Sleep Token “Even In Arcadia” FULL ALBUM REACTION
Added 2025-05-10 01:58:12 +0000 UTCIn terms of lyricism, this is one of the most densely packed albums I’ve gone through in a long time. The biblical references throughout paint such a vivid narrative. One which I’m pretty sure I’ve nailed (to a cross) so if you disagree/agree or have anything to add, please do!
Comments
Still need you to go through Sundowning and Tomb my man! Pretty please 🙏
Christine Gilbert
2025-06-20 01:49:10 +0000 UTCI 100% agree, although i love the second half of infinite baths, i never find myself listening to it because of the first half.
DropGManiac
2025-06-12 16:47:31 +0000 UTCSo I wrote my own take on this album, but I'll share the excerpt about "Provider" and "Infinite Baths" here because I agree that it isn't hitting like the others and I seem to be in the minority of people who actually dislike the majority of the following songs. "Provider: Not going to lie - this is the song that sparked such a review in the first place. So lets not waste any time and get into it after providing a quick backstory. One of my friends called Sleep Token's music "Baddie-core", aka 'Horny Metal', that seems to be made for a niche (although possible majority) of their fandom. The idea conceptualized as "metal with enough pop and or sex appeal for “normal” hot people to like it". (What a world we live in where our genres are being described as less about the musicality given, but the scene that it instead represents.. but I digress). I find such a concept cringy, especially when the majority backing such genre are open to the fact that they like such music due to either the sexual content and or delivery and how it makes them feel and turns them on instead of the complexity and intricacies of the lyrics, vocals, and instrumentation! In such a case they are openly objectifying the music as if it’s more of mood music when I see it as deeper and more meaningfully crafted then that. And in certain cases, I get it. If this does that for them.. cool. "The Summoning"'s whole ending was literally just that to a lot of people. This song - to me - atrociously takes that cringe concept and dives into the deep end of it. It takes the cringe fandom of the band and caters to them whole heartily by blatantly focusing on presumptive female fantasies via simp lyrics in the chorus, as well as instrumentation sound that begs this to end up on some sort of '50 Shades of Grey' soundtrack. Akin to The Weekend's 'Earned It'. This is the absolute worst song on the album, if not bottom two at best. Coupled with the fact about not liking filler on shorter albums as detailed on my "Past Self" analysis, this song seems to do it all at the expense of integrity. The only part of it I like is the "And our bodies converse like old friends" section, but I'm afraid those 4 lines aren't enough to save a whole song. This isn't sonically the worst thing I think they have ever produced. Lazy instrumentally, sure.. But I hate what this song represents and caters towards more than the song itself. Vessel until now strikes me as the type of person to put out music for himself. He wants to tell his story, his thoughts, emotions, and do so in a way enticing enough to captivate the listener(s)! This, comes off as him selling out. As if instead writing what he does and people falling in love with it due to his unique sound in his own words - he manufactures this soulless song based on the feedback of how such fans reacted to the end of "The Summoning", as well as how they are about other tracks that bring about equal feelings. The difference is that those didn't seem to be written for the reason of making panties drop. They just so happened to do so. 'Provider' to me comes off as corporate decision to pander towards said base more direct as if trying to induce the same reaction, and due to the potential I see Sleep Token have, it's a bit insulting. Note that this is their first album under a new deal for RCA records. I don't know how much of an a possible influence the label had to making said "artistic" choices, but if that is the possible reason for any of these critiques, I hope they regress a bit and let them do their thing next record(s)! & - Infinite Baths: If not the penultimate worst song, in contention with “Provider” for the bottom of the barrel. Again, for a band that is known for his deep poetically crafted lyrical content, singing “Infinite Baths, washing over me at last-”. It sounds clunky and doesn’t roll off the tongue or have a catchiness to it. It’s a little too hokey for my taste, and to borrow from a critique I had seen on Reddit, comes across as if ChatGPT crafted a Sleep Token song after it was shown “Take Me Back to Eden” (Album). It’s lyrics come off to me as fan-made in the sense that they're trying to replicate the brilliance of Vessel by focusing on the subject matter of the music over the way it’s crafted that makes it as beautiful as it usually is. This, along with ‘Provider’ for the given reasons sound like satire of Sleep Token. Gone are the lyrical metaphors explaining a baptism or renewal of some sorts, and in are the ways of the singer just flat out saying he’s washed over again. As far as the latter half of the song, the mixing on the more harsh vocal parts I feel aren’t done well. Unlike a crispness of “Emergence”, where you can tell the production was on point, or “Look to Windward” where the harsh vocals were clear. This is hard to hear and muddied in the mix. More “Vore”, less “Gods” sounding; although ironically the screams did sound more “Gods”-like. Personally, I don’t mind the ending section, but don’t think it’s worth the forgettably bland first portion – which I HATE to say, but seems to be a running theme at certain points of this album.
Ryan Fernandes
2025-06-01 21:53:46 +0000 UTC
