I read the most scathing review of the new @Sleep-Token album. Do yo think this is a fair review? Let me know in the comments. Read the review here: www.sputnikmus... Join the Vinyl Cult: / @thevinylfiles #sleeptoken #review #music
I get the urge to be a contrarian regarding Sleep Token because the die hard fans "worshipping" everything is obnoxious. I am a fan although I don't like 100% of their stuff. But what I really despise is the amount of gatekeeping that goes on in the metal community when something different comes along. I'm an older dude, I have been a consumer of heavy music for 40 plus years so I pride myself in the fact that I am still searching for new music and not stuck in the 80s. I am also a musician so I can appreciate the talent required to produce music even if I don't care for the end result. In my opinion these guys are helping propel heavy music forward in an interesting way. Fuck all the naysayers
100%, I think gatekeeping is a big reason genres and scenes become stagnant. I’ve always been a fan of bands experimenting even if the outcome isn’t my bag. At least you tried something.
So if this was your first ST album, you will come in not understanding… the album is part of a trilogy, including Sundowning and This Place Will Become Your Tomb… If you listen to The Night Does not belong to God-Euclid, in chronological order, you will understand that every song has a counterpart, and every song has a callback. It’s progressive and tells a story over 3 albums… Sputnik and that Bald guy that hates Ronnie Radke and Metallica gave this album the lowest reviews I have seen. DYWTYLM is being sang into a mirror as a Counterpart to Fall For Me one song telling people what Vessel hates about himself, and then the other says that he needs to love himself for those imperfections… if you go in having listened to Sundowning and This Place Will become your Tomb it takes the album from a 6.5/7 to a 9-9.5. Just my opinion, but ST will probably be the Artist of the Year in Metal, and Take Me Back to Eden will probably be Album of the year…
No, this band is fantastic. This new album is fantastic. Rarely are there more than 1 or 2 hits of any value on anyones modern albums. This one has like 5 or 6 legit excellent tracks. I am SO glad that its not easy whatsoever to place this band into a genre, because it is far too diverse and complex for simple identification as "x" genre. It breaks molds, creates art that is moving and unique. You can keep your vanilla metal, I'll take this.
I feel like they get misunderstood a lot because no one has ever quite blended genres like this before. The straight up trolling that was going on in that review was hilarious. I'm laughing at the close mindedness really. 😂. Sleep token are band that can do rock, metal, pop, r&b, hip-hop, jazz. All in one. Granted this album is actually been the most genre diverse. I just don't get people not calling it metal, it is metal. But not just metal. The song structures have lots of genre turns but they make it work. With one of the best drummers in the world imo. Outstanding production too. I at first when i heard them first in November was threw off by the slow build style of alkaline but i fell in love with that song after a few listens. The way vessel writes is like some of the best poetry into music. I feel like also people love to jump on the whole thing that they are relying on the mask gimmick. I just find that grasping at straws, hating on something because its not traditional. When they are really talented musicians that just make music that is outside the box. We all like what we like tho. They are doing something huge right now, breaking boundaries i feel like. Crossing genre where anybody might dig some of their music at least which is really cool.
and they trake the most blandest and boring parts of every genre. It's a basic bitch metal. And no, they're not doing something new, they are just more popular (and poppy) than everyone that was before them.
Heya, I'm the author of this review and I am *so* sorry that you had to read that copypasta pen name out loud! Just watched this video, and loved your passionate engagement, good humour and thoughtful remarks at the end. I think you're right to be sceptical that my attitude is beneficial for the evolution of heavy music if framed from a metal-mixing-with-non-metal perspective, but coming from a (mostly) non-metal background, I was more concerned with the treatment or pop and R&B elements (which could definitely been expressed more clearly through that red mist!) "More in the realm of progressive pop with some metal influence" just about nails it. Can't comment on Vessel being my stepdad without jeopardising his anonymity, but enjoyed your deduction there. Someone in the comments made the point that music criticism is a lot easier if you lean into extremes than if you aim for balance, which I definitely agree with. I usually shoot for balance, but this was one album in a thousand that ground my gears beyond the point of moderation lol Anyway, loved this response - Mario Kart when?
Hey! I really loved reading this review. You’re a great writer! I think since making this video I see more where you came from. In all seriousness though, I will play Mario Kart with you anytime. Tonight? I’d love to chat.
@@TheVinylFiles I'm also from Sput, and the discourse in the review's comment section has been insane 😂 The average rating and intense discussion really go to show just how polarizing Sleep Token have been so far (honestly, I'm somewhere in the middle. Like around 2.5/5)
As a fan of Sleep Token, this Album was a masterpiece for me. So many callbacks to their previous music that made it so special to me and many others. I can see how people don't like their music. Their style is just pretty special. I feel like its best not to expect them to be a metal band, because they really aren't. They just blend a lot of genres together, which I personally love and I have a really emotional connection to them because their music just speaks to me. I am someone who listens to a lot of genres. I am a fan of the rap/hip-hop scene, I like a lot of pop artists and I even listen to synthwave and quite a few other genres. So to me the genre blending is perfect and it's done extremely well imo. And also with Vessel's voice. It is just very special. I have never heard anyone that sounds or sings like him, but to me he is just such a great vocalist. I feel like this is what music needs. A band who breaks the boundaries between genres. I mean... even friends of me who never listened to metal enjoy Sleep Token and also the heavy moments that they have throughout the album. I respect that others have a different opinion on this, but to me they have created something special that I will probably come back to for the rest of my life.
And that’s what it’s all about! If you like it then good! I agree, there’s less room for disappointment if you go into this album without the “this is metal” mindset.
I used to be a music writer and it was so easy to write creatively and with humour if you’re completely panning something. A lot harder to be a true critic and write balanced reviews. As the Sleep Token, I also used to work in A&R and would have died to sign them. The singing and songwriting (voice, chords and melody) are truly amazing… the musical skill is top tier, whether you like to style is up to you though. By the premise of the best bands provoke the most diverse reactions, they’ve hit the gold and I wishes them well… I personally love them! (And I love Taylor Swift and Tallah)
I don't understand why people are putting so much fervent effort into hating this album. If you don't like it just don't listen to it and move on. Who goes out of their way to hate on other music so intently? These are the kind of reviews popping up all over Rateyourmusic as well. Like seriously what did Sleep Token do to any of them. Why are they so angry. ST until the "TikTok boom" were relatively unknown and I think probably content to continue on as such with their niche fanbase that get their music. They're just doing their thing, and ST fans are just doing their thing, and nobody is being asses about it trying to shove it in peoples' faces so I'm not sure what's up with the massive backlash. On RYM both their past albums only have 5 posted reviews each. In just the past week of the Eden album being out, it has amassed something like 30-40 posted reviews. Clearly there has been a MASSIVE shift in exposure here and I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. Also any critic who has a fair and objective understanding of different types of music, in no way whatsoever, would give this a "pure shit" rating. Even if you do think it's shallow, bland, generic, there is no way in any objective universe that this album is so horrendously vomit-inducingly "kill-on-birth" bad like these people are making it out to be.
@@peterbrentrie That article isn't criticism, it's sensationalist "content" so they get paid. However, the blog isn't specifically what I was referring to, but a more general reception of this album by review communities who for some reason hate this album so much like the band personally abused them or something. It's not criticism that I don't understand and that's quite condescending of you to say so. It's that fervent, charged reaction to a relatively unknown band that I don't understand.
I just cant wrap my head around what people find so compelling about this band. Going in knowing nothing about them. This music is embarrassing to listen to. The songs are contrived. Calculated pop influenced beats. The singer is wasting his talent using that fluttering melodramatic style. To me its just Ghost made palatable for self important sadboy zoomers.
I really hate music tags. The metal tag on Sleep Token is misleading and if you are looking for strictly metal than ST probably isn't going to do it for you. But if you like music in general, forgetting genres, they are perfect. P.S. they were GD amazing way before tiktok
Sleep Token is my favorite band and I really loved this album. That being said, I do enjoy listening to people criticize or break down thier music. I may not agree with there opinions but I appreciate when someone elaborates rather than simply saying "they suck".
I love the album and currently I find myself to be feeding on the hate it gets and just to laugh off all the ways those so called 'reviewers' try to justify their judgement upon them. I'm like, I've been listening to music extensively and sonically for more than 22 years after my somewhat disjointed 13 year old run of weird artist fandoms ended.
This album is ridiculously awesome! I’m 47 and started listening to metal since the 80’s. Gravitated to more extreme metal in my older age. With that being said, I love this album and find very hypnotic. Haters will always be there
@@TheVinylFiles Heaviness doesn’t need to rely on instrumentation and vocals. This album is extremely heavy in an emotive sense. When they do hit you with those djent riffs, they hit much harder in contrast to the atmosphere and mood that they create.
@@QuestNation3221 In terms of emotional content, the entire artistic vision and content of this band is about a dude in a codependent relationship who doesn't have the balls to assert his own boundaries or identity and instead hangs around in the hopes that his self-chosen victimization will pay off when the other party finally decides to throw him a bone for it. If that's emotionally heavy to you as opposed to just off-putting, you're either an emotionally vulnerable 15 year old girl or a really questionable guy. I sincerely hope the copypasta "I'm a 47 year old death metal fan and I really relate to this band" comments that I see are astroturfed as I suspect, because otherwise there are more middle aged creeps out there than I thought.
This Sputnik review is pure garbage. I used to enjoy this site when it went 50 pages deep on bands like greyhaven, cave in and Oceansize but the comments for sleep token are toxic.
Based on your comment alone, I might have to check out greyhaven and cave in. Oceansize is one of my favorite bands I actually picked up from Sputnik. But Sputnik started to become a tight-knit community of elitists and/or straight-up trolls a long time ago. To be blunt, it's now just an incel circle-jerk. I really wish there were more sites formatted like it, just for competition sake.
So according to the writer, musicians should just keep making the same kind of music over and over again, “stay within the lines” and never evolve..GOT IT😑
The album is great. You have to split out the reviews a bit though.... Are you reading a review from someone who likes music in general or are you reading a review from someone who only likes metal? If it's the latter then no, they probably won't like Sleep Token. Take one song on it's own and it already contains more genres then they've listened to for a decade.
Sleep Token is so awesome because you can tell they could care less about genre. This album is amazing. The band just has their own thing going on. In the words of the great Josh Homme F*ck Imagine Dragons.
The fanbases is insufferable they are equal parts psuedo intellectuals and whiny assholes who complain about gatekeeping while gatekeeping themselves. They band themselves are good musicians but kinda spotty songwriters, I'm a huge fan of bands like Dillinger and Between The Buried and Me who do the Genre Bending thing and i feel like they do it better. Vola is a great example of poppy meoldies being blended with metal elements and Loathe does the Post Metal Deftones thing better. The fanbase like alot of tool fans don't listen to a lot of other prog bands either Bands like Porcupine Tree, Karnivool, The Contortionist and Devin Townsend do the whole prog thing better. Add Tesseract into that group
My two cents: They are good musicians, and they play tight on their live concerts. No doubt. Those who claims something else, just don't know what they're talking about, and are probably just another keyboard warrior that does not understand music, or what skills required to perform really means. I respect them as musicians, in a "technical point of view". With that said, this is the kind of gimmick band/music I try to avoid by all means. The Sputnik author took the word out of my mouth; "TikTok band". This TikTok trend has been spreading like the plauge among all kinds of music genres lately. I, myself is a heavy consumer of metal and techno music, and the techno scene is probably most affected by the tiktok trend, we call them "TikTok ravers". :) Anyhow, I don't really know, if they actually enjoy their own music, or if it's just a business strategy to please the broad mass. Probably a mix of both. I love prog rock/metal, but this... nah. Call me a gatekeeper, naysayer or whatever... this band is everything I do NOT like. If you like them - good for you (not sarcastic)! :)
I don't get the hype for this band. Everything i've heard is just ok. I can see the talent and they are cool live, but the music i've heard has just been kinda boring. I'm perfectly open to having my mind changed. I've heard people say this is the third album in a trilogy, is it really that much better if you start at the beginning??
I haven’t listened to Imagine Dragons, but all these comparisons to Sleep Token make me wanna listen to Imagine Dragons 😂 - also this album is AOTY for me
I personally can dig any genre if its interesting. Since im an ecclectic listener, i actually love it when an artist stylistically throws me around. Its way more interesting than hearing 12 clone songs back to back. Love sleep token for that❤
I love this album. Great mix of genres. I see why some people hate this album. The thing that cracks me up is when people talk about subjective things like they are spitting pure facts. Music is beautiful because it is the eye of the beholder that makes it " the best thing ever " " the biggest POS ever" People are silly. If you like Sleep Token listen to and enjoy their music. If you hate Sleep token. DON'T F'IN LISTEN TO IT 🤣😅😂 Great video. Thanks for making me laugh!!
I followed Sputnik for a loooong time. Since high school 20 years ago. I have contributed to quite a few reviews. I mentioned idea of objectivity in journalism a long time ago on this site. I was torn apart for the idea. I saw this review before this video. That site, as much as I once loved, is dead. There was briefly a legit review of this album before the one you're talking about in this video. The album got review-bombed, much like certain films on IMDB. Like Captain Marvel. There's a common thread here: incels hating on what is trending. I hope these guys find something better in their life. 😅
I agreed with every bit of that review, down to the detail of the piano flourish being one of the few enjoyable details of the album. I also kept hearing Imagine Dragons when listening to it. It keeps getting given the title of progressive metal, but it’s a pop band abusing a metal aesthetic.
The issue is that most mainstream music acts nowadays are just horrible. Formulaic and fake as hell and therefore the 'hate trend' must live against those tides. When there is a balance we can go back to focusing on 'the good stuff' but until then we need more reviewers seething at the mouth telling the industry what's up!! Don't shame 'haters' or the 'gatekeepers' we just demand a decent music scene, it's been done before and it can rise again!! Hate on!!
It does absolutely have its place. I just found this particular review incredibly funny. Maybe it’s just the “Minnesota Nice” in me that doesn’t like to talk crap about music that I didn’t make. There’s plenty of music out there that I hate that I just ignore. Maybe I should stop ignoring it and calling it out.
@@TheVinylFiles I will subscribe and share your video in hopes that you do!! haha Remember life is all about a good balance so just even out your reviews and don't be afraid to call out the obvs shrills and conmen in the modern record industry, it's hugely corrupt and it's stagnant for a reason!
@maaaaaap Most listeners are not members or users of review sites. Their sold-out shows at increasingly larger and more famous venues; the fact that they are headlining more often at festivals or shows, and the fact that they weren't really that well known until TMBTE, says otherwise.
I don't like to entertain the thought that criticism isn't valid toward music if the person criticising isn't a musician themself. But it's hard not to. Once I started playing music myself it totally changed my views. I stopped entertaining thoughts like "this person has bad taste", " this music is trash" etc. I like what you said. Highlight what you personally love. Leave it at that.
Nah, art is subjective, beauty is subjective and so is music. Not a lot of musicians will say they make music for other artists. Music is so polarizing and wildly subjective across the board, that it doesn't matter whether you're a musician or not - that's pretty irrelevant actually.
@@bigamigo4863 I said I don't like dismissing an opinion based on whether someone is a musician or not - I simply admitted that it is hard not to at times. I also illustrate your point about subjectivity in that I no longer entertain thoughts that dismiss a style of music or musician - I believe they all have a place and value.
It's true to say, if you don't appreciate prog, you won't be a fan... ...And that the most cringeworthy part of the review under analysis here is the putrid cynicism of the reviewer. 'Nonsensical moments of discontinuity'. I think we've established this person's sensory capabilities. Guessing he doesn't like Periphery either.
So, is his girlfriend a 15 year old, emotionally damaged girl, or a middle aged woman who hasn't mentally progressed since she was a 15 year old, emotionally damaged girl?
They are just too good. Most reviewers like yourself overlook the real genius of the band. Those that know know. Have no problem with bad reviews. I love them and have been a fan for 5 plus years. However, I can completely understand why people don’t like them. I said good day!
I used to be a music writer and it was so easy to write creatively and with humour if you’re completely panning something. A lot harder to be a true critic and write balanced reviews. As the Sleep Token, I also used to work in A&R and would have died to sign them. The singing and songwriting (voice, chords and melody) are truly amazing… the musical skill is top tier, whether you like to style is up to you though. By the premise of the best bands provoke the most diverse reactions, they’ve hit the gold and I wishes them well… I personally love them! (And I love Taylor Swift and Tallah)
