Take Me Back to Eden

Take Me Back to Eden is the third studio album by anonymous English rock band Sleep Token. Produced by the band's frontman Vessel with Carl Bown (the first time the band had produced a record without their previous producer George Lever), it was released on 19 May 2023 by Spinefarm Records. The album serves as the final part of a trilogy, also featuring the group's first and second albums, Sundowning (2019), and This Place Will Become Your Tomb (2021).

Six songs from Take Me Back to Eden were released as singles: "Chokehold", "The Summoning", "Granite", "Aqua Regia", "Vore" and "DYWTYLM".

While the album received divided reviews from critics, it debuted at No. 3 on the UK Albums Chart and in the top 20 of the United States.

Background
Sleep Token released the first two songs from their as-yet untitled third album, "Chokehold" and "The Summoning", on 5 and 6 January 2023, respectively. These were followed on 19 and 20 January by "Granite" and "Aqua Regia", respectively. The slew of releases led to a rapid increase in popularity for the band, who grew from having reportedly "less than 300,000 monthly listeners on Spotify at the beginning of January" to having over 1.58 million by the end of the month. "The Summoning", in particular, became one of Sleep Token's most popular songs to date, reaching number 1 on the Spotify Top 50 Viral Songs chart, as well as receiving over 1 million views on YouTube within two weeks. It was also the band's first song to register on the official UK and US charts, reaching number 14 on the UK Rock & Metal Singles Chart, number 26 on the Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart, and number 2 on the Billboard Hard Rock Digital Song Sales chart.

Take Me Back to Eden was officially announced on 16 February 2023, alongside the release of fifth single "Vore". The album was described in its announcement as "Part 3 of a trilogy, a spectacular chapter-closer in the ongoing Sleep Token saga, a saga that kicked off in earnest with debut album Sundowning". "DYWTYLM" was issued as the sixth pre-release track from the album on 23 April 2023.

Composition
The album combines elements of various genres including funk, electronic, pop,   R&B, alternative metal, progressive metal, djent, metalcore, and blues.

Critical reception
Take Me Back to Eden received polarizing reviews from music critics. On Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 60, based on seven reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

In a five-star review for the NME, Emma Wilkes described the album as "an ambitious, emotional monolith of a record, with all the hallmarks of future classic status", praising its "unpredictability" and adoption of multiple musical styles. In a four-star review for Metal Hammer, Dannii Leivers described Take Me Back to Eden as "a record that not only expands the band's universe and continues to prod metal's boundaries, but considers what it means to be human", proposing that it is "Sleep Token's strongest effort to date".

Clash writer Ims Taylor claimed that while "Some moments are impressive", Take Me Back to Eden is "An album let down by over-indulgence", suggesting that the record features too many songs that "stretch on longer than [they] need to". Similarly, Elliott Burr of The Line of Best Fit complained that Take Me Back to Eden "tends to drag along with bread-and-butter formulas", concluding his 6/10 review by suggesting that it "may not be revolutionary in its music or pantomime, with some evident missteps".

Accolades
At the end of 2023, Take Me Back to Eden was included in a number of music publication's end-of-year lists:

Personnel

 * Vessel – vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, synthesizers, production
 * II – drums
 * Carl Bown – production, engineering
 * Ste Kerry – mastering