Anyone into Sleep Token? (Check out if you like Deftones)

[JDB123]

the misplaced horniness of some of it.

If I never had to hear another British guy sing with that annoying, horny, weepy vocal style I would die contented.

 

[Jynx]

I finally got around to listening to these guys today.

They're just metal Imagine Dragons.

 

[BlackMastodon]

I finally got around to listening to these guys today.

They're just metal Imagine Dragons.

Someone on this forum said this months ago when I was trying to give them a chance and I could never unhear it.

Absolutely devastating take down.

 

[chipchappy]

After all the hubub in this thread I figured I'd check them out.

I can't say I'm into Sleep Token.

That being said, It's definitely music and I hope whoever likes them thoroughly enjoys them

 

[MetalDestroyer]

sleep token is rad y'all just hate new stuff and pop music

 

[Apex1rg7x]

Most guys around here won't like Sleep Token, it's not generic blast beats and cookie monster vocals

 

[Moongrum]

This band will not get the fuck off my YouTube feed, which made me want to avoid them even more. I had listened to a few songs and had come to the same conclusion as:

They're just metal Imagine Dragons.

That said, though, I listened to The Offering recently and really liked it! The singer embellishes his voice way too much, but I think this band will really grow on me as I listen to them more. I think they have a lot of cool ideas, and their music offers something new to the metal genre in my opinion

 

[Jynx]

They do kinda grow on you.

 

[Marv Attaxx]

Another drum playthrough:

 

[Randy]

I think the album is kinda spotty.

Some people are just being hipsters and pushing back because of the hype, but it's worth noting seeing the hype leads you to believe you're getting something life changing. I think the hype, the look and the lore build a more grand impression of the product than the actual product delivers. Some of the album is straight up boring but then there's bits like The Summoning which are VERY good.

They remind me a lot of Zeal and Ardor (which might have been mentioned in here already?). I kinda like the way Z&A do the pop/soul/extreme metal mashup better, although it's maybe a little more disjointed. Sleep Token feels just proggy enough that the ups and downs *could* make sense, but I just don't think the balance is completely there.

 

[BlackMastodon]

Yeah but Zeal and Ardor is really interesting when you read about Manuel's inspiration for the project and why he started it. The idea of black slaves in the US rejecting Christianity and turning towards Satanism in similar ways to how Norwegians rebelled against the catholic Church, and taking that parallel to mix the typical satanic themes of black metal with the spiritual music of black Americans is an awesome concept to begin with, but then it's also executed VERY well.

This is... not that.

 

[Randy]

Yeah but Zeal and Ardor is really interesting when you read about Manuel's inspiration for the project and why he started it. The idea of black slaves in the US rejecting Christianity and turning towards Satanism in similar ways to how Norwegians rebelled against the catholic Church, and taking that parallel to mix the typical satanic themes of black metal with the spiritual music of black Americans is an awesome concept to begin with, but then it's also executed VERY well.

This is... not that.

They kinda remind me of Ghost (which I'm sure also has come up already) because the imagery is so much more extreme than the music, and there's all that lore and costumes.

One thing I'll give credit to Ghost for is that the schtick was supposed to be this satanic cult that uses music to lure people in as kind of a play on the satanic panic surrounding bands like Blue Oyster Cult. They had some retro-ish American Bandstand style videos that reinforced the theme, and then they put out the EP with "Kiss the Goat" that was explicitly written/produced to sound like a mid/late 60s album but... not. I thought those were some neat ways of driving home the theme.

I think Sleep Token has a good thing going, some really quality musicians and obviously a rapidly growing fanbase. I think they need to decide if they want to lean into the schtick more, or lean into the music more or what. Just feels like they're halfway there.

 

[Captain Shoggoth]

sleep token is rad y'all just hate new stuff and pop music

I play on at least as much very modern pop and hip-hop as I do metal and grind. I do not enjoy Sleep Token. It doesn't help that Vessel is, to my ear, a dead ringer for the singer from anodyne pop band Bastille, who were completely fucking ubiquitous on British radio a decade ago.

I think that's my issue with them in general. The pop stuff they lean into seems IMO to be the most painfully inoffensive white British pop stylings of the last decade that I've been hearing for years. I don't enjoy that stuff on its own and I don't enjoy it with djent guitars on top either.

Of course I might just be a pretentious hipster, but I listen to Ice Spice & play on drill records so I really don't think so. I'm glad they're getting the bankable success they've worked hard for, but I'd rather make money playing actual pop than Sleep Token.

 

[MAJ Meadows SF]

This band has been a guilty pleasure for me. Not something I normally get into, but the way they write and construct songs I find interesting enough. I get all the hate, because the comparison bands I absolutely despise. None of it is genius and they certainly fit into a genre blend gateway band motif. It’s a schtick, along with the gimmicks, but what isn’t? I’ll admit to hypocrisy in liking them and as well say a band like, Hypocrisy. For me, it’s not as bad as making the life choice mistake of listening to or even worse being a fan of a legit homeless San Fran sidewalk turd, Deafheaven… (the irony in their name in associating with black metal; utter blasphemy).

 

[BlackMastodon]

Deafheaven, Ghost, or Sleep Token; which band is hated by more trv kvlt metalheads? Place your bets!

 

[TimSE]

I for one couldn't cum harder for Sleep Token. Best band to come out in heckin' years imo. Any band that hits that hard AND makes girls horny is a massive W in my books.

 

[gnoll]

At least Deafheaven's music is pretty okay. Ghost and Sleep Token are fucking unlistenable.

 

[boseki]

Ok. I've had time (and five listens and counting) to process and get the words together. Just a heads up, I'm going to get personal here.

I discovered Sleep Token in early 2020. A little before lockdown started. I saw someone on IG listening to Sundowning and thought the album art looked neat, so I gave it a try. By the end of "The Night Does Not Belong To God", I was hooked. Went back and listened to the EPs. Grabbed it on vinyl before their vinyls became more valuable than gold, a bunch of merch, some a little obscure (I only own scarves from two bands, these guys, and So Hideous).
And then covid happened. It became hard to cope as time went on (as in sure it did for many of us), but if I can point to an album that helped me cope, it was Sundowning. It was new. It was something I haven't heard before. And there were lyrics that really spoke directly to me (Dark Sign: 'I may break and bend to my basic need to be loved and close to somebody'. Blood Sport: 'I wanna be forgiven, I want to choke up chunks of my own sins'). 2020 granted too much time to reflect, and this album aided in this

This Place Will Become Your Tomb came. I remember Alkaline dropping, and just being hypnotized the moment the guitar dropped and Vessel sings 'Lets talk about chemistry...'. "The Love You Want" is still top 3 ST songs for me, with that final chorus with the crushing guitars giving me chills every time. For a while I thought Sundowning had stronger songs, but Tomb was a more cohesive album. This only became more true as time went on. And like Sundowning did with 2020, Tomb felt like a good sountrack to 2021: things were starting to improve, but it was still a dark time.

And here we are, with Take Me Back To Eden.

Let's get the surface points out of the way. Short version: I heard someone on YouTube say "This is what it sounds like when a band finds their sound." And did they. Somehow, there's Pop, R&B, Trap, Soul, Classic Rock, Prog, and Brutal Metal, and it just.... Works. Love or hate them, you can't deny Sleep Tokens uniqueness. The 6 singles I think have been spoken about enough (I'm gonna go ahead and say it, DYWTYLM is probably my 2nd or 3rd favorite song on here. Yet somehow, "Are You Really Okay?" Is my least favorite, but still a damn good song with amazing lyrics). "Ascensionism" is a straight up movie, going from ballad to trap rap to one hell of a breakdown in the middle. "Rain" is just epic, while not as long as the lengthy epics on here, it still rules. "The Apparition" is haunting R&B that again, they just make it theirs and make it work.

But there's two tracks I need to elaborate on, and those are the final two.

"Take Me Back To Eden", the title track, is their crown jewel. This song just feels like approaching the end of a journey, with some final harships to face. All the emotions are just laid bare in a way that stands out from the rest of their discography. It gave me a sense of trying to come to terms with many things I've been doing with personally for a long, long time, and face them head on. The epic journey to see the end all culminates in one of the filthiest breakdowns I've ever heard to close out the final minute, and goddamn it's cathartic.

Then there's Euclid. There's two lines that really touched me:
"I just need to leave this part of me behind"
"I must be someone new"

This song felt like a goodbye. All the callbacks to previous songs, all the talk of acceptance and moving on, it just felt like I was saying goodbye. Maybe not necessarily to the band (God I hope not), but to this story. To so many things I've gone through in my life for at least the last decade. To things that NEED to be left behind. And because music is more powerful than we give it credit it, I feel like this song, or rather, this album, has given me the will to accept things about life, and to say goodbye. And to leave those parts of me behind.

Also, I mentioned before how "The Night Does Not Belong To God" was the first Sleep Token song I ever heard. So for the album to end with THAT callback. Boy, that did some things to my psyche.

Very few records or bands affect me as much as Sleep Token does, or how Take Me Back To Eden did. It was heart wrenching, but at the same time, I feel like a heavy weight has been lifted from my soul. I can finally leave this part of me behind.

Man, seeing them in NYC in September is going to be something indescribable to me.

Music is a weird thing. But it's also wonderful and cathartic.

Worship.

Wow, i was just skimming this thread from it's beginning, and boy, that was a nice read. Thanks for sharing your story.

For me it was the other way round. Somehow i must have lived under a rock for the past few years. I only discovered ST in September 2023.
Backwards...

For a reason i don't recall i typed Sleep Token into youtube and clicked on the first thing that turned up.

My first song was Take me back to Eden and i was instantly hooked.
I listened to the entire album, and then to the first two albums.
A second listening session for TMBTE was, now finally at home, in a low lit-living room with my best headphones.
Now i could finally _really_ listen to this masterpiece. It was magical, like i was listening for the first time again.

ST (and this record in particular) is basically all i listen to since last September. It's a little crazy, i know, but i hear it happens to others too. ;-)

Saw them live in Berlin in December, i got very lucky and got a ticket 5 days before the gig.

Anyway, thanks again for your story!

 

[tian]

It doesn't help that Vessel is, to my ear, a dead ringer for the singer from anodyne pop band Bastille, who were completely fucking ubiquitous on British radio a decade ago.

Hoooooly shit, that's what I've been hearing, thank you lol.