With their first two albums — Sundowning and This Place Will Become Your Tomb — Sleep Token had already begun carving out a unique niche in the heavy music scene. But it was their third album, Take Me Back to Eden, that transformed them from underground darlings into arena-filling juggernauts. The album sold in staggering numbers, becoming the best-selling hard rock record of the modern era.
The question isn’t whether Eden was successful. The question is why. What exactly about this album resonated so powerfully?
To get some insight, The Metal Roundup spoke with George Lever, the producer behind Sleep Token’s first two records. Reflecting on what set Eden apart, Lever pointed to a key shift in how the band presented their music (via Ultimate Guitar).
“I think the thing that I noticed the most with Eden was the level of marketing backing that they got improved to a level with — where you’ve got a band of that scope, like in terms of ideas and vision, and how many complimentary media sources that you can have next to each song.”
According to Lever, it wasn’t traditional marketing that made the difference — it was the breadth and depth of supporting materials that surrounded the release: “Because they’re not person-facing, you have the opportunity to use anything else that you want in the world to explain a song. And I just saw the advertising… It’s not advertising… I’m just going to call it supporting materials.”
This departure from convention gave Sleep Token the freedom to communicate their artistic vision through more than just the music. The band leaned into immersive and atmospheric experiences, drawing influence from gaming, high-concept visuals, and abstract expression.
“Like, a lot of Dark Souls type influence, computer game influence coming into play, which is applicable. And money is being spent on 3D rendering, and things like having an atmosphere and a feeling, and feeling a bit more complete because we didn’t get the opportunity with Sundowning, we didn’t get the opportunity with Tomb. They tried a conventional music video, and it felt a bit weird.”
The shift paid off. Sleep Token abandoned the formulaic music video route and instead embraced new channels to articulate their themes — art, ambiance, and storytelling that extended far beyond the songs themselves.
“And then they went and tried other avenues with Eden, and that seems to be the thing. You know, having these abstract art explanations for things that are complex emotions seems to work for them. So that was the thing that I noticed, and that was actually the thing that I ended up looking forward to seeing more of rather than anything else.”
With Take Me Back to Eden, Sleep Token tapped into something deeper than sound: a full-spectrum emotional and conceptual experience.
