“Won’t you show me how to dance forever:” A deep dive into the Sleep Token lore

*Content warning ahead- mentions of suicide and self-harm*

The recent rise in popularity of the anonymous metal-band Sleep Token comes as a shocker to many people. Why has this band captured the attention of millions of streamers across the world? What is this band doing that feels so special and different compared to other bands?

The mysterious persona surrounding these guys is one that is intriguing and intoxicating at the same time. The band itself, consisting of lead singer Vessel, drummer II, bassist III, and guitarist IV, (sometimes referred to as Ivy by fans).

For newer and older listeners, here is a deep dive into the lore of this famous UK-based band.

*Note: the lore has NOT been confirmed by the band, nor are the events in chronological order. This is an an interpretation of the lore taken from personal understanding along with outside sources, which will be excluding EP’s “One,” “Two,” and songs such as “Jaws” and “The Way That You Were.”

Important Characters/Terms:
• Vessel: the main character depicted within the storyline
• Sleep: deity in which Vessel has fallen in love with
• Eden: Vessel’s past lover

Sundowning (released November 21st, 2019)

Tracklist:
1. The Night Does Not Belong To God
2. The Offering
3. Levitate
4. Dark Signs
5. Higher
6. Take Aim
7. Give
8. Gods
9. Sugar
10. Say That You Will
11. Drag Me Under
12. Blood Sport

The first album released, titled Sundowning, is a term typically related to patients dealing with dementia and Alzheimer’s. Characterized by increased confusion and restlessness beginning in the late afternoon and early evening. In this album, we get an introduction into the relationship between Vessel and Sleep (not only the act of sleeping, but Sleep also represents a deity in which Vessel has fallen in love with).

The only time that Vessel is able to see or be with Sleep, is when he is falling asleep.. essentially meeting in the “dream world,” or for a better term relating to the lore, Vessel’s subconsciousness. A love that acts as a double-edged sword, Vessel being entirely devoted to his lover, blindsided to the pain and suffering she will ultimately cause him and a benevolent god who does not care for his well-being, only for her own selfish needs. He will drown himself in madness and obsession to immortalize her existence.

Lyrics from “The Offering:” “This is a given, an offering/ In your favor/ a sacrifice in your name/ But I know you’ve got a taste/ So just take a bite of me” (foreshadowing to Take Me Back To Eden album) 

Sleep seems to enjoy the worship and praise received by Vessel, even if it destroys him entirely. “A God without worship and sacrifice ceases to exist in the mind of man.” Sleep relies on Vessel as much as he relies on her, a battle of interests massively contradicting and conflicting one another. She is his muse, the driving force for his creation of music in her honor. There are moments within songs like “Dark Signs,” “Higher,” and “Take Aim,” where he realizes that the relationship is not a good one, one where he should escape, but he’s unable to do so.

Though throughout, not all songs are seen to be from Vessel’s perspective, fans believe that the story changes from Vessel, to Sleep, to even Eden (a character introduced in a early single release titled “The Way You Are,” and Vessel’s past lover). Songs like “Sugar,” for example, seem to be from the perspective of Sleep and her insatiable lust and desire to use Vessel. She knows she has him hooked, and in a sense, seems to be taunting him to come closer.

Lyrics from ‘Sugar:’ “Sugar, I’ve developed a taste for you now/ My arms keep you in the room/ barely let you move/ show me what you do, oh/ Tonight, we’re second-guessed again/ let me wrap the chains/ Addicted to the pain.”

The album comes to a dramatic end in “Blood Sport” a lament to Sleep about opening up and being vulnerable with him, Vessel tries desperately to deepen the connection between the two.

Lyrics from ‘Bloodsport:’ “I wanna be forgiven, I wanna choke up chunks of my own sins/ Even if the sky cracks in the morning, and the Heavens just won’t open up for me/ won’t you invite me in again?/ Let me pay for my arrogance/ won’t you show me your weakness?/ I made loving you a blood sport… I can’t win…”

This Place Will Become Your Tomb (released September 24th, 2021)

Tracklist:
1. Atlantic
2. Hypnosis
3. Mine
4. Like That
5. The Love You Want
6. Fall For Me
7. Alkaline
8. Distraction
9. Descending
10. Telemores
11. High Water
12. Missing Limbs

This Place Will Become Your Tomb, the second album released in September 2021 starts off with Vessel waking up in the hospital after a failed suicide attempt. A dance with Death where Vessel wants to give up, but Sleep desperately thwarts all plans as she “needs him” to carry out her twisted fantasy. Perhaps he wanted to severe the relationship between him and Sleep but sadly to no avail, begging to not be woken up, but instead, is dragged right back into Sleep’s arms, repeating the cycle over again. In songs such as “Mine,” “The Love You Want,” and “Fall For Me,” we see Vessel once again believing that they are ‘destined to be together,’ and that no matter what  fate will always bring the two together even if it’s against their wills. This contradicts songs such as “Like That,” where he questions his inability to leave Sleep, and questioning how she’s able to “love him” despite all the pain she’s inflicted.

Interestingly, the closer of the album “Missing Limbs,” introduces a new perspective into Eden and Vessel’s past relationship in which he failed to help her recover from self-harming. He seems to be reminiscing on the connection, much different than his and Sleep’s connection. Feeling some sort of guilt on how he treated Eden, Vessell may be longing for the love that was there in the first relationship now that he sees through Sleep’s deception and manipulation.

Lyrics from ‘Missing Limbs:’ “‘Cause it still makes my blood run cold/ To remember what I did before/ The stories that you never told to me/ and it still makes my blood run thin/ To remember what you are to him/ And I live like I’ve got missing limbs for you.”

Take Me Back To Eden (released May 19th, 2023)

Tracklist:
1. Chokehold
2. The Summoning
3. Granite
4. Aqua Regia
5. Vore
6. Ascensionism
7. Are You Really Okay?
8. The Apparition
9. Do You Wish That You Loved Me? (DYWTYLM)
10. Rain
11. Take Me Back To Eden
12. Euclid

Take Me Back To Eden, an album that rose to mass popularity on Tiktok with trending songs “Take Me Back To Eden” and “The Summoning,” marks the third album released by the band. What can be seen as a major transition point, throughout the album listeners can see moments where Vessel gains the courage to end things with Sleep, despite falling back into his temptation in songs such as “Vore,” and “Ascensionism.” Fans theorize that Vessel may be ascending into “God-hood,” becoming a God to contend with Sleep’s influence, a theme we see in the next album, Even In Arcadia. 

Lyrics from ‘Ascensionism:’ “You’re gonna watch me ascend/ and I know what you want from me/ You want the same as me/ my redemption, eternal ascension, setting me free/ So I’ll take what I want then leave/ You make me wish I could disappear, you make me wish I could disappear.” 

Circling back to the relationship between Eden and Vessel, songs like “Are You Really Okay?” plea to Eden to stop self-harming; an apology for the lack of empathy he once had, now making the effort to want to become a better person. In the ending songs of the album, “Rain,” “Take Me Back To Eden,” and the beautiful album-ender “Euclid,” Vessel stands up to Sleep and declares that this is the ‘last time’ he will let her walk over him. Not in a way to enact revenge for all the pain she caused him, but to leave with a sense of acknowledgement and to be thankful for everything she’s done to him, good and bad, which has allowed him to better himself and to overcome his doubts within himself. A victory feat that Sleep is not happy with, and feels he does not deserve.

Even In Arcadia (released May 9th, 2025)

Tracklist:
1. Look To Windward
2. Emergence
3. Past Self
4. Dangerous
5. Caramel
6. Even In Arcadia
7. Provider
8. Damocles
9. Gethsemane
10. Infinite Baths

The most recent release under RCA Records, Even In Arcadia, this album reveals an intricate storyline between the Vessel we’ve come to know in the storyline versus “the man behind the mask.” With an album separation between two mythical houses teased through fan-led discord servers and via Instagram: House Veridian, symbolized by crossed swords with the motto “The House Must Endure,” and The Feathered Host, symbolized by the feather and the house motto: “The Cycle Must End.”

Speculation around the time singles for the album were being released predicted that each song of the album will be split amongst the two houses based on which emblem was on the Spotify or Apple Music cover.

Each house also hold a different aspect to the storyline: the songs released under House Veridian pertain to the main storyline we’ve followed with Vessel and Sleep, whilst songs under The Feathered Host, are personal stories for the man behind Vessel’s mask (“Caramel” and “Damocles”). With the rise of the band’s popularity, it seems as though the interpersonal relationship between Vessel and the fans becomes a thin veil, conflicting with the band’s desire to have the music be the center of focus, not Vessel and his true identity [or the rest of the band.]

Lyrics from ‘Caramel:’ “I try not to talk about how it’s harder now/ Can I get a mirror side stage? Looking sideways at my own visage, getting worse/ every time they try to shout my real name just to get a rise from me/ acting like I’m never stressed out by the hearsay.”

Yet with these breaks, the rest of the album circulates back to the storyline with Sleep. “Look to Windward,” for example, shows Vessel now walking within the realm of Gods, potentially plotting his revenge and willing to harm whoever crosses paths with him in order to remain free from the Gods’ grasp, specifically Sleep. Also noticing his feelings for Sleep still remain deep within himself (“Dangerous” and “Provider”). In a cynical rotation, the final two songs “Gethsemane” and “Infinite Baths” bring about an interesting turn of events. What feels as a bitterly cold reminder of the pain that still resides with the memories of a past relationship and the destruction that ensued.

Lyrics from ‘Gethsemane:’ “This one’s for you and your problems/ your good day job/ Your bad karma, what are you afraid of?/ The same trauma, show me what you’re made of/ ‘Cause you talk about your constant pain like I ain’t got none/ and I’ve learned to live beside it/ and even though it’s over now I will always be reminded.”

This belladonna kiss meets the warm salvation of “Infinite Baths”. A palette cleanser of sorts and a taste of the future, to heal from whatever past one emerges from and never look back

Lyrics from ‘Infinite Baths:’ “Infinite baths, washing over me at last/ Are you the method in my madness? Are you the glory in my wrath?/ Infinite baths, bursting colors when you laugh/ Well, I have fought so long to be here, I am never going back.”

But underneath this glory, still remains the threat of self-destruction and the litany of vicious cycles unlearned. And in Vessel’s case where we believe he is finally free from the suffering, a voice rips through the peace and reminds him, once again, of his inability to change his karmic fate. He once again has to face off with Sleep.

Lyrics from ‘Infinite Baths:’ “All this glory you did not earn, every lesson you did not learn/ You will drown in an endless sea/ If it’s blood that you want from me, you can empty my arteries/ Will you halt this eclipse in me? Will you halt this eclipse in me? In me? Teeth of God, blood of man, I will be what I am.”

Through this interpretive ending, the album puts listeners into a constant musical loop- repeating the cycle over and over with no escape. A testament to the cruel divinity intertwined with the man that is Vessel.

Though many things remain a mystery still, there is much to discover within the realm of Sleep Token, and there’s more to come in the possible future.

Catch Sleep Token on their Even In Arcadia tour starting September 16th.

The entire tour is sold out, but some resale tickets are still available, here.

Even In Arcadia Tour Dates:

Sept. 16th – Duluth, GA – Gas South Arena
Sept. 17th – Orlando, FL – Kia Center
Sept. 19th – Louisville, KY – Louder Than Life Festival 2025
Sept. 20th – Greensboro, NC – First Horizon Coliseum
Sept. 22nd – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center
Sept. 23rd – Worcester, MA – DCU Center
Sept. 24th – Philadelphia, PA – Xfinity Mobile Arena
Sept. 26th – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena
Sept. 27th – Cleveland, OH – Rocket Arena
Sept. 28th – Rosemont, IL – Allstate Arena
Sept. 30th – Lincoln, NE – Pinnacle Bank Arena
Oct. 1st – Minneapolis, MN – Target Center
Oct. 3rd – Denver, CO – Ball Arena
Oct. 5th – West Valley City, UT – Maverik Center
Oct. 7th – Tacoma, WA – Tacoma Dome
Oct. 8th – Portland, OR – Moda Center
Oct. 10th – Oakland, CA – Oakland Arena
Oct. 11th – Los Angeles, CA – Crypto.com Arena

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