A deep, distorted voice is coming through the PA of Los Angeles’ El Rey Theatre. “Do you think they want you to cry?” it’s saying. “Do you think they like it?” A second voice, lighter in tone but still distorted and oddly inhuman, replies. “Not as such,” this one says. “I think they just want to know that I am feeling something, feeling what they are feeling, perhaps.”
The audience in this ornate, 800-capacity venue stand silent, entranced by the voices. The band onstage are masked metal sensations Sleep Token, tonight playing their first headlining show in the City Of Angels as part of their month-long North American Rituals tour. The dialogue that is playing out around us is hugely significant to everyone in this sold-out crowd. It marks the first time cowled frontman Vessel – the lighter voice – has broken his silence in public. The deeper voice he’s communing with belongs to Sleep, the god-like entity at the heart of the band’s lore. As the conversation continues, you could hear a pin drop.
