It’s not often that the sound of wind chimes twinkles across Donington Park, but then Download festival has never had a headliner like Sleep Token before. As this unlikely intro music intensifies, signalling the imminent start of the biggest and most important show of this enigmatic band’s career, all eyes focus on the main stage.
Many here are curious as to what all the fuss is about, but others have clearly pledged their allegiance to Vessel and are wearing the homemade robes and masks to prove it. Sleep Token’s sharp ascent has been staggering. In 2020, they were headlining the 900-capacity Islington Assembly Hall, but in 2023 they sold out London’s Wembley Arena in under 10 minutes, before playing two nights at the city’s vast 02 Arena the following year.
Their latest album, Even In Arcadia, topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic in May. But one of the biggest markers of their success is the fervent following they’ve built up. Even by metal’s famously loyal standards, Sleep Token fans are devoted to their heroes.
The Cult Of Sleep Token is in evidence today. You’re never far from someone in one of the band’s t-shirts. Queue up for a burrito, and you might overhear someone explaining why they chose House Veridian over Feathered Host. Approach a loo and you may see a Vessel lookalike emerge, complaining about the lack of toilet paper. If there was a drinking game that involved knocking back a shot every time you spot a Sleep Token fan, there’d be a lot of alcoholic casualties scattered around the festival.
But why the devotion? Why do this band’s fans go further than any other? That’s why we’re here today: to get to the heart of the cult of Sleep Token.
To non-converts, Sleep Token’s elusive lore can feel intimidating – an extra barrier to break through. For disciples, though, immersing yourself in the theories, supposition and Easter eggs is part of what being a Sleep Token fan is about. An encyclopaedic knowledge is a badge of honour.
“I tried to explain all of the lore to my manager once,” says Caitlin, a loyal fan from Glasgow, with a laugh.
While her boss could barely make head nor tail of the theories, Caitlin is practically a scholar. She’s in her element as she talks Hammer through them. She believes that the foundational idea of Vessel being a minion of the god Sleep, serving as a mouthpiece as he offers up praise in the form of sonic offerings, is just the beginning.
“Now, it feels like Vessel has grown and is trying to break away from Sleep,” she insists, emphasising her point with a flourish of her Sleep Token-themed acrylic nails. “It feels like they’re fighting back, trying to regain control.”
The most recent addition to the lore comes in the form of House Veridian and Feathered Host, the two factions referenced in Even In Arcadia’s opening track, Look To Windward, with a call of, ‘I live by the feather and die by the sword.’
It’s another code for the fans to crack – some believe the two factions are at war with each other, while others reckon the opposing houses will eventually realise they can work together in harmony. There are even theories that voting between the two factions determined the final Even In Arcadia tracklisting (fans received emails allowing them to click on either crest, thereby opting into one), with some insisting an alternate Feathered Host track order entirely shifts the listening experience.
Caitlin sighs as she admits she’s still working out the puzzles, though any frustration is outweighed by excitement at the possibility of solving them. Today, QR codes flash on the screens at the side of the stage, leading to an anagram for fans to decode. Is the big secret behind the two factions about to be revealed?
Sadly not – instead, people get the chance to win House Veridian and Feathered Host coins from a pop-up stall, with a lucky winner getting to watch the show from the sound tower. Still, people seem happy with this. Rhys is one. He’s bagged a House Veridian coin with a little card bearing the tagline: ‘The House Must Endure’ (the Feathered Host one says ‘The Cycle Must End’).
Like many today, Rhys is in full Vessel regalia, including cloak and mask. Such is the mystery surrounding the frontman that he could even be Vessel. “I’m going to be onstage later,” he jokes (at least we think he’s joking – it could actually be Vessel behind that mask).
His outfit sums up the visual appeal of Sleep Token. A t-shirt or maybe a tattoo is as far as most music fans can go to show off their devotion to their idols. Here, elaborate costumes are par for the course.
“It’s incredible to feel like part of something and connect with the community here,” he says. “So many people have stopped for photos, asked about my outfit. It’s brilliant.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by Hattie, who sports a Sleep Token sigil on her face and a Vessel tattoo on her arm. The robes and adornments are a form of instant recognition, a not-so-secret sign you’re part of the cult.
“The amount of people who have stopped me to say hello today, it’s been beautiful,” she says. “I’ve spoken to so many people about how Sleep Token’s music touches them, and it’s so powerful connecting with everyone. It’s bringing so many people together.”
While the costumes make it easy to spot Sleep Token devotees, Hattie notes that the most committed fans aren’t always the most obvious.
“There are so many people here who love Sleep Token, but I really wouldn’t have expected them to love them,” she explains. “In any other situation, I might not have met some of these people. But you talk to them, realise they love Sleep Token, and you can instantly find out the colour of their soul.”
Colour of their soul?
“They’ll immediately share something that they love with you, and I think that’s when you show who you really are,” she clarifies. “When you’re open, that’s how you really connect on a deep, emotional level.”
She even considers Vessel, the band’s masked frontman, to be in a unique position to be truly open with his audience. Rather than the mask being a barrier, a way of shielding emotions and hiding from the truth, she argues it allows Vessel to be truly free.
“Sometimes he cries onstage, and it’s so earnest,” she explains. “It’s so emotional, and raw. Because it’s like a way for him to be open, to voice his true feelings, without the fear of being judged. It makes me feel safe to express my own emotions – it’s like he’s giving you strength.”
One of the more unexpected and amusing things about Sleep Token’s rise is the reputation they’ve gained for being a “sexy” band, thanks to songs such as The Summoning and Chokehold. One fan, who wishes to remain anonymous, admits that the band’s music is “all over my husband and I’s sex playlists”.
Yet beyond this lustful aspect, Sleep Token’s lyrics seem to hit their fans on a deep emotional level, no matter how mysterious or abstract they are.
“There’s this melancholy and realism to their music, and it hits on so many levels,” says James, a Vessel-impersonator whose look is completed by a Ghostface mask from the movie Scream, and some red paint.
“There were themes on the last record, Take Me Back To Eden, surrounding narcissistic abuse – and I know the backstory is sometimes linked to sleep gods, but I saw a lot of my experiences within the songs. You can learn a lot about yourself, if you’re willing to give it a chance.”
The fact that Sleep Token are headlining Download has been a big talking point. For some people, the band’s presence is the reason they’re here in the first place. Ed, coated in black paint, explains how the community on a Sleep Token Facebook group encouraged him to attend this year’s festival. It’s the first gig he’s been to since 2010.
“I’d been apprehensive and worried about the crowds, but the Sleep Token community has been so open and welcoming,” he says. He has facts to hand, too. “Forty-four per cent of attendees this year were new, and I think that’s partly thanks to Sleep Token – I’m proof of that. Their music is just a great way of introducing people to the metal scene, but also introducing heavy metal fans to softer stuff, too.”
Inevitably, not everyone is happy. When Sleep Token were announced as Download headliners last year, metal’s gatekeepers predictably melted down. Some argued that they’d been unfairly fast-tracked to the top of the bill, pointing to the fact that Korn – who close out the festival on Sunday night – are only now headlining the main stage, after eight previous appearances. Others simply objected to Sleep Token on a musical level.
But as James – he of the Ghostface mask – rightly points out, change isn’t just good, it’s necessary. “Just give it three songs,” he adds. “You’ll find something you like.”
Whether the haters will agree with that remains to be seen, but the breadth and diversity of Sleep Token’s sound – from djent and metalcore to R’n’B and pop – is certainly part of the attraction for their fans.
“It’s a lot of genres, which opens it up to a lot of people, but it also teaches you to be more musically intellectual,” says Katie, who is here with her partner, Jake.
The latter says he instantly connected with the band the first time he came across them.
“It was seeing a recording of their Room Below set,” he recalls. “When I heard Blood Sport, I was really drawn in. And then [2023 single] The Summoning came out. Obviously, that’s when it really exploded, for the whole world, really. It was clear they were going to be big. There was this amazing buzz.”
Katie and Jake have a deep connection to Download itself too. They met at the festival in 2018, and Jake popped the question today in anticipation of tonight’s set. Katie said yes. Both are marking the occasion by wearing handcrafted outfits – Jake in a cloak and black facepaint, Katie in a cloak and gold mask. She made the latter herself.
“It was two days of labouring over all the little details,” she laughs. “I would get home from work and just get painting, gluing. But you don’t get to dress up very often in real life.”
At 9.20pm, those wind chimes begin drifting out across the field. For the Vessel lookalikes, face-masked acolytes, newly engaged couples and anyone else who is emotionally invested in Sleep Token, the big moment has arrived. As the build-up climaxes, the curtain drops to reveal a spectacular stage set based around an intricate cliff-face/ monument design.
The mystique that so many people talk about is in evidence, while the set itself goes down well among the faithful – even if the doubters are unlikely to have their minds changed. But widespread approval isn’t what being a Sleep Token fan is about. As so many of the people we’ve talked to have put it, it’s as much about community and the sense of belonging that comes with it.
A few hours earlier, Hattie – the fan with the Sleep Token sigil on her face – explained what it meant to her to be here.
“I normally get nervous about crowds, but dressing up like Vessel today has made me feel so comfortable,” she said. “I feel like I’m being me. And I know I’ll be able to feel safe in the crowd, supported by the people who understand the music and feel the connection that I do. It’s like a family.
“Any trauma, any story, they’ve written something for it. People say they hate them, that they’re ruining metal, but it’s not a battle. The band have never tried to be in a battle, they just want to express themselves. And they mean a lot to people, so why is that a bad thing?”
Even In Arcadia is out now via RCA. Sleep Token's North American tour starts September 16 in Duluth, GA. For the full list of dates, visit their official website.
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