I really enjoyed the first The Sleeping record on Victory. While not wholly original it did the job; hitting hard with plenty of melodies it supplemented a busy genre at that time with some solid songs. The band are back with this new album, again on Victory, with a slightly harder sound. And it suits them. ‘What It Takes’ is a more driving record. The riffs are much better, the vocals seem more passionate and emotional. ‘Bomb The World’, for instance, is really intensely delivered, more so than the band have done in the past.
‘What It Takes’ is a much darker beast than their previous work. Comparisons have been made to Mars Volta but I believe there’s more of an Envy on the Coast vibe. At times it’s more riff driven with a few grooves rather than an all-out sonic blast. The bass riff in ‘Shallow Dreams’, for instance, shows a whole new side to the band. As is normal for The Sleeping, however, everything they do is underpinned by a sense of melody and there are plenty of singalongs here – it’s just they’re not necessarily the main focus of each song. ‘Bad Religion‘ and ‘Ripped Dress’ are two of many songs with really strong choruses.
The Sleeping have made a few little tweaks and come back with a really strong release. I think those who wrote the band off last time round will be nicely surprised by this record – expect to see and read plenty of positive reviews this time round.