Sleep Token blessed those who had gathered to worship Saturday (6/7) for the group's first ritual in the wake of their newest offering, Even in Arcadia, with a quartet of live debuts.
Vessel roamed the large stage with a new knight-inspired, richly layered cloak and led the crowd through “Look to Windward,” “Emergence,” “Caramel,” and “Damocles" for the first time.
Was the Mandora Stage at Rock im Park worthy?
Is any?
Kicking off the ceremony was the moody yet inspiring “Look to Windward." Often we have said in this space, there is no better place to debut a new banger than right at the top of the show.
Fans are soaking in the look of the stage, which in this case was a celebration of pinks and baby blues with flower petals falling from the sky.
Vessel emerged from the rugged and worn three-story castle to cheers as his masked backing vocalists (collectively known as Espera) got comfortable in their stage left nook.
Meanwhile II, III and IV provided a tight soundtrack of emotionally heavy melodies, chock full of dynamics and precision.
The anonymous Brits delivered a 16-song set at the outdoor festival held in Nuremberg, Germany. Rock im Park this year was headlined by Slipknot, Korn, and Bring Me The Horizon, if that gives you a sense of the tone of this gathering.
Exactly 100 bands rocked out over three days. All whom could bring it were summoned. From Kittie to Weezer, from Jerry Cantrell to Drug Church.
Sleep Token was generous but not overwhelming about performing too many new tunes at the fest. Perhaps that will come later in the tour.
For now (as they did the next day at Rock am Ring), they only played four brand new songs for the kids. Saturday the majority of the songs were from 2023's Take Me Back to Eden.
The second live debut of the night was "Emergence," which was the lead single off Even in Arcadia.
The stage production is reminiscent of the colorful music video - if you'd call it that. It's really not much more than a slightly impressive screen saver.
But as confirmation that RCA was correct in signing the band to their first major label deal last year, the video has racked up over 9 million views in just two month.
“When I first heard Sleep Token I was like, ‘What the hell is this, man?’” Slipknot's Corey Taylor told Metal Hammer in '23.
“They, to me are one of the few new… I’ll call them metal, but there’re so many different levels and layers. There’s pop elements, there’s jazz elements… I love the fact that nobody really knows who they are. I love the fact that they don’t want to be known," he gushed.
Sleep Token doesn't grant interviews, so you'll just have to let their music do the talking.
Lucky for you they have one more show - at Donnington Castle of all places - before they enjoy the summer and then hit the road in September.
Get tickets through Sleep Token's website.
