Emergence

The anticipation from Sleep Token's new 'offering' – as they have always described their songs – significantly exceeds anything that's come before.

Anticipation for new Sleep Token "offerings" - as they’ve always described their songs - is significantly higher than anything else going right now. Since the anonymous metal band's third album 'Take Me Back To Eden' in 2023, the British group's stock has skyrocketed.

This mysterious masked collective clocked up 40,000 tickets in London alone last year, and are set to headline Download Festival this June. Heavy music arguably hasn't seen a rise this rapid since Slipknot's in the 2000s - made even more impressive by the fact their smash hit 'The Summoning' is a six-minute prog song, spanning djent, arena-rock and even funk.

Now, after plenty of teasing, they have returned with 'Emergence' - the first single from their newly announced album 'Even In Arcadia' (due May 9). Clocking in at six minutes and 26 seconds, it shows the band now seem increasingly uninterested in being constrained by these long, winding tracks which switch effortlessly between genres (especially after 'Ascensionism' and 'Take Me Back To Eden' became two fan favourites).

Its first act - soundtracked by soul-stirring piano and divine guitar - carries the hallmarks of a more blissful new chapter. "Come out, come out / Out from underneath who you were," vocalist Vessel pleads, perhaps marking a new phase in his complex, emotional relationship with the deity known as 'Sleep' explored over the band's first three albums.

But we all know the sucker punch is coming. As the song builds with some Aenged Sevenfold-esque guitar tapping and trap-pop cadences from Vessel, an unexpected "Woop!" beckons in some pr