mvm.

Eternally divinine, Sleep Token are one of the most unique new underground acts in the heavy rock and progressive metal heading to leave its quarters of worship and share its beauty with us.

Definitive, powerful and expertly put together, Sundowning is one of my favourites that I just keep coming back to, simply to relive. I implore everyone else to do the same.

______

But, don’t be put off by the glorious display of devil-like incarnations, this album is not to be trifled or spited with. Like inhabited spirits, they simply create abounding music – and simply worship those creatives before them.

Like carefully aligned pieces of music, for me, the album invokes a masterpiece – and I love it. Beautiful melodic performances, a sorrowful vocalist, the precisely-timed chaos of the arching drums, and the illusion and mystery that invokes such a piece is enough to upkeep conversations going about just how strong the progressive-metal scene is in the UK.

The sheer anonymity of the British collective just adds further to the mystery, too. Songs such as, The Offering, Dark Signs and The Night Does Not Belong to God are somewhat showing their worship to an ancient deity that can only be identified by ‘Sleep’, who appeared to the band’s lead singer, ‘Vessel’, in a dream.

I know about it just as much as you do, but you’ve got to admit it’s pretty darn cool. But where frantic progressive-metal reins in their expressiveness, moments of fleeting beauty appear so softly in the ambient tranquil of such songs like, Levitate and Give.

The album does not begin to falter though, with elements of rage – maybe due to the lack of worshipping to their inhabitants – driving us straight into Gods and Say That You Will. The full 12-listing of the album ends with a beauty that I can’t stop repeating – Blood Sugar. A chorus of melodic piano, a hymn of vocals and progressive rhythmic art, it’s a worthy contender to end it right.

_______

If they’re planning on delighting the Gods with this as The Offering, the Vessel, and his collaborative collective, should be mightily satisfied with their efforts.