Sleep Token - Even In Arcadia (ALBUM REACTION)
Added 2025-05-24 18:00:11 +0000 UTCtrying something new today — the internet's been abuzz about Sleep Token and their new album. lots of folks in my circles saying it's not good, but frankly that made me even more interested to listen lol.
but this time, i decided to film my first listen. honestly it was a fun time! and tbh i'd recommend you give Even In Arcadia a try, even if it doesn't click with you. at the very least, check out Emergence, the title track and Damocles.
let me know what you think of the album, and if you like this format!
Comments
Listen to it again and listen to the lyrics
Willybeast
2025-05-29 03:04:07 +0000 UTCPiano is thoroughout 30-40% of the songs
Willybeast
2025-05-29 02:44:59 +0000 UTCI think my problem with this album spawns from "oh hey we have so many genres of music to blend together but let's do them in the most standard and boring way possible." I wish they expanded their experimentation on the record. Not to say that I think this record is bad, but it just becomes a bit middle of the road for me to be able to enjoy it. I appreciate this reaction though, and I will say, even if it is bad music, or music that isn't to somebody's taste, it is definitely a good idea to try new things and listen to new genres and new records.
Stasious
2025-05-28 19:42:25 +0000 UTCAlso subscribed for this reaction, lol. I'll tell you, I'm not sure I ever heard Ed Sheeran in any of their music before you said it - and then you got to Caramel and I said OH NO 😫
Andi Watson
2025-05-28 19:13:20 +0000 UTCFirstly I love the format it's like getting a real time review and I dig it. Secondly I enjoy this album I have been listening to Sleep Token since Sundowning came out and honestly it's probably there easiest listen although I prefer there last 2 albums to this one. Gethsemane just reminded me so much of Deftones circa Around The Fur (the guitar parts especially) and like you pointed out there are bits of every song that remind you of others which is fine but it has that nagging feeling to it that you have heard it before. I don't know either way I do recommend this album overall
James Rackham
2025-05-27 09:25:33 +0000 UTCAs an ST fan since 2020, I definitely understand why the album is divisive. Especially after Take Me Back to Eden and the massive fan base that came with. To me they've always been a pop first kind of band. Piano start, slow build up, instrumental breakdown. Personally I do enjoy it, Infinite Baths, Gethsemane, and Look to Windward are definite highlights of the the non singles. To answer your question about the rapping, it started in Eden, and it's just cuz. He does have bars in there
AJ Torres
2025-05-27 05:32:19 +0000 UTCI definitely agree, it honestly kinda reminded me of Sundowning, probably since it's also the start of a new potential trilogy. The highs are just as high as Eden imo though.
AJ Torres
2025-05-27 02:42:00 +0000 UTCThis band is so hit and miss for me. When it hits there's nothing else really that scratches that itch for me. This album is weaker than Take Me Back to Eden imo. It just seems a bit less focused.
Ferghal
2025-05-26 16:59:33 +0000 UTCDude I hadn't thought about Monstercat in years. I agree entirely couldn't have said it better tbh
Ferghal
2025-05-26 16:51:43 +0000 UTCI've listened to this with my girlfriend right before watching this reaction, and I will say, I have a very, very particular insight into this band's sound. It's going to sound like a backhanded compliment like "metal Jacob Collier" does, but trust me, this is coming from a place of admiration. I grew up in the YouTube-era EDM world, or more specifically, I grew up with a label known as Monstercat; they've hosted a myriad of different artists, sounds & subgenres of EDM that take after what Skrillex has popularised in his breakout EP, and I've watched the scene pioneer several more styles of EDM over the four years I've kept in touch with their frequent releases, to the point where we have a genre of trap music that is entirely detached from hip hop trap and is more like EDM trap. Many times, some of those artists touch on other genres, and what ends up happening is that their very electronic production and structural sensibilities end up infecting that sound in a certain way; Rezonate has done some R&B that reads as very clean and structurally EDM, and Varien in particular has especially doven into metal in songs that have worked a ton for me because of the EDM strengths that they utilise, but I recognise to someone like my metalhead girlfriend, they read & sound very tame, like putting on metal as an aesthetic. On RateYourMusic, in the immediate weeks after this album's release, that album's primary genres (as voted by the community) have gone back & forth on being "Alt-Pop, Alternative Metal" and just "Alt-Pop" before settling on "Alt-Pop" with Alternative Metal as a secondary genre tag. To be honest, I feel like that works. I'm not saying that this isn't metal at all, or it's putting metal on as a face; it's very often extremely metal, obviously. But it feels much more fitting to call it a metal-adjacent pop or R&B record, because that manages expectations a lot better to me. I believe that Sleep Token have taken a lot of inspiration from the YouTube EDM world of labels like Monstercat, because the grandeur, progression, atmosphere, genre-blending, experimentation, production, and general sensibilities all remind me very, very strongly of that label and several of its music's characteristics. And if there's one thing I've learned about living in the music discourse void for over half a decade now, it's that most music nerds would rather kill themselves than give EDM a fair chance of being understood. I mean, Fantano recently made a point that he saw so much backlash when he gave that Skrillex EP a positive review back in 2010. I'd love to see you dive into the history of that label, because it's frankly so goddamn fascinating, and there's not enough documentative information out there about how internet EDM has evolved in the 2010s. I'd love a DDD into their main series of 30 compilations; the majority of them are frankly long, but watching that label and its roster evolve, both sonically & creatively, was so inspiring, informative and fruitful, that they soundtracked the vast majority of my adolescence. Hell, if you ask for it, I can give you some very hidden in plain sight info about them.
DeclanBlueSSD
2025-05-26 12:45:01 +0000 UTCLiterally subscribed to your patreon today just so I could watch this. I’m a big fan of Sleep Token, and like a lot of folks, it was their last album that got me so hooked on them. I think there’s definitely a reason Take Me Back To Eden got so many people into their music. It’s a little more of a natural blend of metal with pop, r&b, and some Legend of Zelda ass shit. The experimenting they do has a great payoff on Eden, arguably more than Arcadia does. If you give it a listen I’d definitely look forward to you posting your thoughts! You could also…maybe…do a deep discog dive idk idk 👉👈👀👀👀
strawbebbies
2025-05-25 22:34:22 +0000 UTCSleep Token is one of, if not, my favorite band, and I will say that this album took some time to grow on me. It’s really cool to see your reaction, especially with the more technical focus because my reasons for loving them are mostly personal and lyrical. If you like Damocles, I think you would enjoy their earlier albums more than this one (case in point, it’s my favorite and I like their earlier albums more). Also is it just me or does the very start of the title track remind anyone else of the ending to The Sound by Swans?
Bridger
2025-05-25 01:53:02 +0000 UTCI don't really fuck with Sleep Token, so this one's probably gonna be a skip, but I'd love to see you do this with other albums! Either new ones, or you could use it as an opportunity to elaborate on albums you've discussed in DDDs. Also, I appreciate all the Homestar Runner references you make
Nobod_E
2025-05-25 00:24:12 +0000 UTCSleep Token's previous album (2023's Take Me Back To Eden) is what got me into the band. Loved it when it first came out, had never really heard anything like it. Since then I have gone back and listened to their rest of their discography and came away feeling a bit colder but still enjoying a fair bit of their material. This album almost completely turned me off of them. For a band with so much promise, it remains that, a promise. The biggest issue for me is the attempts at experimentation/evolving their sound are so botched. Having a sax solo at the end of a song, and literally nowhere else, (both in the song and record as a whole) isn't experimentation or evolution. It's a cheap gimmick, it's reaction bait. Outside of that, this album is just a retread of the previous one. The general flow/progression of this album is the same. What sets this one apart is the aforementioned attempts at evolving their sound, but they are just so scattershot. The idea that there's lore to these songs is almost laughable to me at this point. Every album set themselves up to have some sort of larger concept, but it never materializes. Sure, some songs connect with each other thematically or lyrically, but you could go years and never know that there's some greater lore or story going on, the writing just isn't that deep. It's ultimately so frustrating because the band members are very talented. Especially ii on the drums. I would honestly say he's maybe too good for this band. This band has so much more potential and yet it feels like they're already running on fumes.
Dupus
2025-05-25 00:08:07 +0000 UTCTurning the Tables reference????
TheEggMcWaffle
2025-05-24 23:37:41 +0000 UTCAw thank you so much!!
Mic The Snare
2025-05-24 23:35:56 +0000 UTCI've got Vampire Weekend stuck in my head now bc of this
Mic The Snare
2025-05-24 23:33:25 +0000 UTCUhhhhhhhh I'd say it's more like relative pitch. I have a song that comes to mind for nearly every note.
Mic The Snare
2025-05-24 23:31:29 +0000 UTCDamn man, you do reaction content better than just about anyone who's spent their entire youtuber career doing reaction content. Very attentive listening and genuine critiques that aren't just like "ayy this sh*t is/isn't fire bruh". I feel similar to this album as you, maybe a bit more on the negative side of the spectrum. I think what they do in theory is cool, but lacks in the execution. The guitars feel very generic and only there to remind you that you are still listening to a rock/metal band. Nothings offensively bad but nothing that grabs me enough to want to listen more. Also why are there SO many ballads on this album??
Chris Kilbourn
2025-05-24 22:27:47 +0000 UTCAs a casual metal listener, I think this is fine and enjoyable to some degree, but my issues come with the ADHD pace of the songs. Not a single track rests in a mood for the whole length. I think this band would not be as controversial if there was some new metal bands experimenting with the genre like they do. Thanks for your 2 cents Mic the Angelo!
Señor Rubio
2025-05-24 22:26:17 +0000 UTCmic the snare REACTS to SLEEP TOKEN [GONE WRONG] [DON'T CALL VESSEL AT 3AM] [SAX SOLO JUMPSCARE WARNING]
Maya
2025-05-24 21:01:04 +0000 UTCbro does NOT fw the oxford comma
Dakota Feliciano
2025-05-24 20:49:21 +0000 UTCMr. The Snare, do you have perfect pitch?
Matt Evans
2025-05-24 20:44:47 +0000 UTCI'll be honest, I've always been a bit of a pop princess so this definitely appealed to me! Enough to give it a listen on my drive today and DAMN that title track!! That piano almost had me in tears, it's so good. I totally support this format and would love to see more for different artists in different genres. Hope you're having a nice weekend!
Claire Ewers
2025-05-24 20:04:43 +0000 UTCU the real mvp man 🐐
gil simcha
2025-05-24 20:03:22 +0000 UTCI had a weird feeling you were going to cover this album I tried to be a defender but I couldn't, it was a slog to get through the most generic of pop possible (I love good pop music so I'm not coming in as like the antipop person, it just feels so stock even with the heavy guitars)
duke86fan
2025-05-24 18:09:02 +0000 UTC
