Wishy washy heavy metal is jarring my ears at the mo.
Or we just go all instrumental.The Singer is a weak point.
He tries his best clearly, and he's interesting but he's not got "it".
Bit like the last few albums we've reviewed.
I hope the next person picks a group who has a capable singer.
Apart from the aforementioned Chokehold, The Summoning and Vore this is a very formulaic album. most of the songs appears to be slow start, piano, annoying voice, build up, bit of heavy guitar, end.I'm finding this a bit like the Snake lad a couple of weeks back in that it has some not insignificant flaws but I appreciate younger musicians attempting to do something a bit different. Mind you I suppose behind the masks they could be tubby fifty something musos moonlighting from other bands for all I know.
Ha.
I don't think the has to be angelic, but they do need to have a range and style which aligns with the music.
Nobody would say that Johnny cash sang Hurt particularly well, but his voice suited it perfectly.
Maybe I'm not the right market for this pile of shite, but I like metal, I like rock, I like bands that tell a story, so it should be right up my street.
Dirge.
2/10
And that's being fucking generous.
I've watched Sleep Token live on the tube. There are DM-ish elements to their stage show, but you could say that about a thousand bands since 1980. There are a lot more guitars on their live show, so you can see where the metal comes from. They were pretty average though. Apart from Vore. Which is properly screamy and heavy.Bit harsh! But it does feel like there's a category error here. For instance Granite and Aqua Regia are nearly 8 mins long between them and probably have maybe 90 seconds in total of maybe half the instruments playing something that is obviously heavy(ish) rock. There are times it sounds a lot more Craig David than it does say Slipknot.
What's weird is the bunch outside Coop Live before the Feyenoord game did look most like a metal(ish) crowd; I wonder if the live set is very different and/or whether previous albums are more conventionally metal?
Do you not feel there's a bit of DM lite at times ? (lol, I appear to have gone full Dax)
Having seen them live, there is a lot less.. detritus.. to their music, for lack of a better word. The show was there, in terms of lights, act etc, costume etc, but with the music itself there was far less autotune, filters, electronica'd sounds etc. More focus on the instruments. And then it didn't feel as overdone, as the album maybe does. A few of my mates were there with their kids as well, 8-12 ages (the Hydro has a family seated section) who they couldn't get Slipknot tickets for only a month or so later, so it did have the feeling of fun and entertainment. Never really felt like it pretended otherwise either. Which maybe isn't easy to get across on an actual album.I've watched Sleep Token live on the tube. There are DM-ish elements to their stage show, but you could say that about a thousand bands since 1980. There are a lot more guitars on their live show, so you can see where the metal comes from. They were pretty average though. Apart from Vore. Which is properly screamy and heavy.
DM might switch genres, or bend the lines slightly, but they do it album to album. This album has no identity. It's as though they invented a wanky backstory and then couldn't be bothered with the rest of what actually makes a decent heavy metal/ post metal band. When the guitars kick in it feels like a relief, something to take you away from the awful lyrics and piss poor modulated singing.
I suspect they started this whole "project" as a joke, let's see how far we can take it.
To my ears it's turgid, generic and lazy. In the ears of my 13 year old niece who likes a bit of mooching it's brilliant. Make of that what you will.
Oh...never go full or partially Dax again. It's beneath you.
It's example time...Rammstein. Live they have gimmicks a plenty from fire, rockets in the sky, angel wings, keyboard player on a treadmill etc etc and it's fun and entertaining. They have a similar electronic style. Ish. They have a singer who can sing. Ish. They use off stage trickery. But the end result is pretty true to the album versions. Which is what I'd want if I liked the album and saw them live.Having seen them live, there is a lot less.. detritus.. to their music, for lack of a better word. The show was there, in terms of lights, act etc, costume etc, but with the music itself there was far less autotune, filters, electronica'd sounds etc. More focus on the instruments. And then it didn't feel as overdone, as the album maybe does. A few of my mates were there with their kids as well, 8-12 ages (the Hydro has a family seated section) who they couldn't get Slipknot tickets for only a month or so later, so it did have the feeling of fun and entertainment. Never really felt like it pretended otherwise either. Which maybe isn't easy to get across on an actual album.
I’m afraid I have opted out (until someone puts forward a decent album) for that reason. I’d rather wallow in the 60’s.I'm occasionally partial to a touch of the Pantera/Sepultura/Machine Head etc etc so I'm not afraid of the heavy stuff. However, it has to be done well, with plenty of hooks and riffs.
I just couldn't get into this though. It just washed over me and it just sounds like it was made by AI or something.
It's quite a contrast to the music I've been listening to this week on the 1967 evolution thread and not in a good way.
I'm feeling generous so it's a 2/10 I'm afraid.
Take Me Back To Eden by Sleep Token
I formed my first impression after 2 minutes of hearing this album. Three listens later and my first impression was correct. This may be because I’m incredibly reactionary and judgemental and not necessarily that my opinion is correct. This album sounds like a long audition to be the UK’s Eurovision entry in 2026. Every good thing the album does gives me reason to dislike it and reaffirms my position. But I did enjoy the album. I enjoy Eurovision. I just don’t like it. Exhibit A is Bambi Thug's entry for Ireland last year - metal as theatre
However I will trace the genesis of this album back to The Voice Season 5 from 2016. Exhibit B is Cody Frost. It’s already been mentioned but this is essentially a pop album with a metal aesthetic.
The album makes perfect sense when imagined as a series of voice auditions with a guy doing metal versions of Justin Bieber songs. Exhibit C is the vocals on opening track Chokehold and in particular the run he does on the word “blade”. When the guitar kicks in I fully expect a couple to be lowered from my roof blindfolded on a fiery trapeze.
This is perhaps an album that is incomplete without visuals and it definitely feels like it has been written with the expectation it will be used in a video game trailer or small sections clipped and used on TikTok by people trying to be sexy by smearing blood on themselves. They bought the blood from Etsy and it comes with a certificate claiming it be free from disease. But is it really metal if you can’t catch a disease?
The album has been lauded for it’s genre splicing and I think it’s been done extremely well. The only missteps being on The Summoning where the joins are pretty visible such as when the solo hits just after 2 minutes. Remember this is a pop album and the genre hopping makes sense. It all sounds like it is the same artist but it’s all very safe and pedestrian. Granite gives advice about how it’s better to talk about relationship problems and road safety. Proper metal that. Aqua Regia is even a song about a chemical that erodes metal. If only there was a chemical element with the symbol L I could have made a really clever joke about this making the album very meta. Alas my metaphors fall short in the end.
This is a very polite album. Halfway through we take a break to make sure we are doing fine. Are You Really OK? would have been a decent closing track on some mid late 90’s grunge album encouraging us to take some self care.
The Apparition almost obtains peak metal by including the phrase “suicide frenzy” and I’m actually shocked they used that word rather than more modern parlance - it’s inadvertently the most metal moment of the album if you consider metal should be challenging and shocking. Reminded me of the time I got called a tranny on the school run by my kids friends mum. I wasn’t offended it was just shocking to hear the word used in a jocular way in 2023. World gone mad or something.
DYWTYLM has me reaching for my phone as some inoffensive ring tone wakes me from my pleasant indifference. At this point I realise some of the albums melodies reminds me of Bon Iver. I tried to explain this to my wife who didn’t really want to engage. I take a break from the album and listen to 22 a couple of times in the dark.
Back to this pop fakery. Rain has me a little confused but it’s not unusual for this album to get lost in it’s own metaphors. He’s a venomous serpent tangled in the trance of another BUT he’s almost a stoic statue. What in the Medussa!
I dream in phosphorescence is a line which again for me demonstrates the good melodrama of the album but also why I will ultimately fail to like it. Take Me Back to Eden should have some biblical imagery but talks about Godmothers and wage slips instead. This again just affirms this is an album concerned with being metal but carrying little weight like fig lives made from aluminium foil. See it’s not hard.
Euclid ends the album in a thoroughly competant way and we go to the Derry jury for the scores. Sleep Token receives a 6. It's very well done and I had a good time listening to it but it's not really metal is it? They've not even bothered to misspell words and if you listen very careful as the final note ends I'm sure you can hear the band saying please and thank you
Take Me Back To Eden by Sleep Token
I formed my first impression after 2 minutes of hearing this album. Three listens later and my first impression was correct. This may be because I’m incredibly reactionary and judgemental and not necessarily that my opinion is correct. This album sounds like a long audition to be the UK’s Eurovision entry in 2026. Every good thing the album does gives me reason to dislike it and reaffirms my position. But I did enjoy the album. I enjoy Eurovision. I just don’t like it. Exhibit A is Bambi Thug's entry for Ireland last year - metal as theatre
However I will trace the genesis of this album back to The Voice Season 5 from 2016. Exhibit B is Cody Frost. It’s already been mentioned but this is essentially a pop album with a metal aesthetic.
The album makes perfect sense when imagined as a series of voice auditions with a guy doing metal versions of Justin Bieber songs. Exhibit C is the vocals on opening track Chokehold and in particular the run he does on the word “blade”. When the guitar kicks in I fully expect a couple to be lowered from my roof blindfolded on a fiery trapeze.
This is perhaps an album that is incomplete without visuals and it definitely feels like it has been written with the expectation it will be used in a video game trailer or small sections clipped and used on TikTok by people trying to be sexy by smearing blood on themselves. They bought the blood from Etsy and it comes with a certificate claiming it be free from disease. But is it really metal if you can’t catch a disease?
The album has been lauded for it’s genre splicing and I think it’s been done extremely well. The only missteps being on The Summoning where the joins are pretty visible such as when the solo hits just after 2 minutes. Remember this is a pop album and the genre hopping makes sense. It all sounds like it is the same artist but it’s all very safe and pedestrian. Granite gives advice about how it’s better to talk about relationship problems and road safety. Proper metal that. Aqua Regia is even a song about a chemical that erodes metal. If only there was a chemical element with the symbol L I could have made a really clever joke about this making the album very meta. Alas my metaphors fall short in the end.
This is a very polite album. Halfway through we take a break to make sure we are doing fine. Are You Really OK? would have been a decent closing track on some mid late 90’s grunge album encouraging us to take some self care.
The Apparition almost obtains peak metal by including the phrase “suicide frenzy” and I’m actually shocked they used that word rather than more modern parlance - it’s inadvertently the most metal moment of the album if you consider metal should be challenging and shocking. Reminded me of the time I got called a tranny on the school run by my kids friends mum. I wasn’t offended it was just shocking to hear the word used in a jocular way in 2023. World gone mad or something.
DYWTYLM has me reaching for my phone as some inoffensive ring tone wakes me from my pleasant indifference. At this point I realise some of the albums melodies reminds me of Bon Iver. I tried to explain this to my wife who didn’t really want to engage. I take a break from the album and listen to 22 a couple of times in the dark.
Back to this pop fakery. Rain has me a little confused but it’s not unusual for this album to get lost in it’s own metaphors. He’s a venomous serpent tangled in the trance of another BUT he’s almost a stoic statue. What in the Medussa!
I dream in phosphorescence is a line which again for me demonstrates the good melodrama of the album but also why I will ultimately fail to like it. Take Me Back to Eden should have some biblical imagery but talks about Godmothers and wage slips instead. This again just affirms this is an album concerned with being metal but carrying little weight like fig lives made from aluminium foil. See it’s not hard.
Euclid ends the album in a thoroughly competant way and we go to the Derry jury for the scores. Sleep Token receives a 6. It's very well done and I had a good time listening to it but it's not really metal is it? They've not even bothered to misspell words and if you listen very careful as the final note ends I'm sure you can hear the band saying please and thank you
Take Me Back To Eden by Sleep Token
I formed my first impression after 2 minutes of hearing this album. Three listens later and my first impression was correct. This may be because I’m incredibly reactionary and judgemental and not necessarily that my opinion is correct. This album sounds like a long audition to be the UK’s Eurovision entry in 2026. Every good thing the album does gives me reason to dislike it and reaffirms my position. But I did enjoy the album. I enjoy Eurovision. I just don’t like it. Exhibit A is Bambi Thug's entry for Ireland last year - metal as theatre
However I will trace the genesis of this album back to The Voice Season 5 from 2016. Exhibit B is Cody Frost. It’s already been mentioned but this is essentially a pop album with a metal aesthetic.
The album makes perfect sense when imagined as a series of voice auditions with a guy doing metal versions of Justin Bieber songs. Exhibit C is the vocals on opening track Chokehold and in particular the run he does on the word “blade”. When the guitar kicks in I fully expect a couple to be lowered from my roof blindfolded on a fiery trapeze.
This is perhaps an album that is incomplete without visuals and it definitely feels like it has been written with the expectation it will be used in a video game trailer or small sections clipped and used on TikTok by people trying to be sexy by smearing blood on themselves. They bought the blood from Etsy and it comes with a certificate claiming it be free from disease. But is it really metal if you can’t catch a disease?
The album has been lauded for it’s genre splicing and I think it’s been done extremely well. The only missteps being on The Summoning where the joins are pretty visible such as when the solo hits just after 2 minutes. Remember this is a pop album and the genre hopping makes sense. It all sounds like it is the same artist but it’s all very safe and pedestrian. Granite gives advice about how it’s better to talk about relationship problems and road safety. Proper metal that. Aqua Regia is even a song about a chemical that erodes metal. If only there was a chemical element with the symbol L I could have made a really clever joke about this making the album very meta. Alas my metaphors fall short in the end.
This is a very polite album. Halfway through we take a break to make sure we are doing fine. Are You Really OK? would have been a decent closing track on some mid late 90’s grunge album encouraging us to take some self care.
The Apparition almost obtains peak metal by including the phrase “suicide frenzy” and I’m actually shocked they used that word rather than more modern parlance - it’s inadvertently the most metal moment of the album if you consider metal should be challenging and shocking. Reminded me of the time I got called a tranny on the school run by my kids friends mum. I wasn’t offended it was just shocking to hear the word used in a jocular way in 2023. World gone mad or something.
DYWTYLM has me reaching for my phone as some inoffensive ring tone wakes me from my pleasant indifference. At this point I realise some of the albums melodies reminds me of Bon Iver. I tried to explain this to my wife who didn’t really want to engage. I take a break from the album and listen to 22 a couple of times in the dark.
Back to this pop fakery. Rain has me a little confused but it’s not unusual for this album to get lost in it’s own metaphors. He’s a venomous serpent tangled in the trance of another BUT he’s almost a stoic statue. What in the Medussa!
I dream in phosphorescence is a line which again for me demonstrates the good melodrama of the album but also why I will ultimately fail to like it. Take Me Back to Eden should have some biblical imagery but talks about Godmothers and wage slips instead. This again just affirms this is an album concerned with being metal but carrying little weight like fig lives made from aluminium foil. See it’s not hard.
Euclid ends the album in a thoroughly competant way and we go to the Derry jury for the scores. Sleep Token receives a 6. It's very well done and I had a good time listening to it but it's not really metal is it? They've not even bothered to misspell words and if you listen very careful as the final note ends I'm sure you can hear the band saying please and thank you
Take Me Back To Eden by Sleep Token
I formed my first impression after 2 minutes of hearing this album. Three listens later and my first impression was correct. This may be because I’m incredibly reactionary and judgemental and not necessarily that my opinion is correct. This album sounds like a long audition to be the UK’s Eurovision entry in 2026. Every good thing the album does gives me reason to dislike it and reaffirms my position. But I did enjoy the album. I enjoy Eurovision. I just don’t like it. Exhibit A is Bambi Thug's entry for Ireland last year - metal as theatre
However I will trace the genesis of this album back to The Voice Season 5 from 2016. Exhibit B is Cody Frost. It’s already been mentioned but this is essentially a pop album with a metal aesthetic.
The album makes perfect sense when imagined as a series of voice auditions with a guy doing metal versions of Justin Bieber songs. Exhibit C is the vocals on opening track Chokehold and in particular the run he does on the word “blade”. When the guitar kicks in I fully expect a couple to be lowered from my roof blindfolded on a fiery trapeze.
This is perhaps an album that is incomplete without visuals and it definitely feels like it has been written with the expectation it will be used in a video game trailer or small sections clipped and used on TikTok by people trying to be sexy by smearing blood on themselves. They bought the blood from Etsy and it comes with a certificate claiming it be free from disease. But is it really metal if you can’t catch a disease?
The album has been lauded for it’s genre splicing and I think it’s been done extremely well. The only missteps being on The Summoning where the joins are pretty visible such as when the solo hits just after 2 minutes. Remember this is a pop album and the genre hopping makes sense. It all sounds like it is the same artist but it’s all very safe and pedestrian. Granite gives advice about how it’s better to talk about relationship problems and road safety. Proper metal that. Aqua Regia is even a song about a chemical that erodes metal. If only there was a chemical element with the symbol L I could have made a really clever joke about this making the album very meta. Alas my metaphors fall short in the end.
This is a very polite album. Halfway through we take a break to make sure we are doing fine. Are You Really OK? would have been a decent closing track on some mid late 90’s grunge album encouraging us to take some self care.
The Apparition almost obtains peak metal by including the phrase “suicide frenzy” and I’m actually shocked they used that word rather than more modern parlance - it’s inadvertently the most metal moment of the album if you consider metal should be challenging and shocking. Reminded me of the time I got called a tranny on the school run by my kids friends mum. I wasn’t offended it was just shocking to hear the word used in a jocular way in 2023. World gone mad or something.
DYWTYLM has me reaching for my phone as some inoffensive ring tone wakes me from my pleasant indifference. At this point I realise some of the albums melodies reminds me of Bon Iver. I tried to explain this to my wife who didn’t really want to engage. I take a break from the album and listen to 22 a couple of times in the dark.
Back to this pop fakery. Rain has me a little confused but it’s not unusual for this album to get lost in it’s own metaphors. He’s a venomous serpent tangled in the trance of another BUT he’s almost a stoic statue. What in the Medussa!
I dream in phosphorescence is a line which again for me demonstrates the good melodrama of the album but also why I will ultimately fail to like it. Take Me Back to Eden should have some biblical imagery but talks about Godmothers and wage slips instead. This again just affirms this is an album concerned with being metal but carrying little weight like fig lives made from aluminium foil. See it’s not hard.
Euclid ends the album in a thoroughly competant way and we go to the Derry jury for the scores. Sleep Token receives a 6. It's very well done and I had a good time listening to it but it's not really metal is it? They've not even bothered to misspell words and if you listen very careful as the final note ends I'm sure you can hear the band saying please and thank you
Flipping read it 3 times looking for typos. Smh"Fig Lives" - now there's an album title :)
Don't take it too seriously and there are bits and pieces to enjoySitting in my office on a night shift. I read your review before I listened to this for the first time. I immediately came to the same conclusion as you. This is total Eurovision.
I then read the who bullshit backstory about "Sleep"...Oh dear!
One listen in and have to say Im not exactly looking forward to the next 2 listens.
Top read that, enjoyed it. 8/10.
I remembered the lady from the voice although I was surprised to find it so recent. My memory had her being on Fame Academy from much earlier which of course was on a different channel. My wife is my go to resource in these situations and when I couldn't find the singer on the BBC I asked her "do you remember that girl that was small and had a shaved head, she was on that season I think with a young guy that wore the hat that died". A couple of minutes later she had my answer for me. I remembered that she did those dramatic pop covers and seemed out of place on such a programme but I could imagine some of the songs on this album coming from a similar space.I'm intrigued by your review. I can sort of get how you could remember a Eurovision entry from last year but a voice audition from 9 years ago ? Did you just find that at random, or is it a family friend or did they become famous subsequently?
I originally compared this to your Serpentchap in terms of younger musicians seeking to try something different but sadly I think that is too generous. I think I'm halfway between you and Bimbo in terms of the genre splicing in that I don't think it's quite as predictable as he did but I wouldn't go as far as to call it successful.
I think your comment about lack of weight pretty much nails it. It's a bit like on Bargain Hunt when something looks nice but then they pick it up and it turns out its hollow. Now if you could remember stuff from 9 years ago on BH, that I would understand.