Sleep Token – This Place Will Become Your Tomb | Album Review

Albums, at their crux, should be a full on experience; something we can lose ourselves in and completely indulge in. Enigmatic Sleep Token invite us to bask in the glory of their second album This Place Will Become Your Tomb. This ritual of escapism begins on September 24 and looks to level us entirely.

Constantly striving to break new sonic ground, Sleep Token whisk us away on a journey which can only be described as emotional devastation. This 12 song catalogue has us confronting the innermost depths of our being. Tackling themes such as unrequited love, broken relationships, and the severed connection with ourselves should feel oversaturated. Yet, Sleep Token breathe life into these in one instant and take our breath away in the next.

The immersion begins with the delicate melody of ‘Atlantic’. Vessel’s vocals encourage us to close off the outside world and open our emotional consciousness. The atmospheric sound of running water fully prepares us to “crumble like a temple”. We would have been more than happy to float within these waters of less is more. Yet the depth of this ocean blooms into spine chilling darkness. Synths and vocal tracks blend together under the surface, paving the way for rounded guitars to drown us in their tsunami.

Now dragged into the depths, we become invested in this journey. We long to hear Sleep Token’s take on the unpleasant side the coin. This exploration of the darker side of life normally calls for aggressive, stereotypically heavy songs. While there are a few examples of this throughout, Sleep Token defies this expectation. Songs such as ‘Mine’ rely on the story of the lyrics for their weight. Nestled in a borderline oppressive soundscape created by synths lies the obsessive nature of a lovestruck soul. Languishing in this desire for another, Sleep Token use these atmospheres and instruments as plot devices. The solo of ‘Mine’ ensnares the intended in this obsession, while the soft piano of ‘Distraction’ holds us in our own trap. ‘Distraction’ releases us as it swells into a mournful crescendo which both fills and empties us. The release is bittersweet yet it’s a high we gladly put ourselves through repeatedly.

It’s this feeling which makes Sleep Token’s talent for composition undeniable. The ability to elicit strong reactions is something a band either has or it doesn’t. It’s also something that cannot be faked. This is put on stunning display with ‘Like That’ and ‘High Water’. An electric pulsing slithers beneath the surface of ‘Like That’ and clutches our heart. The desperation for validation seeps from these two songs and leave us decimated. Feeding into the sadistic nature of another person gaining pleasure from our pain, ‘High Water’’s “you are still a perfect reminder of what all these scars on my arms are for” is breathtaking in its brutality. Thrown into a bed of thorns, we engage in emotional masochism and bleed ourselves dry.

To sum this record up in a few words feels like a crime. There are few words which could do this incredible album justice. The hype surrounding it is by no means pomp and circumstance. Sleep Token have delivered bottled lightning. We see ourselves; our pain, our suffering, our best laid intentions reflected back at us within every track. This album leaves us feeling empty in the most magnificent way. As only music can. This Place Will Become Your Tomb is exactly that: a mausoleum for our broken and hollowed souls.