Sleep Token and Bilmuri at First Direct Arena in Leeds - I saw a hype machine in action
Sleep Token have the world at their fingertips and it's a world entirely of their own creation.
Hype can help propel a band and Sleep Token have come an incredibly long way in what feels like a relatively short amount of time, even for a 2016-formed outfit. In the summer of 2023 they headlined the brilliant but indoor and still emerging Radar Festival in Manchester. The summer of 2025 will see Sleep Token headline Download Festival with its 75,000-strong crowd.
But if there is hype, in any empty sense, around Vessel and his Roman numeral-named bandmates it can hardly be blamed upon or attributed to them, for they don't do interviews. They don't show their faces. They make no bold claims, beyond the lore and backstory, and they don't talk to audiences during live shows other than the occasional scream of encouragement to a mosh pit. They simply do what they did at First Direct Arena - turn up and play gorgeous, heavy music that preaches to the choir on their behalf. If that’s what generates the hype then it’s no bad thing.
Emotional, genre-blending alternative music has the ability to turn a fanbase into a cult and it feels that way with Sleep Token's devotees because at times the crowd is transfixed, swaying but barely moving. It's difficult to take your eyes off the stage and a compelling visual performance. The masks, Vessel's hop-skip-jumping, a stunning light show, a stage upon which drummer II and backing singers Espera seemingly ascend higher and higher as the set progresses. It's mesmeric and a lot to take in. There's the goofing around between band members too that is now such a beloved part of the performance.Vessel getting on all fours and carrying a seated IV a good 10 yards while he played a guitar solo was the height of it in Leeds.
The sound is what will grow this congregation, though. Gimmicks like masks or thematic characters have come and gone in metal over the decades and some simply do not stand the test of time. Whether or not Sleep Token's anonymity lasts, there is no denying the artistry will. Vessel's voice haunts from opener The Night Does Not Belong to God and it's enough to hold the crowd to rapt attention when it's just him and the piano or guitar during the achingly-sad Atlantic or the equally melancholy Missing Limbs. When the full band and singers kick in the sound is huge. If Alkaline is big, Chokehold is enormous. The Summoning is when II shines and even the most drum-ignorant can appreciate a snare sound that attractive in an effortlessly breaktaking solo.
Ascensionism goes on its insane genre journey and the Leeds crowd is happy to be swept along, still completely present. At some point during the earlier parts of the set the spell cast by Vessel and co was broken and mosh pits broke out on both sides of the floor. They wax and wane but Take Me Back to Eden feels like a last chance to dance before Euclid brings things to a euphoric close. World domination might just be beyond the reach of a band that divides the metal community but if there is to be a peak to the Sleep Token story it is not here just yet.
And the same can be said for Bilmuri, the bouncy, sugary support act. They're fun, puerile at times but musically gifted. Saxophone, flute, catchy riffs. Giving it a name would give you a headache. Johnny Franck's Leeds United shirt is a nice touch, just don't look back at his attire in different cities on the tour.