Even in Arcadia by Sleep Token

Ready for an unpopular review? You're all set.

Even in Arcadia by Sleep Token, released in May 2025, is a band I consider the musical phenomenon of our time.

Regarding the band, I stand by what I said in my post for 2023's Take Me Back to Eden, when I closed by hoping for a great future for this band, based on what I'd heard and with great curiosity for their new album, this one. Here I'll have the opportunity to elaborate on that.

I preferred to listen to the album without reading the reviews or listening to anything beforehand. The criticisms of this band from rock and prog purists are always merciless, and I wanted to avoid being influenced by other people's opinions.

We find pop, prog, metal, soul, and rap, even in a single track if necessary. What do we want from today's music and what is right to want? If we don't accept this revolution that encompasses the sum of all influences and resist change, there will be no future. To support what I've said here, I'll use a quote from a nonconformist par excellence:

"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible."

"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible."

Frank Zappa

This band is trying, and in my opinion, they deserve recognition. They can move a new generation that hasn't yet experienced them to genres less modern than the current norm, recognizable in prog or metal. Hats off. It's a record I could listen to with my son and a friend of mine who's a pop fan, and a friend who's a metal fan. After four bars bordering on rap, a riff kicks in with distorted guitar and acoustic drums, super-fast kick drums and screaming, pure, hard metal, followed by soft piano and a pop vibe: this is their trademark, and there's nothing else like it around.

Today's music contaminated by yesterday's sounds and vice versa, a Trojan horse that goes in both directions.

The artwork is beautiful. The compositions are beautiful, the execution is excellent, and the production is impeccable.

You can either like it or not, but I love it in all its nuances and recommend it to everyone without hesitation, to understand what's happening where we don't look.

Tracks
1. Look to Windward (7:46)
2. Emergence (6:26)
3. Past Self (3:34)
4. Dangerous (4:11)
5. Caramel (4:50)
6. Even in Arcadia (4:28)
7. Provider (6:05)
8. Damocles (4:24)
9. Gethsemane (6:23)
10. Infinite Baths (8:23)
Running Time: 56:30

The Lineup
- II - drums
- Gabi Rose - saxophone

- Vessel - vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, synthesizers