'This Place Will Become Your Tomb' is a reality-driven glimpse into human grief
MUSIC
Sleep Token is a British rock collective that lines up in the genres of progressive metal, alternative metal, and post-metal. They released their second album titled 'This Place Will Become Your Tomb' in the year 2021. And this album was elected as the 12th best rock/metal album of 2021 by Loudwire. This band is another one in the masked metal bands category. The anonymous collective worships an ancient deity called 'Sleep', who visited 'Vessel', the band's lead singer in his dream.
The album, 'This Place Will Become Your Tomb' opens with the track 'Atlantic'. This track opens the doors to the album with some spread-out piano ballads. Gorgeous in nature the ballad speaks of grief and guilt from the poetic perspective of an ocean burial. And of course, it is Vessel's pained, crooning vocals that do justice to lyrics like, 'Flood me like Atlantic, weather me to nothing, and wash away the blood from my hands.' The track, which starts with a piano ballad eventually, builds up into layers of synths and horns, which ends with the classic Sleep Token chorus, hard-hitting drums, symphonic synths, and powered choruses.
'Hypnosis' is the next track of the album, which is a little more on the heavy side as compared to the initial track. This song has the capabilities of a hyped live-show performance. This track has many gentrified layers within it. This track, which shows a new side of Sleep Token, could also witness a lot of Deftones influence. This track displays raw energy as the chorus once again involves distant choirs with heavy drums and spread-out synths and hits. The backing vocals in this track give a nuance, which feels like a bed of peace. Lastly, the breakdown with a few screams by Vessel is something that not many saw it coming.
The next track has a pop aura to the song. The track called, 'Mine' starts with energized vocals by Vessel, which are layered only with Rhodes and Xylophone melodies. However, after the verse, the drum comes in with a short musical chorus or break incorporated with a synth melody. The next verse brings in the guitars that bring in the pop layers once again. The second time the short musical chorus comes in; it is included with the actual chorus and is a perfect combination of melody and emotions.
With another pop-layered arrangement, the next song is called 'Like That'. Some critics are of the view that this could easily be an Imagine Dragons song. This song starts with a clap pattern. After the first verse, the drums come in which are quite appreciative keeping in mind the ghost notes which enhance the rhythm of the song. Like most of the songs in the album, the song which starts slow escalates into an amalgamation of hard-hitting drums, synths, and djent guitars. However, the song lacks a breakdown, which corners it more to a pop-metal arrangement.
The next track is a beauty. This is another track where Vessel pours down this fragile yet painful and heavy voice into the emotions portrayed by the lyrics. The song, which is called, 'Love You Want' starts with a synth chord progression and leads to the first chorus with multiple vocal layers and no drums. The second verse brings in some soft chords which gradually progress the song. The drum keeps on getting heavier and the symphonies keep getting thicker. It leads into a big cathedral-sounding performance of the chorus, which ensures it hits one's heart in the right spot.
The next track is called 'Fall For Me', which is an aroma of modern heaven. The song makes the best use of auto-tune, symphonies, harmonies, and multi-layered vocals. With lyrics such as, 'Won't you fall for me? Through a fractured existence, won't you fall for me?' Vessel gives the best presentation of what his vocals can do. The song is very emotional and opens up the scope of varied perspectives in terms of the song's emotions. The song is a modern ballad and the positioning of the song in the tracklist is perfect. It is an emotional breakdown of monotony.
The next song is called 'Alkaline' and is probably the heaviest track of the album. The track starts with some thick pads and slow synth melodies. Unlike other tracks of the album, this song is quick to bring in heavier patterns. The drummer owns a lot of credit in this track. The fast-paced drum patterns with a lot of fills, rolls, and ghost notes will make one bang their heads in unison and spread their arms as far as possible as they fill free in the chaos of the band's beauty. The backing vocals enhance the chaos more.
The next track is called Distraction. This song is layered on top of a piano chord progression in the beginning. Vessel's vocals are overwhelming as the song speaks of a grief-filled broken heart. The piano melodies subsequent to the first chorus would make one dance their heart out. The drummer gives off his Godlike performance in the remaining track. The track is very heartfelt in terms of its emotions, vocals, and chords. The song ends like a piece of art, a timeless piece of art.
Descending, the next track is another track that can easily be a modern rock band's song. This song seems to lack the capabilities of what Sleep Token offers. The production however is top-notched. The lyrics are a beauty.
The next track is called Telomeres which has a different tone to the harmonics than the rest of the song. However, the song follows a similar pattern to most of the songs in terms of its production. This track however has more calmed-down vocals in the verses. The chorus is heavy in terms of the music and not the vocals. The long scream takes of Vessel in this track are likely to give the feel of a Deftones song at times.
High Water, the next track is another track in the album which is a rollercoaster of emotions. This song's chorus has a wide swing to it, both in terms of emotions and music production. The djent guitars and Vessels' screams make it a perfect stop in the album when it is almost reaching its final song.
The final track of the song is an acoustic ballad, unexpected but this is slowly becoming a trend for most modern metal bands to end the albums with ballads or acoustic performances. The song is a calm peaceful ending to the album. All in the entire album, "This Place Will Become Your Tomb" is very emotional, heavy, and grief-filled.
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