Sleep Token

2016–2019: Early releases and signing to Basick Records

Their first single, "Thread the Needle," was released in September 2016, which was later revealed to be a part of their self-released debut EP One in December.^[1] The EP featured two additional songs plus alternative piano arrangements of all three tracks.^[2]

On 28 February 2017 they released a cover of Outkast's "Hey Ya!".^[3]

In May 2017, it was announced that Sleep Token had signed with independent label Basick Records and would release their second EP Two in July.^[4] Ahead of the EP's release, the group issued two new singles – "Calcutta" in May and "Nazareth" in June.^[5][6] "Calcutta" received an exclusive premiere through Metal Hammer, where writer Luke Morton described the song as "an odd and unique mix of technical metal and expansive indie soundscapes".^[5]

Two was positively reviewed by Distorted Sound's Matt Corcoran, who noted the combination of elements from multiple genres: "Across these three spellbinding tracks the band fully delivers on their genre-blending promise, moving between light indie atmospherics and dark, Meshuggah-esque heaviness and covering most of the spectrum in between".^[7]

Besides releasing music, Sleep Token also began performing live in 2017 as support for larger acts. Their earliest-known performances were at O2 Academy Islington supporting Norwegian band Motorpsycho in October,^[8] and at Student Central supporting French synthwave artist Perturbator in December.^[9]

2018 saw Sleep Token focus more on their live shows than releasing music. Only two standalone singles were released that year - "Jaws" in June and "The Way That You Were" in October.^[10] Both singles were later issued together on 10" vinyl for Record Store Day in 2021.^[11]

Early on in the year, they continued to be a supporting act for bands like Loathe and Holding Absence,^[12] but began receiving wider exposure in the spring and summer. They played festivals, including Camden Rocks,^[13] and performed at Maida Vale Studios for the BBC Radio 1 Rock Show.

By the fall of 2018, Sleep Token was ready to play their inaugural headline show, which was also their eleventh show overall. It was held at St Pancras Old Church in October and it was reported that tickets had sold out in only 30 seconds.

2019–2022: Signing to Spinefarm and first two albums

In June 2019, Sleep Token signed with their first major label: Universal subsidiary Spinefarm Records. It was also announced that their debut full-length album, Sundowning, was confirmed for a November release, with "The Night Does Not Belong to God" released as the first single.^[14] The group continued issuing songs from the album every two weeks up to the album release date.^[15] Sundowning received generally positive reviews from music critics. Kerrang! columnist Tom Shepherd gave the album a rating of four out of five, writing that it contains "moments here to truly savour, and ideas and experiences that feel unique", but noting that "the continuous nature of this dark mood entwined with the group's slow-burning, listless pace does begin to drag across [its] 50-minute runtime".^[16]

Prior to the album's release, Sleep Token played two sold-out shows in London and Manchester.^[15] After its release, they embarked on their first North American tour supporting metalcore group Issues, alongside progressive rock band Polyphia and rapper Lil Aaron.^[17]

After a short UK tour at the beginning of 2020, several shows were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These included planned appearances at Knotfest Japan in March,^[18] Download Festival in June,^[19] and Madrid's Mad Cool in July.^[20] During the summer, the band released an expanded version of Sundowning with four new piano-based tracks collectively known as The Room Below. This release included cover versions of Billie Eilish's "When the Party's Over" and Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)".^[21]

The group planned to return to live performing in March 2021 with five socially-distanced shows called "The Isolation Rituals",^[22] however these were ultimately cancelled due to ongoing pandemic-related concerns.^[23] They eventually returned in the summer headlining the second stage at the Download Festival Pilot on 18 June.^[24] The day before, the band announced their second album This Place Will Become Your Tomb and released a new single, "Alkaline".^[25] "Alkaline" was followed by "The Love You Want" and "Fall for Me" in August and September.^[26]

This Place Will Become Your Tomb was released on 24 September 2021 and was promoted on an eight-date headline tour of the UK and Ireland in November, with support from A.A. Williams.^[27] The album earned Sleep Token their first chart positions when it debuted at number 39 on the UK Albums Chart and number 13 on the Scottish Albums Chart.^[28][29]

In January 2022, Sleep Token were featured as a cover artist for Metal Hammer magazine.^[30] More shows followed in the spring and summer. In April, frontman Vessel performed an "intimate" solo show (joined by only three backing vocalists) dubbed A Ritual from the Room Below.^[31] In May, the group supported Architects alongside Malevolence on a short tour of the UK.^[32] During the summer months, they play several festivals, including Download,^[33] and toured with Northlane in Australia.^[34] Later dates followed in North America supporting In This Moment with Nothing More and Cherry Bombs.^[35]

2022–2024: Take Me Back to Eden and the rise in popularity

Towards the end of 2022, Sleep Token announced a UK headline tour for January 2023 supported by Northlane,^[36] as well as an Australian tour for April/May.^[37] Ahead of a string of shows in Germany, the band released the single "Chokehold", their first new material since This Place Will Become Your Tomb, on 5 January 2023.^[38] This was followed by "The Summoning" the next day,^[39] "Granite" two weeks later,^[40] and "Aqua Regia" the day after.^[41] All four tracks released since the start of 2023 were included on the band's third album, Take Me Back to Eden, which was released in May 2023.^[42][43] Take Me Back to Eden marked a significant change in the band's creative process, as they stopped working with their long-time producer George Lever in favour of Carl Bown. Vessel also took on a co-producer role with Bown for the first time in the band's career.

In March 2023, Sleep Token were nominated for Best UK Artist at the Heavy Music Awards, which they won in May.^[44] The band were also booked to perform at that year's summer festivals, including Graspop Metal Meeting in Belgium,^[45] Wacken Open Air in Germany,^[46] and Reading and Leeds Festivals in the UK.^[47] The band attracted significant international attention when video footage of their 29 April 2023 performance of "Atlantic" in Sydney, Australia went viral due to an audience member's audible fart. ^{[48] [49] [50] [51]} In May 2023, the band announced a standalone headline show at Wembley Arena in December 2023. NME reported that tickets had sold out within 10 minutes of them going on general sale.^[52] During the show, the band revealed new masks to indicate the band entering a new era.^[53]

Following their success in 2023, Sleep Token received widespread acclaim from the music press. Metal Hammer readers voted Take Me Back to Eden as the best album of the year,^[54] while the magazine's writers ranked it fourth.^[55] Revolver also named it the best album of the year,^[56] as did Rock Sound, which additionally recognized Sleep Token as the Best British Band of the Year.^[57] Kerrang! ranked the album third on its year-end list, while NME placed it 21st,^[58] and named "The Summoning" the 18th best song of the year.^[59] By February 2024, the album had sold over 50,000 copies in the United Kingdom, as reported by Music Week.^[60]

On 14 February 2024, Sleep Token announced that they signed a new deal with RCA Records.^[60][61]

The band continued to receive accolades in 2024. On 22 August, Take Me Back to Eden won 'Best Album of the Year' at the Heavy Music Awards.^[62] Later that year, on 12 December, the Billboard Music Awards awarded Sleep Token 'Top Hard Rock Album' of 2024.^[63]

2025–present: Even in Arcadia and Grammy nominations

On 19 February 2025, the band released a TikTok video directing people to a website that teased new music.^[64] The website depicted the Shugborough inscription, which is associated with the painting Et in Arcadia ego ("Shepherds of Arcadia"), a hint to the title of the upcoming album. The website also allows users to choose a "house" (initially assigned via e-mail), and can choose between either House Veridian or The Feathered Host.^[65][66] On 27 February 2025, the band created two separate Instagram accounts for the respective houses to which sheet music was posted, hinting at another unreleased song.^[67][68]

On 13 March 2025, Sleep Token released a single, "Emergence", and announced that their fourth album Even in Arcadia was to be released on 9 May 2025.^[69] Within a week, the single landed on the Billboard Hot 100 after gaining more than 9.9 million plays in the United States and marking the first time the band landed on the U.S.-based chart.^[70] The band also announced their first ever U.S. arena headlining tour, which was set to commence in September 2025.^[71]

On 4 April 2025, the band released the album's second single, "Caramel". In the lead-up to its release, Sleep Token collaborated with North Carolina meteorologist Chris Michaels, known for incorporating metal references into his forecasts, to tease the track through a series of cryptic weather segments.^[72] It landed at #34 on the Billboard Hot 100 for one week after its release,^[73] and received acclaim from the New York Times, with writer Jon Caramanica placing it atop his "50 Best Songs of 2025" list.^[74][75]

On 25 April 2025, the album's third single, "Damocles", was released.^[76]

At the 68th Annual Grammy Awards, "Emergence" was nominated for "Best Metal Performance" while "Caramel" was nominated for "Best Rock Song".^[77]

Backstory

In 2016, the YouTube video description of "Thread the Needle" contained this paragraph:

Sleep Token are a masked, anonymous collective of musicians; united by their worship of an ancient deity crudely dubbed "Sleep", since no modern tongue can properly express it's [sic] name. This being once held great power, bestowing ancient civilisations with the gift of dreams, and the curse of nightmares. Even today, though faded from prominence, 'Sleep' yet lurks in the subconscious minds of man, woman, and child alike. Fragments of beauty, horror, anguish, pain, happiness, joy, anger, disgust, and fear coalesce to create expansive, emotionally textured music that simultaneously embodies the darkest, and the brightest abstract thoughts. He has seen them. He has felt them. He is everywhere. Sleep Token, led by the perpetually tormented, supremely talented Vessel, creates music that brings to the fore our most submerged thoughts and feelings, coaxing them from the desolate, terrifying caves of our subconscious mind. ^[78]

More details were provided in 2017. A press release from Basick Records described the band as "mortal representatives" of 'Sleep', ^[79] while an interview with Metal Hammer revealed that "Vessel encountered Sleep in a dream, with promise of glory and magnificence if Vessel followed Him." ^[5]

Anonymity

Since their formation, the members of Sleep Token have sought to remain anonymous. When asked exactly why they want to stay anonymous, their answer was this:

“Our identities are unimportant. Music is marketed on who is or isn’t in a band; it’s pushed[,] prodded and moulded into something it isn’t. Vessel endeavours to keep the focus on His offerings.” ^[5]

'Vessel' is the moniker of the lead singer and primary songwriter of the band.^[80] Vessel and drummer II are the only members of the band who have been credited as performers on Sleep Token's studio albums. II is also the only member apart from Vessel who has been given songwriting credits. Touring members include III (bass guitar), IV (lead guitar and backing vocals), and Espera (backing vocal trio). Rich Hobson of Metal Hammer explains that the members, who all wear masks and cloaks, "obscure their faces, they don't talk onstage, and they have only ever done one interview."^[81] (Two interviews have actually been granted to date. One was with Metal Hammer itself in 2017, and the second was a video interview and playthrough with II on YouTube channel Drumeo in 2023.)^[82]

The group's focus on anonymity and visual style have been likened to similar practices employed by Ghost,^[81][83][84] Slipknot,^[80][85][86] and Gwar,^[85][86] though Vessel has rejected these comparisons.^[5] Slipknot's frontman Corey Taylor has praised the band's image and artistry, comparing their approach to the one Slipknot took in the band's early days.^[87]

Musical style

The band's label Spinefarm Records has simply stated that "in a world of form and genre, Sleep Token cannot be confined".^[88]

Musically, Sleep Token have been categorised in a wide range of genres, including alternative metal,^[89] post-rock/metal,^[90] progressive metal,^[91] indie rock/pop,^[92] and djent.^[93] Emma Wilkes, of Revolver, noted elements of trap and jazz. According to Mary Varvaris of The Music, "[the band fuses] heavy metal, electronica, hip-hop, and modern-day djent/progressive metal."^[93] Rich Hobson has suggested that the band has a "fluid approach to genre", claiming that they incorporate "elements of everything from tech metal and alternative to pop and R&B".^[81] Similarly, John D. Buchanan of the website AllMusic has written that Sleep Token "combine post-rock, post-classical, and post-metal tropes with soulful indie pop vocals into a blend that sounds like nothing else".^[94]

The band have been vague, simply crediting "a plethora of artists" as inspiration.^[5] Early in their career, though, they did name Leprous, Agent Fresco, Bon Iver and Meshuggah as influences.^[95] Commentators have also posited performers such as Deftones, Cult of Luna, Explosions in the Sky and Ólafur Arnalds as possible influences.^[94][96][97]

Main members

• Vessel – lead vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass^[100]
• II – drums, percussion^[101]

Touring musicians

• III – bass^[102]
• IV – guitar, backing vocals^[103]
• Espera – backing vocals^[104]