Why Sleep token Are the Next Big Thing For Metal
March 24 | Written By Simon White
Chances are, most music fans have by now heard of Sleep Token. This collective of musicians first graced listeners ears in 2016 with their debut single ‘Thread the Needle’ and have since gone from strength to strength announcing their third album Take Me Back to Eden on February 16th. Collective, as nobody really knows who they are (or indeed how many of them there are). Known only by the monikers Vessel, II, III, and IV, the members of Sleep Token remain anonymous, which furthermore adds to the excitement of their music, live shows, and very existence. Who are these hooded geniuses, and where are they taking us next?
It is entirely possible that Sleep Token are the next best thing, not only for metal, but for music. Their ability to blend the soft and quiet, with the brutal and booming; acoustic and heartfelt lyrics, coupled with soft pianos, into the most crushing breakdown music fans will of heard since Pantera laid down ‘Domination’. It is this symbiosis of elements from a plethora of musical influences that truly makes Sleep Token Sleep Token. To illustrate their future domination, the best place to start is the beginning. ‘Thread the Needle’ was where it all began and exemplifies the above paragraph perfectly. Two-and-a-half-minutes of soaring vocals and lustful pianos, only to come crashing down with a dissonant guitar melody, half time crash cymbals and Vessel carrying the melody above the noise below. All of this, to lead straight back into more acoustic brilliance. This track ended up featuring on their self-released EP One. Catching the eye of Basick records, Sleep Token were signed and released their second EP Two, which featured fan favourites ‘Calcutta’ and ‘Nazareth’. These two tracks set the bar for what has come to be expected from Sleep Token, epitomising their two EPs, and what was to come.
Now signed to Spinefarm Records, their debut album came in the form of Sundowning in 2019. Sundowning is twelve songs of pure musical genius. The lead track from this album ‘The Offering’ has since become their gig closer, and trust, it is hard think of a better way to close any show. It was on this album that Sleep Token really started to experiment with electronic influences, on tracks like ‘Dark Signs’, where they lay down an 808 drum loop during the verses, and ‘Sugar’ with its MIDI-style keyboard melody throughout. Of course, with 2019 being the year of the pandemic, fans would have to wait until album two to see how much of an effect Sundowning had on their popularity. Roll on 2021’s This Place Will Become Your Tomb.
When the band dropped ‘Alkaline’, fans knew they were in for a treat. The rise and fall of an opera, the lyrics of a romantic poet, and the instrumentation to make any “Try Not to Headbang” challenge. TPWBYT explored more electronic influences (‘Descending’), went heavier in places (‘Hypnosis’), but also more soulful (‘Missing Limbs’) in others – despite potentially not being as solid as Sundowning, the great moments are near enough perfect. Each element that makes up Sleep Token feels a touch separated from each other on this record, and in places it works very well, but others maybe lack some more fusion, a call back to their earlier material.
However, as far as the second album curse goes, Sleep Token rode that wave, conquered it, and brushed past it as if it did not exist. Moving into the modern day, this is where it really shows how far Sleep Token have come since 2016.
The band have surprise dropped 5 singles off their upcoming album Take Me Back to Eden, due May 19th 2023. The second of these singles is ‘The Summoning’ has been the most popular. A six-and-a-half-minute masterpiece, composing of the heaviest music they have produced thus far, the most complex, comprising of three separate sections, but also (in my humble opinion), the best music the group have produced. The way the vocals and instruments intertwine throughout is something to marvel at, let alone during the final couple of minutes where the band break it down and make silence their friend. Rest-notes on a drum kit have never sounded so good.It was ‘The Summoning’ that “blew up” on TikTok and caught the attention of the masses, resulting in the track reaching second on the US Billboard Metal charts. This propelled the song to over 14 million listens of Spotify alone in seven weeks, surpassing ‘The Offering’ which has been available for nearly four years.
Each single of their upcoming release has taken little-to-no time to amass a few million listeners, and it is no coincidence that their most refined tracks so far are doing it. Of course, TikTok does a service and disservice to music in the modern day, but popularity cannot be put down to something so simple. The sky is the limit for this British metal band, and fans are all here for it. Going from self-releasing a single in 2016, being signed in 2017, for your debut album to be a success in 2019, fast forward to the modern day where you could be on the cusp of greatness. This does not happen often to metal bands, look how long it took Bring Me The Horizon to gain international fame, and Sleep Token could be well on their way to achieving much of the same in comparatively no time at all!
