Growing monthly listeners by more than ten times in a matter of six months is a dream for any band. For Sleep Token and their explosion across the internet in 2023, that is just the tip of the iceberg. The spread of “The Summoning“, the second single released from their latest album Take Me Back To Eden, across TikTok back in January introduced Sleep Token‘s unique blend of genres to the ears of many. It sits less than half a year later as the band’s most successful track, doubling the Spotify streams of “Alkaline“, which was the lead single for the British outfit’s previous full-length offering. The hype of the last few months has rightfully netted them a sold-out North American headline tour later in the year.
2021 saw the dramatic rise of Spiritbox within the metal community. In 2022, it was Bad Omens. Now, it would seem, is Sleep Token‘s turn. What’s more impressive is that the masked collective have not only shot to infamy, but they have outright claimed the metal crown and show no signs of slowing. Spiritbox‘s Eternal Blue placed 19th on the UK charts; Bad Omens with THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND, a phenomenal record, achieved only 24th on the Rock & Metal chart; Take Me Back To Eden has defied all precedent in reaching #3 on the UK’s Official Chart behind only Lewis Capaldi and Ed Sheeran. In doing so, they have edged out Def Leppard and fellow masked metallers Ghost. Sleep Token‘s previous outing, which released on the same day as the aforementioned Eternal Blue, reached only #39, and that was considered at the time a resounding achievement. Such puts into perspective the band’s meteoric rise.
In addition to the raw numerical success of the album, with Sleep Token selling out venues across the United States, the genre-fluid quartet have also received recent praise from a number of metal icons, including Slipknot‘s Corey Taylor and Dream Theater‘s Mike Portnoy. They further received the award for Best UK Artist at today’s Heavy Music Awards. Rather than hinder them, the group’s mystical aesthetic, rampant blurring of sounds, and dense lore have the majority of the metal community in, pardon the pun, a “Chokehold“. Physical copies of Take Me Back To Eden sold out several times over, which no doubt contributed to this accolade. For the moment, Sleep Token are poised on the throne of British rock and metal, and in doing so have made a bold statement that carefully crafted, authentic music can still win out against name recognition and marketing presence in the age of the internet. Though critics such as Anthony Fantano are the vocal minority, Take Me Back To Eden is well-deserving of its praise.
You can check out the rest of the UK’s weekly chart rankings here. For more Sleep Token coverage, click here.