The trilogy is over with 2023’s Take Me Back to Eden. Sleep Token’s 2024 Tour The Teeth of God highlights the fact that the band’s three albums are indeed connected from the very start.
The sky was overcast on the day of the concert, but black-clad fans were still in high spirits when they began arriving to the Toyota Music Factory. English band Empire State Bastard warmed up the crowd. However, the experimental, often rhythmless style was difficult for even the most politely supportive audience members to bob their heads to. Initially, some conversations in the pit revolved around the possibility that they were some sort of Star Wars-themed band, due to the name and the fact that the show was on the 4th of May. Alas, this was not the case.
Once 9pm rolled around, fans murmured in anticipation when the house lights dropped, flooding the black with the lights from cell phone screens, eager to catch the first appearance of their favorite new band.
Sleep Token opened their set with “The Night Does Not Belong to God,” blue bars of light turning on in sync with the music moving closer to the glowing Sleep Token rune on a banner at the back of the stage with every beat.
The hype picked up during “The Offering,” although no one started moshing in the fashion one would expect from a rock band with masked frontmen. Instead, people sang. Of course, there was one person in the vicinity that stretched and produced guttural “aaaahhhh’s” at the most inopportune times (there always is), but people sang in general, like a ritualistic chorus. IV, the guitarist, rested for a bit leaning against drummer II’s platform during the beginning of the song, looking out into the audience.
Older fans were in for a treat with the first half of the set, as were many songs from the 2021 This Place Will Become Your Tomb and 2019s Sundowning . They were serenaded by “Dark Signs,” then Higher” before being interrupted by the first intermission.
The venue’s bass had struggled with the first act. Fortunately, it was better during Sleep Token’s set. However, the recorded audio was turned up too loud in all the wrong places, causing it to be nearly inaudible.
Things turned a little more somber during “Atlantic.” The song began with Vessel alone, center-stage near the back, on keys.
Bassist III hopped up on the drum stand to terrorize II during “Like That.” Admittedly, the latest tour cycle’s costume design did make him look rather menacing, with strongly auburn hair and a scary face. However, II couldn’t be phased, smoothly eased though the song.
“Alkaline ” drew gasps from the audience within the first note, with Vessel taking pointed steps toward the edge of the stage with every new note. The audience vibed, some singing, some filming, but all bets were off when the tempo picked up.
Things got even more intense during “Chokehold,” the band’s runes and lighting pulsating red, towards to the crowd with more force as the song climaxed. But no one went truly free until “The Summoning,” the 2023’s TikTok sensation that had show the band up a new level of global recognition. II took the opportunity to perform and extended drum solo under an onslaught of stopping white lights. Vessel came up to check on him, the motioning toward the crowd to shower him with more praise before climbing back down to continuer the song. Phones were out for the part so many online had said they’d conceived their children too.
The band kept up the section with more songs for Take Me Back To Eden, such as “Granite.” Finally, a form of circle pit started up near the front of the stage, providing those packed too close to the front an opportunity to stretch their legs whether they wanted to or not.
Dallas had been experiencing rainfall throughout the past few days around nightfall, and Saturday was no different. Although clouds hung thick as everyone was checking in, the show was too entertaining for anyone to notice that the rain had begun until lighting made a surprise appearance during “Rain.”
The thunderstorm might as well have been a paid actor a paid actor during “Rain.” The lighting went back to moody, dark as to highlight the flashes of blue in tune with music. During the less stimulating parts, the audience covered by the pavilion startled at the flashes of purple lightning on the pavilion’s walls. People smiled and whispered, attempting to film the storm in conjunction with the song.
By now, Vessel’s black body paint was streaking, revealing a lot of his skin in a way that felt like the rain could reach the stage. Like I said, a paid actor.
“Ascensionism ” may have taken the cake for best performance. Putting my own biases aside (I’m in love with the beat changes and the way they almost feel like chapters within the song’s storytelling), things got emotional.
Sleep Token has three intermissions within the show during which a recording of Vessel’s conversations with his mask is played. The first intermission’s dialogue begins with the mask-taunting: “When you cry on stage, they don’t think it’s real.” “That’s a reasonable assumption,” Vessel responds. “Do you fake it?” the mask asks. “No, I don’t. But it is something I do consistently, so if I was a member of the audience I would probably assume that it wasn’t real.”
Vessel has been known to cry often on stage, something that has elicited varied reactions from fans. The heavy subject matter of some songs mixed with tears has made some fear for the artists’ mental health or well-being. Others have seen it as part of the theatrics, especially when the song revolves around heartbreak.
During “Ascensionism, Vessel took things off key in a freestyle for the lines “my redemption, eternal ascension, setting me free,” before gasping in a sob, taking a step back from the podium with the mic, and continuing “so I take what I want and leave.”
The song’s delivery was richer and more complex, definitely unlike what the album provided. Somehow, Vessel delivered an excellent, even performance despite the emotion.
The lights fell to black again, with another intermission playing as some decided to call it in for the night, making room for others to push as close to the barricade as space would allow. Following the final interlude “Take Me Back to Eden started up,” taking the Toyota Music Factory through a ride.
The set went back to black for “Euclid,” with blue light bars flashing on beat with the piano notes just like they had during “The Night Does Not Belong to God.” The two songs share the same ending lyrics:
The whites of your eyes / turn black in the low light / In turning divine / And we tangle endlessly / like lovers entwined / I know for that last time / You will not be mine / So give me the night, the night, the night
In other words, by connecting the first song of the first album and the last song of the third album in this way, Sleep Token affirms that the trilogy ends in a full circle. It’s beautiful, on the surface, but disheartening when you dwell on it for a little longer.
The entire concept trilogy centered around heartbreak. Yes, there is lore about Vessel, the worship to the entity of sleep, and the world-building that goes in hand with it. But at its core, the trilogy goes through the throws of obsession, depression, codependency, and hints of what could be interpreted as abuse. Instead of getting over his muse or having some sort of climactic showdown with Sleep, Vessel comes full circle. Perhaps he is different, stronger, more willing to push back based on his masks through the years morphing to reveal more of his mouth, more of his identity outside of Sleep. But in the end, he’s still deeply in love with what he can not have, sprinkled in with feelings of self-loathing.
Following the end of the show, the band returned to the stage to say goodbye. No bows, no speech, just Vessel putting his hands together as if in prayer, a slight boy, and it’s over.
While some fans stayed behind in an attempt to obtain a setlist or a pick from the crew, most walked outside into the pouring rain, still in a daze from the ritual they witnessed.
You can catch Sleep Token on their The Teeth of God tour in a city near you.
I am a multimedia journalist with a passion for guitar-based music – be that rock-n-roll, bachata, or anything in between. When not in a mosh pit, I can be found knitting, collecting CDs, thrifting, journaling, or attempting to incite chaos among feuding global powers. I hold a bachelors degree in Broadcast Journalism and a masters degree in Mass Communication from the University of Houston, making me twice the Coog you'll ever be 😉
