🌀you know you hypnotize me always🌀

a love letter to “this place will become your tomb”

Sleep Token - Alkaline (An Offering from II)

Blasting sleep token and scream singing with the windows down, hair going everywhere, flying down the road at sunrise/sunset >>>>>>

Ok, so I had another Sleep Token thought, and I haven’t seen anyone mention this (someone very well could have), BUT:

Ok, so there’s Sundowning, TPWBYT, and TMBTE, right?

Sundowning: Sun = Fire

TPWBYT: The cover is clearly someone underwater so = Water

TMBTE: Eden is a garden. Garden = Earth (Also could count as Spirit.)

All they need is Air!

Like, they’re so intentional with everything they do—sure, this could be a coincidence, but is it??

I know the trilogy is complete with TMBTE, but what if their next album has something to do with air/being free?? Even though one part of Vessel’s journey is finished, this next phase still connects with his past.

I just had to get this thought out.

There are a lot of things I'm normal about. Sleep Token isn't one of them. Every now and then I find something that confirms some theory somewhere and I lose it all over again.

Today it's Revelations 5:6 and Atlantic.

"Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth."

"I woke up surrounded, eyes like frozen planets

Just orbiting the vacuum I am

They talk me through the damage, consequence

And how it's a pain they know they don't understand

Sobbing as they turn to statues at the bedside

I'm trying not to crush into sand

So flood me like Atlantic, weather me to nothing

Wash away the blood on my hands"

I have TPWBYT on vinyl, and I sometimes like to play Atlantic at 45 rpm because I think the piano/Vessel’s voice sound hilarious sped up like that. Complete tonal shift from how the song sounds at normal speed

.

The casebook of standardized paradiddle

The last thirty seconds of Missing Limbs bothers me a lot.

Because it feels like a predator approaching from the murky waters below and it's just getting faster and you're powerless to defend yourself against it.

And then it immediately blends into Chokehold.

Like, that is warning bells if I've ever heard them.

Someone please understand what I'm getting at.

my thoughts on the new sleep token masks and what's next:

the boys have been hinting at this type of change for a while now, iii's paint slowly turning red and iv and ii taking off their masks at the show just before wembley. I think thr new album will be more metal and overall more heavy, similar to their songs vore and gods.

I don't think these changes are necessarily meant to be seen as a part of the TMBTE cycle, they quite literally said "a new era" on each of their posts, these masks are hinting at and showing us what to expect for the next era. Sleep Token is very deliberate with what they choose to do appearance wise and their lore so although these masks are a very drastic change, it's all part of the plan.

NOW for lore.... TPWBYT and Sundowning were kinda defeat albums, Vessel being at his lowest while TMBTE is a redemption album, Vessel taking control back in his life from Sleep and his insecurities/past faults. that being said- the next album will probably be Sleep fighting Vessel back. I think what's happening is that Sleep takes different forms of Vessels insecurities and past faults so Sleep is using this to their advantage, using the other vessels (ii, iii, and iv) as their puppets. the toxic back and forth cycle between Sleep and Vessel is ending so Sleep is taking the manipulation up a notch. the new masks look very intimidating and it's all deliberate, Sleep is possessing the other vessels and shaping them into Vessels (i) fears as a way to get to Vessel (i), I mean, what would be a better way to get to Vessel if not to use the band as a way to get to him?

people say the masks clash too much and they don't look consistent but I think that's exactly what's supposed to happen. Sleep is using ii, iii and iv as Vessels INDIVIDUAL insecurities. Vessel sees the others and its a mirror of his faults. or maybe they quite literally wanted to look more individual rather than have the same look as one another 🤷‍♀️

the next album will be like a videogame boss fight between Vessel and sleep

some other stuff I noticed and some more theories. do these mean anything? who knows! this is just me rambling:

Vessel has runes written all over his body, I couldn't exactly make out what they say but just going off the fact that it's runes- it can either be 1. a protection barrier from Sleep or 2. another way that Sleep is slowly taking over vessel

it seems like the mouths on the masks are getting wider and wider in order from ii, iv, iii, and then Vessel. while all the others have the band sigil across their eyes, ii is the only one who has it across his mouth. considering ii is the second vessel and Sleep is struggling to control Vessel(i), what if theyre going for ii? using him as the main vessel? he also imo has the most intimidating looking mask out of everyone so...

or maybe iii is gonna get a mic and thats why his mask is open HEHE

my sister pointed this one out- iii had gold on his hands as he was transitioning to the red body paint and as we all know, iii and iv are very touchy on stage, iii always lifting ivs mask up, them kissing, etc etc. now iv has gold on his mask, what if iiis gold paint from his hands transferred to ivs mask? what would this mean? IDK maybe it's another Sleep tactic or we're looking too much into it lmao

iv also has Vessels leg wraps on his arm? what's up with that?

ANYWAYS lmk your thoughts, my mind is going crazy rn and I think people are taking the mask changes at face value rather than thinking about why they look the way they do now and how it fits in the lore

the holy trinity

I just went ahead and scanned the TPWBYT booklet and inside of the CD sleeve, for everyone who wants to see the illustrations. I'm not entirely sure what this means but it kinda looks like the whales descend and decaying process. Basically the ocean became the whales tomb? If anyone can make sense of it, I'd like to know your interpretations bc I'm not smart enough for that lol.

Tagging @moonchild-in-blue & @sleepanonymous bc I scanned it bc of you guys.

the fucking smile, he knows and he enjoys it.

( twt post )

So, I have recently noticed that out of all of Sleep Token's discography, there are exactly only 3 songs where Vessel isn't addressing someone directly as a dialogue (doesn't use the words you/we), and 2 of those he still mentions someone in the 3rd person.

Atlantic - doesn't use you/we. The second person (you) is implied, but the song is mostly about Vessel/his inner monologue and memories. If I'm not mistaken this is the ONLY song that mentions him crying sobbing (I've barely begun and I'm already sad).

call me // flood me // weather me // etc

Alkaline - doesn't use you/we but spends the whole song describing someone and how she affects him.

she is changing me // her molecules // she's not acid nor alkaline // i'm caught up with her design // etc

Distraction - doesn't use you/we, and the main focus is on him. Vessel mentions someone in passing (in the 3rd person), but mainly it's all about him.

she is not like any other (...)

Worth mentioning that the ONLY song that breaks the you/we // dialogue rule, that seems to be solely about Vessel and doesn't reference any other person is DYWTYLM, if you go with the most common interpretation that this is Vessel talking to himself/his reflection.

[of course it's up to personal interpretation but to me this is what makes the most sense]

Why is this interesting? BECAUSE, in literally every other song, his feelings about the person, their relationship, and even his own position tend to change a lot.

Sometimes Vessel gets extremely passive agressive and angry at them (I see you Granite). Others he is just pouring out his love and desire, and being the most romantic individual ever. Sometimes they are someone to defend or be guarded by, others they are a menace and dangerous; someone to walk away from. All of these are things he says directly to them, even if he does flourishes and dances around the question.

And yet, in all 3 of those songs, they are always painted as someone who is "good" and "unlike any other", who protects them, who is "more than he could ask for". Someone whom he loves and is content with. In Alkaline, where he mostly just talks about her, Vessel describes her as "either born in hell or heaven sent" and goes on about the dichotomy of her being, but is ultimately "into it". At no point he shows remorse or discontent regarding her.

On the other hand, he is always suffering in them (technically he is always suffering anyways but-). In none of these songs does Vessel ever takes the role of someone who could retaliate. Of someone who is strong. If we look at Atlantic and Distraction (and DYWTYLM if you want to), the only songs pretty much solely about him, he is always in pain, on the verge of collapsing completely. Even Alkaline, he is glad to be consumed and entangled by her.

In those songs, Vessel is crumbling and sobbing and falling apart, and begging to be "put to sleep"; he is willing to be drowned because "it's too late for him", offering no resistance; he is wishing to be someone else, wishing to love himself and "smile back at him", as he knows he should.

When talking directly to them, Vessel is as loving and sweet as he is angry and hurt by them. And yet on the very, very few occasions he talks to only to himself, he is always seeking refuge and declaring his love for them, while running from himself and begging for death.

Also interesting to point out that, with the exception of DYWTYLM, all of them belong to This Place Will Become Your Tomb. The depression album. The "let me be taken by the cold waves and sink to the bottom of the ocean so I don't feel anymore pain" album.

Top 9 Albums

Came across this tag game and wanted to do one myself!

I tried not to repeat any artist, and considered the entire album.

No Pressure Tags: @steph-speaks, @bookshelf-dust, @lululacava, @bluebeardtheblasphemous

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