After releasing three standalone singles ("Jaws", a cover of Outkast's "Hey Ya", and "The Way That You Were") in 2018, Sleep Token signed with Universal Music Group label Spinefarm Records in 2019.

[4] On 20 June 2020, seven months after the album's initial release and the day of the summer solstice, Sleep Token issued a deluxe version of Sundowning containing four bonus tracks performed entirely on piano dubbed The Room Below.

Fella claimed that Sundowning served as a "redefinition" of heavy music, praising various elements of the tracks therein and predicting that its release would lead to "a storm of well deserved success" for the band.

[1] Reviewing the album for Kerrang!, Tom Shepherd gave Sundowning a rating of four out of five, writing that the record features "moments here to truly savour, and ideas and experiences that feel unique".

[10] In a feature published shortly after the release of the first four singles from Take Me Back to Eden in January 2023, Metal Hammer included "Gods" and "The Offering" in its list of Sleep Token's best songs.