Sleep Token - Even In Arcadia

“The sweetest dreams are bitter, but there’s no-one left to tell”.

Even In Arcadia is the fourth studio album by anonymous British band Sleep Token, and their major label debut. On the project, the group somehow continues to explore new avenues of musicianship, while bringing some previously unseen levels of personal vulnerability.

One of Sleep Token’s main traits is that they will never fail to catch you off guard. This album offers some of the most conclusive evidence to that so far in their careers, with several tracks laid out throughout the tracklist that take the listener on crazy journeys, both emotionally and musically. To call Even In Arcadia just a metal album would be doing it a disservice—it shows off some of the most seamless genre-bending I’ve heard in recent memory, combining things that, on paper, shouldn’t be possible to combine. However, the composition is excellent, and makes these unlikely combinations work without seeming forced, while adding in several memorable, punchy guitar riffs along the way.

The instrumental elements of this album are phenomenally executed, too. The choices of tone are perfect, with the guitars in particular having a deep, crunchy, reverberating sound that packs a colossal punch, emphasizing every breakdown and turning them into real emotional culminations. The performances are excellent too, particularly from drummer II. There is also a beautiful saxophone outro on the lead single, “Emergence”, performed by Gabi Rose, touring member of the band Bilmuri. 

But the crown jewel of Even In Arcadia lies within the lyricism. Of course, the majority of this record is dominated by masked frontman Vessel’s signature grandiose, oftentimes abstract imagery and metaphoric writing—some of the best he’s ever done is contained within songs like the title track or the opener, “Look To Windward”. However, the cover does slip a couple of times. The best parts of previous Sleep Token albums for me have often lain in the moments that have felt closer to the listener, more human; this album provides that like never before, particularly on the second and third singles, “Caramel” and “Damocles”. The former goes into the colossal mental weight of people exposing the identities of the band members, and of parasocial artist-fan base relationships as a whole; the latter is a more general cry for help amid tremendous mental turmoil.

Overall, Even In Arcadia very much upholds Sleep Token’s identity as a band, reinforcing their strengths and working out a couple of the weaker points from previous albums. Its highs perhaps aren’t as markedly special as those of its brilliant predecessor, Take Me Back To Eden, but it nevertheless carries a consistently very high level of quality throughout.

8.5/10