Review: While She Sleeps 'Sleeps Society'
While She Sleeps 'Sleeps Society' Album Art
Four years ago, While She Sleeps burst onto the scene. The metalcore band created a unique sound for themselves and also sparked some much-needed individuality into the genre. By taking the risks they have within their musical career, they have quickly made themselves known for their dynamic and uncharacterized presence in the music industry.
2017's You Are We Saw was just one of those records that made you pause, listen, and feel that something special was emerging in the world of metalcore. With high-octane guitar riffs, creative vocal usage, and memorable hooks, You Are We Saw made us pay attention to the UK metalcore band and appreciate their unique identity within the scene.
When we felt that While She Sleeps has drawn the line with You Are We Saw, they came swinging with 2019's So What?. This experience turned up the energy of their previous sound to new heights. So What? also introduced some new elements that were new and exciting by testing the waters with new rap elements. Combined with massive melodic and electronic instrumental components, this added that extra impact to what While She Sleeps had already perfected a few years back.
So when it came to their fifth album Sleeps Society, many wondered how they would top themselves this time around, especially with so much material to speak about at their disposal through 2020. While She Sleeps has managed to deliver another banger of a record. With inventive, kaleidoscopic riffs being fired off at every turn, While She Sleeps has taken their sound, evolved, and has also once again traversed and conquered new musical territories in the process.
"Enlightenment" is the first major track to make an explosive entrance onto this record. With beautiful, cascading guitar riffs woven around electronic bliss, the experience meshes perfectly with emotionally charged lyrics that speak of perfectionism and the quest of pursuing something unattainable. A great opener of a track, it keeps us engaged for what's to come.
While the whole record is coated with points of kinetic energy bursting through with each track, other gems that stand out on this creative centerpiece are "Systematic." A track that strays away from the nature of the first two tracks, "Systematic" delivers a nasty, gritty presence to the album that many will return to after the album is over.
Another juncture that sparkles on this record is "Know Your Worth (Somebody)." Here the guitar presence is gargantuan, incredibly unpredictable, and fast-paced throughout. Besides the positive message enveloped into such an unrelenting sound, it stands out for the attractive vocal energies that tie so beautifully into it.
"Divison Street" stands out as a beautiful piano piece and gives space for the album to breathe and take in the messages that While She Sleeps has presented to the world through a powerful and moving record.
Sleeps Society is a culmination of the sounds that they have progressively built over the years. Behind such a finely crafted instrumental piece of work lies a message of love for yourself and others. It's an album that relates a lovely message that knowing who you are and being confident in that feeling should be good enough for yourself and those around you. While She Sleeps took the extra time to create an album for the difficult times we are having now and might continue to have for some time. Knowing that there is unrest within our minds and hearts, While She Sleeps reminds us that we are not alone, Sleep Society helps achieve new hope and belief in that message.