Tonight (Saturday June 14), all-conquering masked metal heroes Sleep Token reached yet another milestone by headlining Download festival for the first time. The set marked the fourth time Sleep Token have played the iconic British rock and metal event following appearances in 2022, 2021 and 2018, and the mysterious band marked the occasion by playing a career-spanning setlist with an impressive stage set behind them looking like something out of a dystopian fantasy comic.
Four songs were played from latest, critically acclaimed studio album Even In Arcadia, while cuts were also aired from their three other studio albums, 2023's Take Me Back To Eden, 2021's This Place Will Become Your Tomb and 2019 debut full-length, Sundowning. One older song was played - Thread The Needle, from their first ever release, 2016 EP One.
Watch videos from the band's set below, and check out the full setlist from Sleep Token's first ever Download headline set just below that. Come back first thing tomorrow for our full review of the show.
Released earlier this year, Even In Arcadia received rave reviews from most critics, with Metal Hammer's Holly Wright writing of the record: "Even In Arcadia isn’t an album of anthems; it’s a patchwork woven from of introspection, tension and the anxiety of stardom, all stitched together while the spotlight burns. It presents something that’s more commercially aware, yet also more vitriolic, and far more intimate."
The album broke streaming records on Spotify and vinyl sales for rock music in the modern era, nabbing number one spots around the world including in the UK and on the US Billboard 200.
@metalhammeruk ♬ original sound - metalhammeruk
@facedownlondon ♬ original sound - FaceDownLondon
@sykes526 ♬ som original - Julie 🖤
@kairfel ♬ original sound - cadey
Sleep Token Download 2025 setlist
Look to Windward
The Offering
Vore
Emergence
Alkaline
Hypnosis
Rain
Caramel
The Summoning
Granite
The Love You Want
Higher
Damocles
Thread the Needle
Take Me Back to Eden
