Sleep Token’s highly anticipated album, Take Me Back To Eden, is finally here! During the first week of the year, the group released back-to-back singles, "Chokehold" and "The Summoning," which totally blew up the internet. Sleep Token went legitimately viral with "The Summoning" as they claimed the No. 1 spot on Spotify's Viral 50 chart only a month after its release. Their success continued to snowball and before the end of February, four out of the band's five singles all took spots in that same playlist. Sleep Token’s sound is unlike anything else in the rock scene right now with their mix of slow R&B, Pop, and way down-tuned guitars to bring out that metal edge. Take Me Back To Eden is the third full-length album from Sleep Token and through all these releases they’ve created a fair amount of lore. I personally have never heard of a band that has this in-depth lore and it only progresses with each new release.
Sleep Token is one of the most enigmatic bands in the industry right now.
With all their lore behind them that it’s hard to pin them down as anything. Their genre and themselves are a mystery. With music nowadays being so focused on the members of the bands and their personal lives, Frontman Vessel wanted to shift that focus entirely. “Our identities are unimportant. Music is marketed on who is or isn’t in a band; it's pushed, prodded, and moulded into something it isn't,” said Vessel. Keeping their identities private gives the band the opportunity to be more vulnerable and express things or experiences they otherwise might have not been willing to share.
It’s no surprise that the stories told within their songs are equally as mysterious and open to interpretation. With this, the only definite thing about Sleep Token is that the members are united in their worship of an ancient deity identified by them as “Sleep” who appeared to Vessel in a dream. Each one of their songs is a Token (or an “Offering” if you will) in the name of Sleep. The initial summary of Sleep from the band’s original record label, Basick, read: “This being once held great power, bestowing ancient civilizations with the gift of dreams, and the curse of nightmares. Even today, though faded from prominence, ‘Sleep’ yet lurks in the subconscious minds of man, women, and child alike. Fragments of beauty, horror, anguish, pain, happiness, joy, anger, disgust, and fear coalesce to create expansive, emotionally textured music that simultaneously embodies the darkest, and the brightest abstract thoughts. He has seen them. He has felt them. He is everywhere.” Stripped of its aesthetic, Sleep could be interpreted as an abusive partner that Vessel believes he cannot live without, and staying only hurts him more. Worshipping Sleep shows the danger of putting someone on a pedestal in a relationship. The fact of Sleep, whether it’s Vessel’s psyche, an actual force, or the woman he loves, is rather irrelevant. What matters is the underlying messages of healing and moving on, especially from those that have mistreated you and those emotions that hold you back. It’s okay to feel because that’s what will eventually guide you to your happiness.
Sleep Token is a band that has no genre and Take Me Back To Eden proves it as it touches on pretty much every genre.
Each song has a different feeling and it will hit you in all of your emotions. The album has you headbanging one minute and then crying the next. My first exposure, as with many others, to Sleep Token was “The Summoning.” The idea behind the song is being “summoned” or called to something greater. The lyrics reference a river, a blood trail, and a divine taste, which all signify a sense of being led by a higher power. The overall message of the song is that while life is often difficult if one listens to their inner voice and opens themselves up to possibilities, they might find something special hidden in the world around them. It’s such a powerful song, in my opinion, because it has this huge atmospheric sound, but at the same time, it’s soft and airy. Then, at the end of the song, there’s the complete turnaround that changes everything you thought that song was and it just blew my mind the first time heard it. I had never heard of anything like them and was so intrigued by everything about them after. Though most of Sleep Token’s songs are cryptic and up for interpretation, there’s one that’s a little more evident. “Are You Really Okay?” is a really beautiful but agonizingly raw song that touches on mental health and self-harm. It shows someone trying to reach out to another because they can see them struggling, but it’s a difficult battle against the darkness that overwhelms them. As the song goes on, it expresses the frustration that they cannot "fix" this person, but they also refuse to accept that everything is truly fine. It ends with Vessel’s painful plea “Please don’t hurt yourself again.” The lyrics of this song could really make anyone cry regardless if they’ve been affected by those situations or not. Overall, Take Me Back To Eden is emotional, heavy, and uplifting, and shows us a full display of what Sleep Token can do.
Blue Ridge Rock Festival is hosting Sleep Token’s first US show date on September 8th before their tour officially kicks on September 9th. The tour closes out in Sacramento on October 7th at Aftershock. Their tour sold out completely only three days after it was announced. This September and October are going to be historic for the band so hopefully you got your ticket!
Sleep Token North American Rituals
Sep. 08 - Alton, VA - Blue Ridge Rock Fest * Sep. 09 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer Sep. 10 - New York, NY - Webster Hall Sep. 12 - Worcester, MA - The Palladium Sep. 13 - Baltimore, MD - Ram's Head Live Sep. 15 - Detroit, MI - The Cathedral at The Masonic Sep. 17 - Minneapolis, MN - The Myth Sep. 19 - Dallas, TX - Studio at The Factory Sep. 20 - Oklahoma City, OK - Tower Theatre Sep. 22 - St. Louis, MO - Hawthorn Sep. 23 - Louisville, KY - Louder Than Life * Sep. 25 - Denver, CO - The Ogden Theatre Sep. 26 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Complex Sep. 28 - Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory Sep. 29 - Boise, ID - Knitting Factory Sep. 30 - Seattle, WA - The Showbox Market Oct. 01 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theatre Oct. 03 - San Diego, CA - The Observatory NP Oct. 04 - Los Angeles, CA - The El Rey Theatre Oct. 05 - Anaheim, CA - House of Blues Oct. 07 - Sacramento, CA – Aftershock *
* Festival dates
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