Scoring a number one album on both the UK and US charts, as Sleep Token did earlier this month with Even In Arcadia, will naturally boost an artist's profile, and bring it to the attention of 'normies', people who previously would have had zero knowledge of the act's existence. Even so, we doubt that Sleep Token frontman Vessel was expecting to find his band discussed this week by TV presenter and author Richard Osman (Pointless, Richard Osman's House of Games) and Guardian newspaper columnist Marina Hyde on their popular podcast The Rest Is Entertainment.
He might have been even more bemused to find his band described by Richard Osman, the brother of Suede bassist Matt Osman, "as the least metal thing I've ever heard".
The subject arose following a discussion about the rescheduling of daytime television shows on British TV channel ITV, with Osman and Hyde then turning their attention to an analysis of Sleep Token, throwing in a mention of Ghost along the way.
"To be number one in America, number one album in America is huge," Osman stated by way of an introduction to the band. "It's a huge deal. And that's exactly what Sleep Token have just done with their fourth album, which is called - and this will give you an idea of the type of band Sleep Token are - Even in Arcadia."
"Now, Sleep Token are one of those bands, nobody knows who they are, because they are always masked, at all times," he continued. "The lead singer is called Vessel - probably not his real name - and the other members of the band are called, in Roman numerals II, III, and IV."
The idea of a public figure using a pseudonym to mask their true identity shouldn't have come as a huge surprise to Marina Hyde, to be fair, given that she too uses a pseudonym. Born Marina Elizabeth Catherine Dudley-Williams, the daughter of Sir Alistair Edgcumbe James Dudley-Williams, 2nd Baronet, the journalist adopted the surname 'Hyde' while working for The Sun newspaper. But we digress...
"It's hard rock," Hyde tells the podcast's viewers/listeners, to which Osman replies, "It's not hard rock, this is what shocked me."
"It's the least metal thing I've ever heard," he continues. "Basically, you could put this in your hand luggage and it would go through the scanners."
"Genuinely, if you've not listened to them, go on to Spotify or, you know, buy an album and have a listen, because it's sort of everything all at once. There's some nu metal there, there's EDM in there, here's alt. pop, there's pop-rap, there's a bit of shoegaze... it's a very, very peculiar sound."
For the benefit of the podcast subscribers, Hyde adds, "Their live shows are called 'Rituals', the singles are 'Offerings'. For older listeners there's a very, very strong sense of Spinal Tap Stonehenge to this."
If you want to hear more of the discussion, the tone of which should be familiar to any professional musicians who've had to endure family members asking annually if they're "still doing your little band thing", the full conversation is below, with the Sleep Token chat beginning around the 22 minute mark.
In the 400th issue of Metal Hammer, we uncovered Sleep Token's secret origin story, via those who were there. From their first producer, to publicists and promoters, we revealed what Vessel was really like, and how his vision developed.
