Sleep Token are an anonymous band from the UK formed in 2016. It comprises of two permanent members: Vessel (Vocalist and composer for guitars, bass, synth and keyboard) and II (Drums) with two touring members: III (Live bass) and IV (Live guitar and harsh vocals). They are supported live by Espera who provide backing vocals.
The group has given limited interviews and describe themselves as adherents to the god Sleep who visited the members in their dreams and the band makes offerings to Sleep in the form of music.
Sleep Token largely defy characterisation as a metal / alternative metal / alternative rock band with djent, R&B and electronic music influences. Vessel himself has a huge vocal range, able to blend very high registers with fry screaming and spoken word. II's drumming is very influenced by the work for Slipknot's Joey Jordison and Deftones' Abe Cunningham with his characteristic snare and tight, swampy sticking the hallmarks of his style.
Discography:
Extended Plays:
- One (2016)
- Two (2017)
Studio Albums:
- Sundowning (2019)
- This Place Will Become Your Tomb (2021)
- Take Me Back To Eden (2023)
Non-Album Singles:
- Jaws (2018)
- Hey Ya! (Outkast cover) (2018)
- The Way You Were (2018)
- Is It Really You? (with Loathe) (2022)
"Trope offerings in your favour":
- Book Ends: The final two offerings on "Take Me Back To Eden": do this for both the album as a whole and the trilogy of albums starting with "Sundowning". The titlular offering calls back to the album opener "Chokehold" in its final chorus and the ending of "Euclid" calls back to the melody and lyrics of "The Night Does Not Belong To God", the first offering on "Sundowning".
- Call-Back: In abundance throughout their third album:
- "Are You Really Okay?" calls back to "Dark Signs" and "Atlantic".
- "Take Me Back To Eden" alludes to "Nazareth" and directly quotes "Chokehold".
- "Euclid" references "Blood Sport", "When The Bough Breaks" and ends with the melody and lyrics of "The Night Does Not Belong To God".
- Cover Version: Several in the early days of the band:
- "Hey Ya!" by Outkast.
- "When The Party's Over" by Billie Eilish.
- "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" by Whitney Houston.
- Foreshadowing: In "Take Me Back To Eden", Vessel warns the listener: "I don't know what's got it's teeth in me, but I'm about to bite back in anger". Oh boy, does he!
- Genre Roulette: Sleep Token take inspiration from a huge variety of genres from folk to funk taken its furthest in "Take Me Me Back To Eden".
- "Chokehold" is a great example of progressive rock.
- "The Summoning" starts with metal, flirts with prog, dives into electronic music and ends with funk in a satisfying journey.
- "Granite" is closer to mainstream pop and rock with a bit of R&B.
- "Ascensionism" has naked vocals and piano then shifts to R&B and finishes in metal.
- "Take Me Back To Eden" starts melodic, shifts to rap, then back to melodic and then...
- Incredibly Long Note: The final note of "Chokehold" is held for a breathtaking 14 seconds.
- Last Note Nightmare: The final breakdown of "Take Me Back To Eden" is a very djenty version of this.
- Lonely Piano Piece: "Blood Sport from the room below" is a beautiful example of this.
- "Sleep Token from the room below" was this in ritual form performed at Lafayette, London with only Vessel and Espera.
- Metal Scream: Used intermittently through many of the offerings and heavily in some.
- "Gods" and "Vore" have mostly screamed lyrics.
- "The Summoning" and "Take Me Back To Eden" have dirty screams.
- Murder Ballad: Both "Nazareth" and "The Summoning" can be interpreted in this way.
- Precision F-Strike: Vessel almost never uses swearing in his lyrics with two notable exceptions: "Nazareth" and "Gods".
