Even In Arcadia relishes in Sleep Token’s core sonic DNA, while stepping out beyond to present a transcendent musical experience.
Despite nearing a decade in the scene, Sleep Token’s trajectory over the last two years has been particularly notable. The band was catapulted from a core group of dedicated fans during the Sundowning and This Place Will Become Your Tomb eras to stratospheric heights with the release of Take Me Back To Eden in 2023.
With that rise in Sleep Token’s fame came the ills of notoriety – a much more daunting beast for a group that hinges on their masked anonymity. Their lyrics and themes dangle delicately somewhere between deep, near-mythical lore and the fringes of reality. Even In Arcadia delves into the band’s experiences with a sometimes toxic fanbase hellbent on unmasking people who are, in turn, hellbent on maintaining their obscurity.
Sleep Token soars through genres and experiments perhaps even further than previous albums ever have, all the while exploring the adversity found in fame in Even in Arcadia. Despite the sheer level of sonic experimentation, all ten tracks manage to maintain the core spirit of the band’s varied sound. Anchored by Vessel’s resonant vocals and lyricism, this is an album from a band that truly knows their sound and aren’t afraid to break the wheel multiple times to showcase it.
Past Self, like Caramel, masks deep-seated pain in its lyrics behind upbeat instrumentation. Vessel laments being “torn apart by the true believers who turned out to be vipers,” over a catchy R’n’B track with an addictive drum beat, pulling back the curtain on toxicity within the fandom. Those who Worship you are also those most empowered to tear you down.
The eight-minute opening track, Look To Windward, builds to a symphonic climax before weaving through tried-and-true metal and trap moments. In between the various soundscapes, Vessel recalls that he “used to know myself, and you used to know me well.”
Dangerous leans into Sleep Token’s familiar This Place Will Become Your Tomb sound in sensual tones with an intriguing riff to back it, and what seems on the surface like an exploration of a toxic romantic relationship could just as easily be referring to the band’s fanbase once more.
The title track Even In Arcadia opens on the same music-box tones from the album’s promotional videos, unfolding into a lilting piano tune (the sheet music shared during the initial announcement). “Have you been waiting long for me?” Vessel struggles out, accompanied by a string-heavy outro that echoes like a wedding march and funeral dirge in one. It’s a haunting anthem and an absolute standout amongst the tracklist.
Provider follows with a crooning melody over church organ tones. Of all the tracks from Even in Arcadia, this one feels like the sole misstep, thanks in part to the uncharacteristically clunky lyricism. Still, in a tracklist of titans, even the weakest towers high.
Gethsemane is the most surprising track in Even in Arcadia’s genre-bending lineup. With a fleeting Swancore riff, it splices together elements that on paper might seem disjointed. There’s masterful trap beats, soaring vocals, seductive emo-rap stylings – it’s all there, and it just works, feeling all the while like The 1975.
Even in Arcadia closes with the eight-minute juggernaut Infinite Baths. It builds with cinematic patience, drifting through transcendent ambient keys and soulful textures. The song erupts into a devastating four-minute climax. Its ending is intense and unrelenting, with a brutal heavy breakdown and unclean vocals that shake you to your core.
While their penchant for switching it up might not appeal to all die-hard fans, I cannot describe the album as any less than a masterpiece filled with referential lyrics that peel back the mask ever so slightly. Sleep Token knows themselves, even if the mortifying ordeal of being known is the very thing that has led them here.
Even in Arcadia is Sleep Token at their finest, but it’s also a band pushed to their absolute limit. There is beauty in paradise, but even so, darkness and pain come beckoning.
Rating: 4.5/5
Even In Arcadia is out Friday, May 9 via RCA Records.
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