a brief explanation of sleep token lore for the people who may be moderately curious
dedicated to my friend romeo because he enabled me @blondeandfivefeeteven you will regret this <3
(if you would like me to elaborate on any of these points please ask and i will)
there was nothing. And then there was youtube
8th September 2016, Sleep Token release their first single on their Youtube channel: Thread the Needle. this would go on to lead their first EP, One, released December 2nd 2016, with two other tracks: Fields of Elation, and When The Bough Breaks
the video description for Thread The Needle is the main introduction the band provided for the whole concept, which is as follows:
Sleep Token are a masked, anonymous collective of musicians; united by their worship of an ancient deity crudely dubbed "Sleep", since no modern tongue can properly express it's name.
This being once held great power, bestowing ancient civilisations with the gift of dreams, and the curse of nightmares.
Even today, though faded from prominence, 'Sleep' yet lurks in the subconscious minds of man, woman, and child alike. Fragments of beauty, horror, anguish, pain, happiness, joy, anger, disgust, and fear coalesce to create expansive, emotionally textured music that simultaneously embodies the darkest and brightest abstract thoughts. He has seen them. He has felt them. He is everywhere.
Sleep Token, led by the perpetually tormented, supremely talented Vessel, creates music that brings to the fore our most submerged thoughts and feelings, coaxing them from the desolate, terrifying caves of our subconscious mind.
yes they used the wrong "it's". i'm choosing to forgive
so this was basically where it all kicked offâ they signed with their first label, Basick Records, in 2017 and then released the Two EP later that year. they started performing live in 2017, mostly doing support acts for bands like Loathe, before they did their first headline show, eleventh overall, in October 2018, at St Pancras Old Church in Camden.
after signing with Basick in 2017, there was a press release from the label that explained a bit more about the band. the release itself i cannot find on the wayback machine, but i did find an interview with Metal Hammer from 2017, where Vessel explained more about the story of the band (in character of course)
i've linked the interview above but the main bit relevant to the story is this:
"Vessel encountered Sleep in a dream, with promise of glory and magnificence if Vessel followed Him."
essentially, what we understand is that Vessel (as a a character) was presumably a normal guy who one night had this dream where this deity Sleep showed up and offered him the aforementioned glory and magnificence if Vessel pledged himself as a, guess what, vessel
the band refer to their concerts as rituals, songs as offerings, and followers as worshippers, which is what makes it look like a cult from the outside. the general idea is that they're spreading the message of this deity, Sleep, and in return will be rewarded for their alliegance. what exactly the message of sleep is, i couldn't tell you, and i've been into this band for like two years
they also have only ever done 2 interviews, the one i linked above and when ii, the drummer, did a youtube interview with drumeo, where he played a bunch of songs live and talked about his influences and process as a musician
other than that, a lot of the story is kind of up to interpretation. the albums all together feel like they kind of chronicle Vessel's relationship to Sleep, and i do have a longer theory about how that all comes together but it's not necessarily true so i won't go into it here (ask me if you're interested tho i will happily talk about it)
if i've missed anything, please let me know, otherwise that's about the basics of it
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