I keep running into people (both musicians and non,) who are obsessed with ST. I listen to a very wide range of music, so its odd for me that I wouldn’t like it, but the best way I can describe it is it sounds exactly how id describe AI music. Just gives me a gross feeling.
Not hating. I guess im wondering why people like it so much compared to other groups and why the hype is so big. Is it the whole secretive thing? Ghost and a thousand other groups already did that, its nothing new.
It seems like their live productions are pretty cool. But again, it really looks to be rehashed Ghost but with worse songwriting.
I think he’s a talented vocalist in his style but I personally hate his voice. I am averse to the whole getting up real close on the mic and using vocal fry and grunts to convey that you have sooo much emotion.
Again, just a Lil rant, but also wanted to spur actual discussion
Sleep Token seems to be Tool for a younger audience. Not exclusively, of course (I’m positive there is a lot of crossover appeal), but they tick a lot of the same boxes that Tool did/does, without the baggage of looking like it was made by the hypothetical listener’s dad and his friends.
Now, I’m sure that this argument is reductive, and that mega fans of both bands could easily come in and explain how their music is worlds apart and yadda yadda yadda. I get it. In truth, I’ve not explored much of ST’s catalog (just focused on exploring other sounds at the moment) but The Summoning absolutely slaps ass, and I don’t believe anyone who suggests that they knew where that song was going when they listened to it the first time.
Mostly I’m invoking Tool because I feel like there are more parallels in their fandom than in their music. Alternative metal acts with progressive instincts who thread the needle between metal, rock, pop, and art to greater or lesser critical and popular acclaim. Both groups have a contingent of fans who won’t shut up about how much they love the band, which leads to a certain counter-argument coalescing around people who are more sick of hearing about the band than they are actually upset by the band’s music.
Hmmm I definitely agree with where you went at the end but I think there’s a better comparison. Tool is one of those bands that musicians are really into. The way they write is deliberately technical in a way that non-musicians can enjoy but musicians geek out over. They really like “the process”
Sleep Token fans, from what I’ve seen, just really like the music. The fandom seems like a combination of any rock band and a pop star where there isn’t a big percentage of self-proclaimed music experts. They’re a lot less self-important, they just think their favorite band fuckin ROCKS.
I admit that’s all anecdotal. And full disclosure, I dislike Sleep Token and used to really like Tool
Yeah I could very well be mischaracterizing ST’s fandom. Like I said, I barely know anything about the group beyond one song, their aesthetic, and some of the drumming highlights (thanks Drumeo). However, OP’s post smacked so very neatly of older complaints that Tool is over hyped and Bad, Actually™️, that I felt secure in conflating the two.
Totally agreed that there is an element of musician snobbery in Tool’s fandom, but I’d be shocked if that’s not also present in Sleep Token’s world. Like I’ve said, I’ve got a very limited pallette to draw from, and maybe The Summoning is nonreprestentative of their usual sound, but I don’t see how a band which produces that track doesn’t attract the same type of fan that can’t make it through a Tool song without mentioning the Fibonacci sequence (I say that with love, I’m often that fan despite my best efforts).
All the Sleep Token fans I know are pretty old, but that might just be because all the younger music fans I know are more in the rave scene.
Since OP made a comparison to Ghost, I did notice at the last show of theirs I attended, the crowd was very diverse. I saw kids and seniors alike.
Maybe part of the popularity of these bands is that they operate outside the traditional boundaries, so they’re more likely to have cross-generational appeal. That helps boost popularity overall. We’re in an era now where music is less defined by generations than in the past. As a kid I was mostly exposed to what my peers were listening to, but now I can access everything. It’s getting much harder to pigeon-hole fandoms.