Rock music has a thing for the theatrical. From the pioneering eccentricity of Arthur Brown to face-painted trailblazers like Kiss and Alice Cooper, all the way to the masked madness of Slipknot and the campy Devil worship of Ghost, it’s almost as coded into the genre’s DNA as the guitar. And if there’s one band across 2023 who made the strongest claim to be carrying rock’s history of theatricality and mystique forwards, it was Sleep Token.
The mysterious, masked viral sensations are the biggest breakout band to emerge from the metal scene since Tobias Forge decided to throw on a robe and mix black-metal visuals with classic-rock hooks more than a decade ago. In the space of 12 months, Sleep Token have grown from hotly tipped underground favourites to one of the most talked about bands on planet Earth. And, it seems, they’re only just getting started.
