u/Conscious_Musician28

My hotel room has a Bible in it so I took the opportunity to bookmark and underline some of my favorite passages…

Like Numbers 31:17&18 where the Israelite men are instructed to take the virgin girls as spoils of war after killing their families.

Or Exodus 21:20-21 where we’re given instructions on how severely we’re allowed to beat our slaves since they are our property.

Or II Kings 2:24 where Elisha curses 42 children “in the name of the Lord” to have them mauled by bears, just for making fun of his bald head.

Since the Bible is the only source of objective morality, I felt a responsibility to spread the good news.

I’ve been a singer pretty much since I could talk. I made a living as a vocalist for the majority of my career. And, still gig and do the occasional YouTube thing. But since I’ve started listening (and singing along) to Sleep Token, I feel like I’ve become a much better singer.

Are there any other singers here who’ve had this experience? It helps with Vessel’s voice sits perfectly in my range (except for some of the falsetto stuff, I never felt comfortable in that area—also, “wish that you could make me whooooooooooooole” is transcendently inhuman.

Side note: what a gift that they’ve given us instrumental versions of most of their songs! It brings me so much joy to sing along with the instrumental track and feel like I’m a part of the band.

Worship

I was late to the party and only started listening to Sleep Token last year. I heard Euclid before I ever listened to Sundowning. Even now, knowing the connections between TNDNBTG and Euclid, still makes it a transcendent experience. I get goose bumps every time it comes to, “The night belongs to you” and the drums switch to the groove from TNDNBTG. But I know it’s coming.

I often imagine what it would have been like to listen to this song for the first time, while being intimately familiar with Sleep Token’s earlier work. That first Easter egg moment that peaks your curiosity. And the very next line, “This bough has broken through” makes your jaw hit the floor. Something special is happening! And then, the reprise starts. You hear the familiar pattern on the piano, mimicking the synth part that opens Sundowning, and suddenly you realize that you know these lyrics already. The gravity of what is unfolding begins to set in. The elation at realizing that the band that’s so full of surprises has surprised you yet again, but this time in a way that makes you begin to suspect that maybe the creative force behind Vessel’s songwriting is divine after all. And then the final lyrics overwhelm your mind like an unexpected thunderstorm. “I know for the last time, you will not be mine, so give me the night…”. This time the meaning has changed, and it hits you so hard that tears begin to stream down your face. Vessel just put the most magnificent book-ends on a three album arc—a phenomenal feat of creative writing and music production that, in all likelihood, has never been done before. But there’s something else. There’s something metaphysical that’s happened. You’ve been changed.

I want to have that experience, and will never be able to.

One of the first things that drew me in to Sleep Token’s music was II’s drumming. Vessel’s emotionally vulnerable lyrics and raw and passionate vocal style definitely hooked me for good, but the gateway for me was the drums. I’ve been playing drums for over 30 years and, while I’ve played many other instruments throughout my career—even professionally—I’ve always identified as a drummer. My earliest memory from childhood is watching the Talking Heads video for Burning Down the House—MTV was my babysitter. I became obsessed with Peter Gabriel as a toddler. With those two early influences, it’s no wonder I became a drummer. I feel like there are rhythms playing in my head non stop. But when I hear a great drummer cutting up, it calms all that noise in my mind gives it an outlet—like a pressure release valve.

But, enough about me, this is a II post. His playing connects to the deepest parts of me and gives me life. So, I’d like to hear from all of you. What are your favorite II moments from Sleep Token’s catalog?

I have a thousand, but I don’t want to influence the responses so I’ll just seed the conversation with one of my favorites:

Verse 2 of Caramel 😙🤌

TL;DR
Tell me your favorite drum parts from Sleep Token’s catalog.

There’s no shortage of Sleep Token songs that have made me cry. However, this morning, I found myself weeping to the instrumental version of Levitate. Typically, it’s the lyrics that get me. This song wrecked me with nothing more than vibes. Literally, within the first several notes on the piano I had teared up—no more than 20 seconds into the song.

Have you guys ever found yourself so emotionally moved by an instrumental song?