is a strong way to end the record. The lyrics feel like Vessel has grown over these 3 records, and gone from being the weak and small mouthpiece for Sleep, channeling every word Sleep asks, and Vessel finding himself and his own voice to become what he needs to be.
The third verse in particular, is where the concept of Sleep Token feels like it has come to its natural conclusion.
Do you remember me
When the rain gathers?
And do you still believe
That nothing else matters?
For me It’s still the autumn leaves
These ancient canopies
That we used to lay beneath
No, by now
The night belongs to you
This bough has broken through
I must be someone new
“Do you remember me/When the rain gathers?” is a parallel to the song ‘The Night Does Not Belong to God’ (“And you remember everything/Only ’til the sun recedes once again”) “And do you still believe/That nothing else matters?” is a reference to ‘Blood Sport’ (“Tangled with what I never said/You say it doesn’t matter”). “The night belongs to you” is a straight up reference again, to ‘The Night Does Not Belong to God’. If the night does not belong to God, who does it belong to? We now have that answer. “This bough has broken through/I must be someone new” feels like Vessel, has now said goodbye to Sleep. And the final verse, feels like it closes the loop of these albums, because when you put the final verse of ‘Euclid’ next to the opening verse of ‘The Night Does Not Belong to God’, which is the track that opens their debut record, ‘Sundowning’, it feels complete.
This album is a journey. The three album arc Vessel has been on with these records, has culminated into the best record of the bands career. The album has something for everyone, and even the songs that don’t fully connect, are still phenomenal pieces of music. This far and away, is an album of the year contender for sure.
Rating: 10/10
Song recommendations: ‘Ascensionism’, ‘Rain’, ‘Take Me Back to Eden’, ‘Euclid’
