Behold, a new offering.
In the last five years, an enigmatic rock band named Sleep Token has bent metal to its will. Emerging from the pandemic shadows of 2020, the masked group quickly established itself as an amorphous entity, syncing guttural screams with pop melodies, hip-hop drums and reggaetón grooves to the growing curiosity of the masses. Sleep Token’s disruption is perfectly captured in a viral reaction video from Slaughter to Prevail’s Alex Terrible, who rolled his eyes at its lead singer Vessel during a listen of 2023’s “The Summoning.”
“Who the f—k is this guy?” the Russian frontman tells the camera after pausing the song, before summarizing his reaction to the song in imperfect English: “I very like vocals, it sounds beautiful and gay, but it’s okay. It’s just not my cup of tea. I don’t like clean vocals in heavy music.”
But after he resumes play on the song, “The Summoning” mutates into an explosive drop, with Vessel erupting a death metal gurgle over the band’s hammering guitars. Terrible smirks at the camera. “Okay,” he concedes.
While any sort of genre hopping usually makes metal heads recoil, Sleep Token has accrued its own gravitational pull, collecting fans who both worship heavy giants like Knocked Loose and Lorna Shore but know how to catch a vibe to Bad Bunny and Drake. Still, those same fans grew weary after RCA announced last year it was adding Vessel and co. to their roster: Major labels and their machines have historically been known as a “clean-up-on-aisle-three” death notice for metal bands, taking their grungy scraps and turning them into slick full-course meals.
All of this means Sleep Token’s Even in Arcadia will be the biggest and most divisive album of their career. The end result? A whole lot of genre mashing, full-blown pop songs, and a few sick metal riffs for good measure. Regardless of whether the project makes you wanna rage or roll your eyes, it’s clear Vessel isn’t through conquering the rock world.
Here are all 10 songs on Sleep Token’s Even in Arcadia ranked.
