By Paddy Cummins
Leaving work today, I remembered that a certain album had just dropped and for some reason, I hadn’t flung myself in head first yet. Little did I know the impact it would have.
In all my years as a music lover and musician, I genuinely don’t think I’ve ever felt such a degree of reverence and, dare I say hopelessness, as I have after listening to ‘Take Me Back To Eden’.
The music lover in me is in total awe, at the layers of depth within each song. The references, the Easter eggs, the musicianship, the instrumentation, the unpredictability, the beautiful sounds and messages each track portrays in it’s own way.
Not an iota of filler, of recycling, of regurgitation, of rehashed cookie cutter songwriting most of us have been bored of for 30+ years (he says as a 26 year old). Appearing in a way that can only mean that it is indeed the case, every aspect seems to have been thought out meticulously. Even down to the artwork for the singles, album and music videos. Entities/characters that have been so perfectly crafted to fit the theme of the song they represent.
It’s one thing to conceive these in your head, but to then execute them so flawlessy? It’s not an easy thing to do. Absolutely incredible, particularly from a graphic design standpoint.
Then I have the songwriter/musician in me saying, “Just a quick one bro. What is the fucking point? No, no, I’m genuinely asking?”.
Not only is it sublime in it’s own right, but also truly groundbreaking. Obliterating the boundaries between genres in a way I’ve not seen in my lifetime. There are tons of bands I love that have bridged gaps, mostly between modern metal and electronic music, hip hop, with the introduction of samples, synths, spoken word verses and other unconventional instrumentation for the genre.
But Sleep Token have done it in a way that’s just so far beyond what I’ve seen before. What an album to end this ‘trilogy’ of albums. I mean just grab your cliché of choice. Masterpiece, work of art, album of the century. All I know is if there IS any hope left, and anything to take away from this, it’s that I need to take notes, and an absolute shitload of them at that.
What an achievement. There is very, very good reason that this term has become synonymous with Sleep Token.
WORSHIP.
- ‘Take Me Back To Eden‘ is out now.
- Paddy Cummins is guitarist with Ashen Reach. This review was originally published on his Facebook page and is used with his permission.