Photo by: Adam Ford
This piece was originally featured in AM02 — Issue Two of Ascribe. Click here to read it alongside the rest of the issue.
“We are here to serve Sleep and project His message…. He is everywhere, at all times….”
Sleep Token is an anonymous London-based group composed of members II on drums, III on bass, IV on guitar, and their frontman and “master creator,” Vessel.
Little is known about the members of the band and their creation process, as they conceal their identities when performing, and all associated social media follows the narrative aesthetic of the group. What we do know is based on Basick Records’ statement following the bands signing in 2017: they are “the mortal representatives of the ancient deity known only as ‘Sleep’.”
In the only interview that Sleep Token has done since the start of their career in 2016, Vessel speaks more on the deity Sleep. He speaks of meeting Him in a dream, where He offered Vessel “glory and magnificence” if he followed His word. And from an outside perspective, that glory and magnificence are really starting to take shape for the band.
With the release of their first two singles from Take Me Back To Eden, “Chokehold,” and “The Summoning,” Sleep Token shot into TikTok’s orbit.
“The Summoning,” is described as having “some of the heaviest moments thus far recorded” by the band, and this rang true as it flooded the for you pages of many alternative users. The song quickly became a part of what some TikTok users have described as “baby making metal,” as the track features some of the most pleasingly chilling shredding by IV before an ethereal, then groovy, breakdown.
It’s a wonderful change of pace for a comparatively heavy song, and affirms the idea that Sleep Token is truly progressive metal as they continue to expand their sound.
Metalcore as a genre has also been expanding the idea of what metal is, especially in recent years.
Bands like Sleep Token and Spiritbox blend the harsh complexities of metal with pop and R&B vocals and melodies, and Scene Queen’s 2022 Bimbocore brought us camp-metal, while bands like Bad Omens and SeeYouSpaceCowboy stay true to that hardcore style while continuing to grow into their own sound. Sleep Token’s aesthetic is not new in the metal scene, causing the band to be often compared to other metal artists like Ghost or Slipknot, though the three exist on a plane where Sleep Token combines the religious fanaticism of Ghost with the harder sound and plain anonymity of Slipknot.
The group has made nothing but purposeful and thought provoking choices in their aesthetics, which all build off of one another and feel truthful to the band’s overall artistic vision.
All of this album cycle’s art is moody and pulls you in, tending to stick to blood red and sepia tones, but
compliment the eyecatching blue of 2021’s This Place Will Become Your Tomb. It all has purpose. So, it’s no surprise that the group has stayed committed to keeping themselves anonymous.
Being in the public eye has never been easy; the past twenty years alone have seen countless celebrities harassed, ruined, and publicized at their worst moments, and the internet has only made it worse. With the rise of social media’s tap-in, tune-out support to people around the world, parasocial relationships have skyrocketed to becoming the social “norm”.
Blowing everything to major proportions, harassing family members, and falsifying images or videos with AI is becoming too common.
What was once magazines like Tiger Beat and People’s intrusive “What Do You
Look For In A Partner?” inquiry became Instagram and TikTok’s “I know it’s 16F0FA.”
Before, the public’s speculations were only prevalent in press meetings or interviews, not constantly flooded straight to you in direct messages or the comments of meaningful moments you choose to share online.
In a post-One Direction world, the internet has come up with new ways and made it easier to stalk and harass people online and in person — especially musicians, so it’s not surprising that these guys don’t want their names or likenesses plastered all over the internet.
Sleep Token has a right to privacy just like any person, and unless it’s legally required to be public knowledge … let them keep the masks.
