You think it’s a coincidence that Sleep Theory’s album is coming out just days after a certain other Sleep-monikered band dropped theirs, or a bit of canny pre-planning? It’s probably the former, though some lucky residual bites of the algorithm are nothing to scoff at. Sleep Theory themselves probably aren’t complaining. Anything to reinforce their radio-rock base is a win, after all. Plus, if you do find the new Sleep Token album to be the navel-gazing snoozefest that it invariably is, the more undemanding Sleep Theory might be something to look into.
Please understand that ‘undemanding’ is not meant to be taken derogatorily in this instance. It’s basically just fact, as Sleep Theory yawned into being with the Paper Hearts EP in 2023, ripe and ready to insert themselves into the radio-rock landscape. It’s no wonder that their current single III is doing very well in that format right now, birthed for that exact purpose as it was. So perhaps it can feel like shade when Sleep Theory are described using words like ‘undemanding’. It’s often the underscoring temperature for talking about rock bands as shamelessly commercial as this, after all. But in truth…there’s nothing all that wrong with this. Yeah, it’s hardly the most enlightening thing ever, but Afterglow can still be fit for purpose and willing to raise its head above the barely-off-the-ground parapet.
How much of that is owed exclusively to frontman Cullen Moore is up for debate, but it’s a worthwhile place to start nonetheless. Even on Paper Hearts, he was Sleep Theory’s ace in the hole, and there’s no difference whatsoever here. He’s powerful and expressive, making use of a R&B singer’s range though remaining fixed in a rock context. And for ready-for-radio hard rock and the company it tends to keep, it can’t be overstated how advantageous it is to have someone who can fluidly emote, as opposed to yet another ham hock with a mouth. Not sure why the fits and spurts of AutoTune have to be factored in, then (especially when applied Static’s opening lines for a pretty iffy first impression of the album), but at least it’s not often. Pleasingly, it’s not that intrusive, either, in that it doesn’t wrest oxygen away from the best parts of the songs it afflicts. Gravity pairs nicely with Stuck In My Head for a concentrated display of hookage, and Just A Mistake is the kind of late-album hit that’s a rarity for bands like this to pull out.
Maybe it’s just overspill from a rigorous production job that’s the epitome of metalcore hell-bent for active-rock acceptance. If there’s an edge to be found here, it likely comes from a Pro Tools kit rather than Sleep Theory themselves. Rawness and heaviness are, as always, outside the regular purview, and that is disappointing to see. Like, would it be so hard for a new band to find themselves in this lane with the intent to shake things up? III might be a heavier song, though isn’t casting a different silhouette from the Wage War / I Prevail-shaped norm. As for Fallout, that’s been imported directly from Paper Hearts (for whatever reason), and finds itself stymied by the flatter, underfed feel that contributed to that release’s mundanity.
To be fair to Sleep Theory, though, it would be remarkably unfair to say that there’s an outright terrible song on Afterglow. The bumps to endure notwithstanding, Sleep Theory know what they’re doing with immaculate efficiency, and for their format and what it does and doesn’t allow, they do well. As much as a glance through the tracklist looks like the Pre-Approved Radio-Core Song Title Bag has been soundly raided—Gravity; Numb; Parasite; Paralyzed; all the staples—they aren’t encumbered by a mercenary, “we know we can get away with flogging the bare basics” mentality. Effort is a nice quality to have; regardless of how little Sleep Theory deviate, it still shines through. Even the Daughtry ballad of a title track sticks out for not letting a nominal rock presence get swallowed, and by having a string arrangement that’s not unbearably treacly.
You just have to accept that, while it’s not a high bar that Sleep Theory are crossing, it is a bar. You run into those situations with bands like this sometimes, and it feels better to be charitable. Broken moulds and reinvented wheels are half the world away, but some enjoyable, full-fat fare can have its place, too. At least with Sleep Theory, that seems to be their default. For a debut, Afterglow establishes a presence that, honestly, wouldn’t be too bad to see pick up more consistent traction is this is the level they’re planning to stick out. At least this Sleep band won’t actually send you nodding off.
For fans of: I Prevail, Pop Evil, Shinedown
‘Afterglow’ by Sleep Theory is out now on Epitaph Records.
Words by Luke Nuttall
