“How we bought right here is as irrelevant as who we’re – what issues is the music and the message.”
So Sleep Token singer Vessel informed Metallic Hammer in 2017, within the very first interview this mysterious determine ever carried out, and considered one of solely a scant handful that has been executed since. Besides that quote isn’t fairly correct.
Who Sleep Token are behind the masks and beneath the robes is probably not a priority to a fanbase deeply protecting of the band’s true identities, however their journey from tech metallic curios to the most important success story of the 2020s is a unique matter.
Since releasing their debut single, Thread The Needle, again in 2016, Sleep Token’s fame has grown exponentially. Submit-pandemic particularly, their ascent has been dizzying, with Sleep Token headlining arenas within the UK and US and, most impressively, about to headline Obtain’s Principal Stage.
The mystique surrounding the band has performed an enormous half of their recognition, however there’s extra to it than the spectral hand of Sleep, the mysterious deity that guides the band (in line with the mythology). That is how Sleep Token turned essentially the most profitable metallic band of the last decade, within the phrases of a few of the individuals who have been a part of it.
Sleep Token have been shrouded in thriller from the beginning. The preliminary idea of an nameless band was in place even earlier than they launched a word of music, as was a broad model of the lore on which the band could be constructed, although Vessel was initially often called ‘Him’.
George Lever [Sleep Token producer 2016-2021]: “The start line was eradicating this concept of the music you take heed to being associated to the particular person making it. By being nameless, the listener is pressured to narrate to what they’re really listening to.”
James Monteith [Tesseract guitarist/publicist at Hold Tight PR]: “We used to run the press space of [UK tech metal festival] Techfest and, in 2016, I used to be approached by Tom Quigley, who was a scene common and ran a couple of blogs on the time. He stated he was working with this new band, would we perhaps be keen on doing their press? We ended up speaking for an hour, and he rolled out the entire idea, the imagery and all the things about it… aside from the music.”
George Lever: “The lore/narrative was fairly free nonetheless, nevertheless it positively existed.”
James Monteith: “There was nothing particular as such, extra this concept of making an occult vibe and feeling, led by this prophet-like character who leads a faith. I keep in mind pondering, ‘That is all very attention-grabbing, however the place’s the music?’”
The broader world bought their first style of Sleep Token in September 2016 with the discharge of Thread The Needle, a track whose haunting environment, mild piano and emotive vocals have been punctuated by jarring tech metal-style breakdowns. The track was accompanied by a video that includes summary visuals that gave no clue as to the band’s id.
It was adopted three months later by the self-released three-track One EP, which introduced them to the eye of Basick Data, who had helped break bands akin to Enter Shikari, Sikth and Bury Tomorrow.
George Lever: “A variety of the primary EP was really us attempting stuff out. We recorded the drums on a whim at Monnow Valley Studio in Wales. I launched him to considered one of my associates, who really nonetheless drums in them now.”
Nathan Barley Phillips [co-founder of Basick Records]: “I actually preferred One. We [Basick] wished to place one thing collectively the place we might amplify what Sleep Token have been and what they have been doing. It was nonetheless comparatively scrappy at the moment, nevertheless it was clear there was a imaginative and prescient from day one.”
James Monteith: “We shared an workplace with Nathan, so we mentioned it with him. Then an electronic mail popped into our inbox with one of many early demos of Calcutta [which would eventually appear on 2017’s Two EP]. All of it clicked immediately. I’d by no means heard something prefer it earlier than. It seemed like Meshuggah combined with Bon Iver.”
Nathan Barley Phillips: “Folks assumed everybody bought onboard from day one, however that wasn’t the case. There have been some raised eyebrows across the anonymity and the presentation, even the songwriting.”
James Monteith: “Within the tech metallic world there was a number of buzz and pleasure early on, however exterior of that it appeared to be actually sluggish going. The press didn’t actually know what to make of it.”
Nathan Barley Phillips: “In its easiest phrases, we described it as ‘Sam Smith meets Meshuggah’. These have been the layman’s phrases we used to explain it to individuals who may not get it. Imagine me, there have been individuals in these early days who didn’t!”
A part of the explanation behind that bafflement was as a consequence of the truth that the band didn’t give interviews – even the equally nameless Ghost had spoken to the media of their early days beneath a pseudonym. In Could 2017, they lastly relented and carried out their very first interview, executed by way of electronic mail for Metallic Hammer’s web site.
James Monteith: “We at all times bought requests, however the band stated from the beginning they have been nameless and wouldn’t do them. It helped create extra curiosity as a result of no one might get entry to them.”
Matt Benton: “You may’t do an introductory piece with out an interview. We managed to get an settlement [from Sleep Token] for an electronic mail interview with Metallic Hammer. Even then, the band knew they didn’t need to have a voice.”
Nathan Barley Phillips: “There have been a number of choices that have been super-interesting to be concerned with, particularly in that improvement stage the place we have been making choices about the way it was offered, the language we might use, whether or not we should always do interviews. That was the acorn that knowledgeable a number of how issues are nonetheless dealt with at present.”
Vessel (within the Metallic Hammer interview): “As musicians we’re impressed by the human situation and a plethora of artists, however we’re deeply moved by His phrases and proceed to do our utmost to carry them to life. As followers we’re sure by an obligation to mix our crafts to create music that conveys a few of our most primal, and highly effective feelings.”
Matt Benton: “It’s considered one of just a few interviews they’ve ever executed. It’s one thing I’m glad exists, as a result of it’s like getting the Phrase Of God.”
Sleep Token’s second EP, Two, was launched in July 2017. It discovered the band increasing their mixture of tech metallic, metalcore, pop and R’n’B throughout its three tracks. The thrill across the band was rising, regardless of the very fact they’d but to play stay – a mooted headlining present at Camden’s Black Coronary heart pub was scrapped once they bought a suggestion to assist Norwegian psych rockers Motorpyscho at London’s Islington Academy in October 2017.
A month later, they opened for synthwave trailblazer Perturbator at ULU in Central London.
George Lever: “I had freedom to supply interpretations of what I used to be listening to. It was a really lucky mixture of personalities and beliefs. There was by no means any, ‘We’re going to take over the world’-type chat. It was extra, ‘Will we like this?’ ‘Let’s do extra of that.’”
Nathan Barley Phillips: “After Two got here out, I began getting calls from reserving brokers and promoters who I’d not heard from shortly. They wished to talk to me about Sleep Token.”
Matt Benton: “The primary time seeing them within the flesh onstage was fairly unusual. They have been carrying these fairly rudimentary masks. However even on the Motorpsycho present, there have been some individuals there who very clearly knew the songs. After they did the Outkast cowl [Hey Ya!, originally released in 2017], you can hear a pin drop. Vessel had such a command of the room via his vocals – one thing that’s probably not modified.”
James Kent [Perturbator]: “We’d been given a couple of choices for bands that wished to open that present, however I keep in mind deciding on them as a result of I believed they sounded actually good.”
Kamran Haq [promoter and Download festival booker]: “The Perturbator gig was extra like a showcase for Sleep Token. Lots of people had by no means seen or heard the band earlier than however have been blown away: ‘What the fuck is that this?!’”
Matt Benton: “You could possibly see this was a band who have been discovering their toes and organically rising. That they had such a powerful concept of who they wished to be each on- and offstage.”
James Kent: “It sounded and regarded so good, so skilled. I had no concept it was solely their second present.”
The calculated warning surrounding Sleep Token’s early stay appearances quickly evaporated. After opening for Detest and Holding Absence in Manchester and London in March 2018, they hit the pageant circuit exhausting that 12 months, taking part in The Nice Escape in Could, Obtain in June (on the fourth stage), Techfest in July, and Studying and Leeds in August, squeezing in a session for Radio 1’s Rock Present amid all of it.
Matt Benton: “The Nice Escape was the primary level they’d began to get business legitimacy. There was nonetheless a way of, ‘Who is that this band? What are they gonna do?’”
Kamran Haq: “That Nice Escape present was unimaginable. It was super-hot and the room was completely packed – you couldn’t transfer in there. I reckon they solely performed 4 songs. However it was particular too as a result of it was the primary time a number of tastemakers have been seeing the band.”
Adam Ryan [Great Escape festival director]: “By way of acts that will go on to essentially blow up, we had Fontaines D.C., Sam Fender, Slowthai… It was a incredible 12 months. However Sleep Token ended up being the discuss of the pageant.”
Nathan Barley Phillips: “Attempting to maintain some sense of anonymity was an actual mission. Significantly getting them to and from the stage with out anybody seeing who they have been.”
James Monteith: “Techfest felt like a pleasant full-circle factor, as a result of that’s the place we’d first heard the idea and now they have been taking part in to a totally overpacked room. It was the primary time I knew one thing particular was happening – we’d by no means seen something prefer it earlier than.”
For all of the rising stay exercise, Sleep Token had but to play their very own headline present. That modified on October 11, 2018, once they carried out on the intimate and atmospheric St Pancras Previous Church in North London.
James Monteith: “It was their first sell-out occasion, which additionally turned an enormous a part of their legend.”
Matt Benton: “That was the primary affirmation that what they have been doing was going to work. Every little thing actually picked up from there too.”
Nathan Barley Phillips: “It actually felt like a coming of age for the band. It was the primary second the place all the things felt absolutely fashioned and absolutely realised. It was like, ‘That is what it might be.’ You could possibly hint a kernel of a few of the issues they have been doing on the St Pancras present to a few of the huge exhibits they’ve executed since.”
Having signed to Spinefarm Data, a subsidiary of main label Common, Sleep Token spent the early a part of 2019 recording debut album Sundowning with George Lever in a studio in Wells, Somerset. The primary track from the album, The Evening Does Not Belong To God, was launched in June 2019, with every subsequent track dropping on YouTube at sundown at fortnightly intervals.
By the point the album was launched in November 2019, the band had already launched into their first US tour, opening for metalcore outfit Points on a invoice that additionally featured Polyphia and rapper Lil Aaron.
George Lever: “We did Sundowning in three months – we went from demo to ultimate grasp being launched in simply 12 weeks. We didn’t have days off; we’d do seven within the morning till seven, eight and even 9 at night time day by day for 3 months. We have been in one another’s pockets; we’d go to the gymnasium collectively, swim, do the sauna… All these things to get well from being sat down on a regular basis. There was a number of time to spend holistically being associates making this document. We didn’t know easy methods to make this factor, however we had a confidence that we’d get there ultimately. That’s my favorite three-month interval of my life.”
Skyler Acord [Issues bassist]: “Our reserving agent despatched us this EP Sleep Token had launched and I used to be blown away. It felt like I might see the long run. Normally, you stroll in through the opener and get a beer and discuss as loud as you may, proper? However everybody was engaged. It was like seeing Slipknot in ’99 or one thing, besides, it was totally different from the nu metallic of yore. A variety of that had this trailer park, ‘I’m insane!’ vibe. Sleep Token is poetic – much less malt liquor, extra wine.”
Sleep Token have been on an upswing as they entered 2020. Their first UK headlining tour in January noticed them return to Islington Academy, the place they’d performed their first gig as openers for Motorpsycho simply over two years earlier.
The plan was to enter the studio in March 2020 to document their second album, This Place Will Change into Your Tomb, with producer George Lever. Then Covid upended all the things.
George Lever: “We began making that album and the primary day was when lockdowns started. Tomb… was powerful for all of us emotionally. There have been life-style pressures on account of the lockdown that made it not very conducive to creating artwork that’s speculated to be welcomed or welcoming. A variety of these songs are, in a method or one other, about love, love being misplaced or regret, they’re compassionate tales which might be designed to carry the listener in direction of the artist. It’s exhausting to try this when it feels just like the world goes to finish.”
This Place Will Change into Your Tomb was finally launched on September 24, 2021, three months after Sleep Token made a memorable look at Obtain Pilot, the primary main post-Covid pageant. It reached No.39 within the UK charts, giving the band their first High 40 album.
Since then, devotion in direction of the band has solely intensified. In January 2023, Sleep Token put out singles Chokehold and The Summoning, the latter going viral on TikTok, resulting in a dramatic improve of their streaming numbers.
When third album Take Me Again To Eden was launched in Could, it hit No.3 within the charts. In December, Sleep Token performed Wembley Enviornment – their first ever area headlining present. Only a 12 months later, they carried out on the 20,000-capacity O2 Enviornment in London.
James Monteith: “In January 2023, Tesseract ended up taking part in a pageant with them within the Netherlands. Architects have been the highest of the invoice, we have been primary assist, then Northlane have been under us and Sleep Token have been opening. Inside 12 months, they have been an area band. Loopy!”
Kamran Haq: “It took Deliver Me The Horizon 10 years to get into arenas. Architects, 14 years… Sleep Token did it in lower than 5. It’s fairly nuts.”
On March 13, 2025, Sleep Token launched Emergence, the primary single from their massively anticipated fourth album, Even In Arcadia. It was adopted on April 4 by one other new track, Caramel.
As is common in Sleep Token’s world, all the things is enveloped in enigma – a web based puzzle gave followers a alternative between ‘Home Veridian’ and ‘Feathered Host’, with no rationalization as to what both was or how they plug into the broader Sleep Token lore. However as soon as once more, the silence has solely fed the urge for food of followers, one thing underlined by their upcoming debut headlining look at Obtain pageant in June, and their subsequent US area tour later this 12 months.
Kamran Haq: “To go from taking part in Obtain’s fourth stage to headlining the pageant is spectacular. I don’t assume we’ve ever had it occur, particularly in such a brief area of time. The one factor I can equate it to is one thing like My Chemical Romance or Linkin Park.”
Matt Benton: “Sleep Token have grow to be an business in their very own proper. I’ve bought associates in merchandising and so they say Sleep Token shift extra merch than another UK heavy band – greater than even Iron Maiden.”
James Kent: “The imagery positively helped. The very fact it’s all fairly accessible too – they’ve a number of R’n’B, electronica, some aggressive djenty stuff… it’s a great gateway. I had no concept it’d blow up prefer it has. Now I’d like to open for them!”
Nathan Barley Phillips: “Bands like Ghost and Sleep Token aren’t profitable as a result of they put on masks. They’re profitable as a result of they write nice music. Masks don’t imply something if the music isn’t any good.”
Matt Benton: “I’ll have an interest to see, when the primary official TV film of the band will get made, the distinction between the truth of what occurred and the story that will get informed. In a means, the parable turns into the truth.”
Kamran Haq: “All of us thought the band was particular, however no one in one million years thought they might be what they’re now.”
Even In Arcadia is out now by way of RCA. Sleep Token headline Obtain Pageant on June 14 and tour the US later this 12 months.
