Why The Hate?: Sleep Token
Throughout its creation, heavy metal and extreme metal has had countless acts that have divided both fans and critics. From the popularity and mainstream success a band receives, to the actions they do offstage, and to even the lyrical content and themes around their music. Some bands have taken that infamy and used it to their success and feeding off the naysayers, while others struggle to be accepted amongst their peers and fellow musicians because of it. Why does a fanbase turn on a band or artist? I hope to answer these questions in a series I’m calling Why The Hate?. Where I look at an artist’s history, its music and what they’ve said and done and try to figure out why there is so much visceral disgust, division and lack of acceptance from the metal community.
The inaugural edition features a band that has become one of the most recent acts to truly cause a rift among metalheads. A band that combines countless “un-metal” genres and gains huge success and popularity worldwide, and that band is Sleep Token. This British act released their debut album Sundowning in 2019 and has become a unique thorn in the metal community’s paw. With the album’s complex, genre-hopping nature of synthwave, post metal and alternative music, combined with a pop-level infusion, has garnered them some mainstream success while also confusing and befuddling the metal world, specifically the gate-keepers.
But why? Why do we not like Sleep Token? Why is their so much backlash and visceral disdain towards them? Is it justified? Or, is it just the metal community going against it because its "new" or a "flavor of the week" or that old gem of "not heavy enough". I looked at the band under three categories: The Music, Lyrics/Message and The Fanbase. So, let's dive into the mystery and popularity of this perplexing act that has become one of the most talked about bands in recent years. And answer the question Why The Hate?.
THE MUSIC
Musically, Sleep Token is a very progressive, kind of hard to describe act. They are a true amalgamation of multiple genres. With elements of alternative metal and rock, dreampop, progressive metal, djent and even R&B & Trap music. The band is truly not afraid to be eclectic. Making every song almost unpredictable as to where it is going throughout it. One minute it features a heavy Periphery style metal riff and drums, before transforming into a Sam Smith or Ed Sheeran piano ballad, and then transforming again into an ethereal, almost Deftones-esque atmosphere track.
Following the band’s debut, the band fine-tuned their sound more with their second album This Place Will Become Your Tomb. With better production, this was the band's breakout record. With many people being introduced to the band through the album’s single "Alkaline". Almost having a gothic metal, alternative/djent sound, it was a strong single and a great introduction to the band if you never heard of them. The album received multiple 10/10 scores and was on many Album of The Year lists for 2021.
The band's pushed their sound again even further with their most recent record, 2023's Take Me Back To Eden. With the band going heavier with the track "The Summoning", featuring screaming vocals in the first part of the song, before the band begins genre hopping from progressive to pop to djent and back all over the entire six-plus minute runtime. Even with a sensual, slow-jam break near the closing minutes of the song. The album also featured songs that were in the same vein as This Place Will Become Your Tomb, but feels like the band truly pulled the rug from underneath the fanbase expecting an album similar to "The Summoning". Songs like “Aqua Regia” almost fully abandon the metal sound to go into a straight-forward 90’s R&B beat with echoey track drums and ethereal keys.
Some consider Take Me Back To Eden as a "bait and switch". Where they get you into checking out the album with their heavier sounding tracks, but then when you listen to the record, it is completely different. Which is one of the criticisms of the band. That the look, presentation and single selection almost doops the listener into not buying what they wanted to hear. Which I’m not going to lie, I was one of those fans that felt dooped by the singles and then listening to the full album. In my opinion, the album was a little directionless. It seemed like the band couldn’t figure out truly what they wanted to do on the album compared to the previous one. With songs almost disjointed in pacing and motif. But for me, Sleep Token is doing something different and unique. Almost breathing fresh air into a genre that is starting to become predictable and formulaic with a lot of the Octane-core acts, and some bands in extreme metal beginning to start to sound too similar. Which Sleep Token, as soon as you hear one of their songs, you can easily identify the band. There is no other band doing what they are doing right now. And with the band’s new album Even in Arcadia due out this year, and the creative differences between the singles “Emergence” and “Caramel”, it will be interesting to see what the band will deliver with this new material. Musically, they don't deserve the hate.
The cover of the band’s 2023 album Take Me Back To Eden
LYRICS/MESSAGE
The band is cloaked in mystery with the band's identity still not fully known by regular fans or new fans and the band rarely doing interviews. Sleep Token's origin was conceived in a way that almost justifies the band's unique outlook, motif and the mysticism behind them. Lead vocalist, known as Vessel, encountered in a dream an ancient deity known only as "Sleep". Promising him glory and magnificence if Vessel followed Him. Every song is considered an offering or a token in the name of "Sleep", hence the band’s name. The band's lyrics delve into deep messaging of themes of relationships and love, to almost Christian imagery and ideology,. Stuff that also reflects in the band's artwork and lyrics. Many calling the band a "masked Christian band", which I don’t think that but from the lyrics I can kind of see where they are getting that idea. Although lyrics and themes are completely up to interpretation, the fans have taken it to many directions and unique perspectives of their very own. If this is true, the metal community has interpreted a feeling of preachiness or "a sheep in wolf's clothing" if the band does follow a true Christian lyrical theme.
Regarding the relationship themes, some have claimed that the band is "one-note" or don't write anything except about relationships, heartbreak and/or love. For me, it is impressive and creative if the lyrical themes and imagery that Sleep Token delivers, gives listeners their own clues to put the pieces together to their own puzzle. Allowing relatability to the band's music. Many bands, like Coheed and Cambria for example, incorporate multiple meanings in their storytelling or have double meaning in their lyrical or album themes. Regarding lyrics and message, the hate is not deserved.
THE FANBASE
The band grew in popularity on social media like YouTube, TikTok and Facebook. Combined with the word of mouth on the band’s online presence, mystery and sound. That is also where the backlash from the metal community came from towards the fanbase. Many articles and posts I have found, showed the fanbase basically bashing ANYONE who critiqued the band or gave any criticism to the band’s lyrics and musical direction. Causing many verbal spouts on sites like Reddit. It unfortunately is a problem that does happen in the metal community, Tool fans for example. I can understand if you really like a band and love the band and want to fully support a band or expand the band's fanbase. But to insult other people for not only listening to your band or not being able to accept criticism of your band is not a good thing. It also makes the metal community look bad, while also making your band's fanbase look bad.
Another thing that the fanbase has come under fire for was their pursuit to known the identity of the band’s members. In 2024, a fan of the band leaked a member of Sleep Token’s actual birth certificate, bassist III, on social media. Along with his home address and personal information. What is an example of what’s called Doxing. In response, III deleted their social media accounts while the band changed their Instagram bio to just say “Nothing Lasts Forever”. I understand in today’s day and age of the internet where you can find any information that you are looking for, sometimes there is a line and that line was crossed. To not only illegally find someone’s personal information, but to post it on social media, is going too far and the poster should have faced criminal charges. This incident, along with countless other pitfalls to fame and popularity with your fans was the inspiration for the song “Caramel” off the upcoming album Even in Arcadia. With the viewpoints of the fan’s outlook on the band’s impenetrable armor and the doxing incident, I can see where some of the hate comes from and I do agree with it on that perspective.
FINAL VERDICT
So, now comes the answer to the question that started this whole piece, does Sleep Token deserve the hate? The answer is No. Yes, Sleep Token isn't full on “metal” and you will probably hear the argument of "aren't metal enough" to many people in the metal community until you are blue in the face. But again, some great bands aren't full metal or do songs that are out of the norm or change the idea of what metal could be. Bands like Deftones, Alcest, Primus and Sunn O))) have elements of metal or are placed in genres like alternative metal, shoegaze, drone and countless others, but they do their own thing or define their sound to make the genre and music their own. Sleep Token is a good band, maybe not for everyone and that is ok. It's ok to not like EVERY METAL BAND OUT THERE, but it's not ok to bash people for liking them. Not only are you being a straight-up douchebag and an elitist, but you are making us in the metal community look HORRIBLE and pretentious. While also giving a stigma to us and that is not cool.
In a unique, but odd twist, Sleep Token is in a way, kind of a new gateway band for people to get into metal. Now BEFORE you grab your pitchforks and torches, hear me out. Sleep Token does have the poppier, hip-hop, trap and R&B elements that a lot of pop music has, but they also have chugging down-tuned guitars, screaming vocals, double bass and heavy lyrical content. Just like another popular gateway band, Deftones. Which I have heard many comparisons to Sleep Token being “Deftones 2.0” and with those reasons I listed, it kind of makes sense.
I am aware that Sleep Token is an act that will probably never truly be accepted into the metal world. And I think this band will forever receive this mistreatment regardless of what their music sounds like, their image, message and overall anonymity. Or how the band sold out a 2025 US tour faster than Metallica has ever done in it’s entire career. But if you like them, THAT’S OKAY. Support them by buying their merch, seeing them live, introduce them to people who haven’t heard them before. THIS is what we as the metal community should be doing. ENOUGH gate-keeping, and stuck in the roots of the genres origins and close-mindedness. Metal has evolved…and so should we. At the end of the day, Sleep Token in my opinion does not deserve the hate.
