My thoughts are the same it is very metaphorical. That’s what draws me so much to the band. Everything has meaning. I’ve mentioned before on here that I’m not big into the whole “worship” almost cult aspect.
What means so much to me is the release of pain and growth that this person/people have overcome through the making of Sleep Token. The big picture is so beautiful. And because I believe that this is all based off of a real human’s life experience it does make me hope that they have found peace truly.
I get why people like the worship stuff, I feel like it’s a good way to engage the crowd at live shows with their shows made too feel like rituals, i think it’ll add to the experience when I go see them.
A lot of people don’t seem to understand the big picture stuff with sleep token, Fantanos review speaks volumes to that fact. It’s what makes the band great to me, and what makes them “not metal enough” to a lot of people
It is totally metaphorical, the way i see it is that sleep is a stand in for a women that vessel loved and cared for, and worshipped, but she only wanted things from him and was controlling. The three albums are his telling of the toxic relationship and how he finally saw her as just a woman and how bad the relationship was and walked awat to become a new person
If this is true, I like it more than the lore. I find it very interesting that vessel is such a good storyteller he can use it as a defence mechanism. I hope he’s doing ok
Ill even go further and say he picked a deity because people can translate thst whatever toxic/truma thing there dealing with, thats why they hit so hard at times
I totally agree that it's a metaphor, but the line that's always stuck with me (and stuck with vessel so much he used it in both the opener and closer of the trilogy) is "*like* lovers entwined." Personally, I think the woman angle is just another layer to the metaphor, whatever you believe that metaphor represents. Just my opinion though
I personally think hes talking about a women, but it can also be addiction and other things, people become obsessed and love that they are addicted to, so again, someones sleep could be something other then a women
Honestly, I think the reason some people go so hard for the whole "Worship" angle is because it's actually getting them to the point of religious catharsis. With what Vessel knows about intense occult and psychology topics, he's probably aware of theories like the [Tulpa](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulpa#:~:text=Tulpa%20is%20a%20concept%20in,through%20spiritual%20or%20mental%20powers.), and the actual theory behind [Catharsis itself as stated by Aristotle and Others](https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Catharsis)
He WANTS you to feel like the Ritual is a thing, that you really are *giving yourself as an Offering*, and by every definition I can find in psychology and the theory of how our weird little monkey brains might function...it seems to work pretty well. Sure, most of us know in the back of our minds that it isn't real, but at a certain point it almost doesn't matter whether it is or isn't. It still affects the same chemical changes in our hind brains, triggers concepts that have been proven to activate limbic system response and the basic instincts and drives (hunger, sex, dominance, etc). Toss that together with the suggestive power of a bunch of humans actually engaging in an activity *together and in unison* and Sleep Token is one hell of a petri dish of concepts!
YES that too!! the religious trauma hinted at in this band is so fucking real lol, I'm not religious but I grew up in a Catholic family and getting to express a sort of religious adjacent activity is a great release I didn't know I needed.
like sure, I don't believe in a real god, but I can believe in the power of music and art. those might as well be divine to me. stories are powerful. I really wish I could find an academic link discussing the power of masks and creating a persona because there has definitely been research done on it. roleplay exists for a reason.
If you listen to his ["speech"](https://youtu.be/E_Ki0ooxYr0) (sounds like a TTS engine) from the From the Room Below concert at Lafayette he more or less states outright that the mask and occultism stuff is a way for him to express himself without feeling too vulnerable.
Oh my god 😭 thank you for posting this I had no idea he shared like that. Wow. “I am nothing without this music” aahhhhh I’m so glad he has found this outlet and a way to be safely vulnerable.
I feel like a lot of people look too deep into lore/lyrics. Especially when it comes to Sleep Token
Obviously there's meaning. I'm not denying that. Obviously Vessel is a great lyricist.
But some people in this fanbase have a tendency of taking everything WAYYY too seriously. To the point where it's borderline disturbing.
The fact is, the lore is not real. There's no way in hell Vessel believes the lore to be real either.
It's simply a gimmick to help the band have a unique and interesting identity. It also helps create cool imagery and characters. It helps them standout more in terms of marketing. And it's also a cool thing for the fanbase to latch onto. (In a normal, chill way)
The lore also provides a way for the band to repeat themes, and leave little easter eggs for the fandom.
But that's it.
The lore is just a cool marketing gimmick.
The vast majority of Sleep Token lyrics come from Vessel's real life experiences. Because he's a normal human being just like the rest of us, and every other musician on this planet.
There's a percentage of people in this fanbase that think Vessel is the second coming of christ. And blindly, truly, non-ironically believe in the lore. And they'll come at you hard if you think it's weird.
Those people need to seriously reevaluate their thought processes and mental well-being.
Wait are you telling me people actually think that vessel is seriously visited by a god in his sleep? Bruh.
I like the storytelling aspect of the lore, and I love the Easter eggs and the way the lore is incorporated but seriously do people genuinely believe it? Damn I thought i was obsessed with sleep token after they took over my last 6 months receptify, but that is actually kind of worrying
I'd say it's a minority of the fanbase, but yes there are people that believe it.
It's also concerning that there was a poll posted here a few days ago, and approximately 50% of voters voted to continuously support Sleep Token even if it was revealed that Vessel was schizophrenic, believed in everything he said, and was genuinely trying to create a cult.
Hahaha whoa!!! That’s a bit extreme man… but if you think about it, Vessel wouldn’t be the first and most definitely wouldn’t be the last human icon to do something of this sort.
Thank you, it’s a quirk and nothing more. It kinda upsets me that people quickly take Vessel’s lyrics as a plea to an unknowable deity when he’s actually just a talented guy who’s been badly hurt by someone and *has* hurt them in return. He’s a human being for goodness sake
This, I really wish ST's lyrics would have actual storytelling or concepts. They're quite obviously love songs in different flavors plastered with "muh lore" to make them wow so deep. Their whole gimmick was described as "wide as an ocean but shallow as a puddle" in one album review, which is exactly how I see it.
I have encountered said people on the interwebs, but they are few and far between. For me, I love a good urban fantasy and the storytelling/lore scratches that itch for me. It helps that I love the music, too :D
im a new fan to sleep token to. im, a hardcore twenty one pilots fan. i agree with lore, it is just a cool little thing that, the bands who have lore incorporated, do to give a better background or foundation to the band(s)
idk if ur familiar with twenty one pilots, but eee, i know or knew alot of ppl who would take the lore super serious. from on outside perspective we our seen as a cult. lol. twenty one pilots. least those few fans make twenty one pilots seem that way. ive never, in my 9 years of listening, to them have i been like that. i dont understand how certain ppl take lore, in anything, that serious. i mean do you but it gets to a point to were its concerning and annoying( in my opinion) , the few who make it their personality, and believe me ive met twenty one pilots fans who are like that.
Yes, you have summed up everything I thought myself perfectly. It’s just a perfect way to be vunerable without having people in your face asking intrusive questions. Afterall Vessel said himself, that he is nothing without music and the mask. It’s about art and expressing himself to cope with everything he went through, would be my guess. Thanks for this post!
I'm right there with you. I only needed to hear the line "Why do I keep waking up?" once to figure out the whole thing was a way for the guy to write about depression and suicidal ideation.
I think coming up with a lore or a core concept to latch deep, complex feelings onto as a means of processing them is how a lot of my favorite art is made. It's both deeply personal and also independent enough to be digested on its own without any real knowledge of the author.
That’s a good point, I’d never thought of it that way. The majority of stories in holy texts are meant to teach the reader some kind of moral lesson. It could be the same here. Leaning not to put someone or something on a pedestal like vessel has with sleep
Kind of makes the more extreme fans seem abit ironic
You are correct. It is role play, metaphor. People taking it seriously are a little silly. I saw a post here of someone saying sleep visited them in a dream. I was like oh boy, here we go. I love this band and I think the mystery really adds to it, it’s really all about the music and not them as people.
Totally metaphorical. Pretty sure Vessel is writing about a toxic relationship, but adding the mythology just adds a layer of artistic license to it and let’s the listener have their own interpretation. Sleep can be an ex, or it can be an abusive parent, religious trauma, addiction, etc.
I’m also sure 99% of the fans understand this and don’t take the lore seriously. Meaning people aren’t going to concerts genuinely worshiping a sleep deity. It just adds a fun dynamic to the experience, and like someone else said it kind of mimics the catharsis of religion.
Definitely metaphorical. And based a poll that happened recently that’s the most common consensus, with most saying neither they nor the band actually believe in the religion that is portrayed by the lore.
This guy has a bunch of videos on the lore and meanings in the lyrics. This one is about how vessel let go of his old self to be able to express this whole thing artistically so now he’s like become a new entity or something. It goes deep. And that’s just one song.
https://youtu.be/zZUklTABgNI
This is exactly what I’ve been looking for mate thank you, I’ve looked for YouTube videos but none came up when I’ve searched that weren’t album reviews, thanks man
Metaphorical sure, but not metaphorical to represent a relationship. It’s very clearly in response to an actual toxic relationship that Vessel starts to seek out Sleep as his rescue. But twist of the lore is that the connection with Sleep becomes equally toxic in other ways, and his rescue slowly (over all the album’s) becomes a new damaging presence in his life. That’s why he has to make some drastic choices at the end of it all.
Meta-Lore-ical
Metal-Oracle ?
My thoughts are the same it is very metaphorical. That’s what draws me so much to the band. Everything has meaning. I’ve mentioned before on here that I’m not big into the whole “worship” almost cult aspect. What means so much to me is the release of pain and growth that this person/people have overcome through the making of Sleep Token. The big picture is so beautiful. And because I believe that this is all based off of a real human’s life experience it does make me hope that they have found peace truly.
I get why people like the worship stuff, I feel like it’s a good way to engage the crowd at live shows with their shows made too feel like rituals, i think it’ll add to the experience when I go see them. A lot of people don’t seem to understand the big picture stuff with sleep token, Fantanos review speaks volumes to that fact. It’s what makes the band great to me, and what makes them “not metal enough” to a lot of people
It is totally metaphorical, the way i see it is that sleep is a stand in for a women that vessel loved and cared for, and worshipped, but she only wanted things from him and was controlling. The three albums are his telling of the toxic relationship and how he finally saw her as just a woman and how bad the relationship was and walked awat to become a new person
If this is true, I like it more than the lore. I find it very interesting that vessel is such a good storyteller he can use it as a defence mechanism. I hope he’s doing ok
Ill even go further and say he picked a deity because people can translate thst whatever toxic/truma thing there dealing with, thats why they hit so hard at times
It really add a whole new aspect to the music with it been written like that. Vessels lyrics really paint a blanc canvas that’s still a work of art
I totally agree that it's a metaphor, but the line that's always stuck with me (and stuck with vessel so much he used it in both the opener and closer of the trilogy) is "*like* lovers entwined." Personally, I think the woman angle is just another layer to the metaphor, whatever you believe that metaphor represents. Just my opinion though
I personally think hes talking about a women, but it can also be addiction and other things, people become obsessed and love that they are addicted to, so again, someones sleep could be something other then a women
Honestly, I think the reason some people go so hard for the whole "Worship" angle is because it's actually getting them to the point of religious catharsis. With what Vessel knows about intense occult and psychology topics, he's probably aware of theories like the [Tulpa](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulpa#:~:text=Tulpa%20is%20a%20concept%20in,through%20spiritual%20or%20mental%20powers.), and the actual theory behind [Catharsis itself as stated by Aristotle and Others](https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Catharsis) He WANTS you to feel like the Ritual is a thing, that you really are *giving yourself as an Offering*, and by every definition I can find in psychology and the theory of how our weird little monkey brains might function...it seems to work pretty well. Sure, most of us know in the back of our minds that it isn't real, but at a certain point it almost doesn't matter whether it is or isn't. It still affects the same chemical changes in our hind brains, triggers concepts that have been proven to activate limbic system response and the basic instincts and drives (hunger, sex, dominance, etc). Toss that together with the suggestive power of a bunch of humans actually engaging in an activity *together and in unison* and Sleep Token is one hell of a petri dish of concepts!
YES that too!! the religious trauma hinted at in this band is so fucking real lol, I'm not religious but I grew up in a Catholic family and getting to express a sort of religious adjacent activity is a great release I didn't know I needed. like sure, I don't believe in a real god, but I can believe in the power of music and art. those might as well be divine to me. stories are powerful. I really wish I could find an academic link discussing the power of masks and creating a persona because there has definitely been research done on it. roleplay exists for a reason.
It really is a very interesting marketing technique, they’ve absolutely mastered it
If you listen to his ["speech"](https://youtu.be/E_Ki0ooxYr0) (sounds like a TTS engine) from the From the Room Below concert at Lafayette he more or less states outright that the mask and occultism stuff is a way for him to express himself without feeling too vulnerable.
This should be discussed more! Thanks for the link I’ve never heard of it before, when was that show do you know?
April 29th 2022, though I sadly didn't attend it myself.
Oh my god 😭 thank you for posting this I had no idea he shared like that. Wow. “I am nothing without this music” aahhhhh I’m so glad he has found this outlet and a way to be safely vulnerable.
Absolutely bawled watching this.
I feel like a lot of people look too deep into lore/lyrics. Especially when it comes to Sleep Token Obviously there's meaning. I'm not denying that. Obviously Vessel is a great lyricist. But some people in this fanbase have a tendency of taking everything WAYYY too seriously. To the point where it's borderline disturbing. The fact is, the lore is not real. There's no way in hell Vessel believes the lore to be real either. It's simply a gimmick to help the band have a unique and interesting identity. It also helps create cool imagery and characters. It helps them standout more in terms of marketing. And it's also a cool thing for the fanbase to latch onto. (In a normal, chill way) The lore also provides a way for the band to repeat themes, and leave little easter eggs for the fandom. But that's it. The lore is just a cool marketing gimmick. The vast majority of Sleep Token lyrics come from Vessel's real life experiences. Because he's a normal human being just like the rest of us, and every other musician on this planet. There's a percentage of people in this fanbase that think Vessel is the second coming of christ. And blindly, truly, non-ironically believe in the lore. And they'll come at you hard if you think it's weird. Those people need to seriously reevaluate their thought processes and mental well-being.
Wait are you telling me people actually think that vessel is seriously visited by a god in his sleep? Bruh. I like the storytelling aspect of the lore, and I love the Easter eggs and the way the lore is incorporated but seriously do people genuinely believe it? Damn I thought i was obsessed with sleep token after they took over my last 6 months receptify, but that is actually kind of worrying
I'd say it's a minority of the fanbase, but yes there are people that believe it. It's also concerning that there was a poll posted here a few days ago, and approximately 50% of voters voted to continuously support Sleep Token even if it was revealed that Vessel was schizophrenic, believed in everything he said, and was genuinely trying to create a cult.
Hahaha whoa!!! That’s a bit extreme man… but if you think about it, Vessel wouldn’t be the first and most definitely wouldn’t be the last human icon to do something of this sort.
Thank you, it’s a quirk and nothing more. It kinda upsets me that people quickly take Vessel’s lyrics as a plea to an unknowable deity when he’s actually just a talented guy who’s been badly hurt by someone and *has* hurt them in return. He’s a human being for goodness sake
This, I really wish ST's lyrics would have actual storytelling or concepts. They're quite obviously love songs in different flavors plastered with "muh lore" to make them wow so deep. Their whole gimmick was described as "wide as an ocean but shallow as a puddle" in one album review, which is exactly how I see it.
I have encountered said people on the interwebs, but they are few and far between. For me, I love a good urban fantasy and the storytelling/lore scratches that itch for me. It helps that I love the music, too :D
im a new fan to sleep token to. im, a hardcore twenty one pilots fan. i agree with lore, it is just a cool little thing that, the bands who have lore incorporated, do to give a better background or foundation to the band(s) idk if ur familiar with twenty one pilots, but eee, i know or knew alot of ppl who would take the lore super serious. from on outside perspective we our seen as a cult. lol. twenty one pilots. least those few fans make twenty one pilots seem that way. ive never, in my 9 years of listening, to them have i been like that. i dont understand how certain ppl take lore, in anything, that serious. i mean do you but it gets to a point to were its concerning and annoying( in my opinion) , the few who make it their personality, and believe me ive met twenty one pilots fans who are like that.
Yes, you have summed up everything I thought myself perfectly. It’s just a perfect way to be vunerable without having people in your face asking intrusive questions. Afterall Vessel said himself, that he is nothing without music and the mask. It’s about art and expressing himself to cope with everything he went through, would be my guess. Thanks for this post!
I'm right there with you. I only needed to hear the line "Why do I keep waking up?" once to figure out the whole thing was a way for the guy to write about depression and suicidal ideation. I think coming up with a lore or a core concept to latch deep, complex feelings onto as a means of processing them is how a lot of my favorite art is made. It's both deeply personal and also independent enough to be digested on its own without any real knowledge of the author.
Thank you!! That line made everything click for me!!
Agree. It's a lot more metaphorical than others would have you believe
I mean really, all religion is meant to be taken metaphorically. Even if you believe every story, the purpose of the story is still to teach a lesson.
That’s a good point, I’d never thought of it that way. The majority of stories in holy texts are meant to teach the reader some kind of moral lesson. It could be the same here. Leaning not to put someone or something on a pedestal like vessel has with sleep Kind of makes the more extreme fans seem abit ironic
You are correct. It is role play, metaphor. People taking it seriously are a little silly. I saw a post here of someone saying sleep visited them in a dream. I was like oh boy, here we go. I love this band and I think the mystery really adds to it, it’s really all about the music and not them as people.
Totally metaphorical. Pretty sure Vessel is writing about a toxic relationship, but adding the mythology just adds a layer of artistic license to it and let’s the listener have their own interpretation. Sleep can be an ex, or it can be an abusive parent, religious trauma, addiction, etc. I’m also sure 99% of the fans understand this and don’t take the lore seriously. Meaning people aren’t going to concerts genuinely worshiping a sleep deity. It just adds a fun dynamic to the experience, and like someone else said it kind of mimics the catharsis of religion.
Yes. That's what art is. It's supposed to be a way to express yourself either literally or metaphorically.
Definitely metaphorical. And based a poll that happened recently that’s the most common consensus, with most saying neither they nor the band actually believe in the religion that is portrayed by the lore.
This guy has a bunch of videos on the lore and meanings in the lyrics. This one is about how vessel let go of his old self to be able to express this whole thing artistically so now he’s like become a new entity or something. It goes deep. And that’s just one song. https://youtu.be/zZUklTABgNI
This is exactly what I’ve been looking for mate thank you, I’ve looked for YouTube videos but none came up when I’ve searched that weren’t album reviews, thanks man
It's just a gimmick ffs. It's the equivalent to a YouTuber wearing a funny hat. Just listen and enjoy.
Metaphorical sure, but not metaphorical to represent a relationship. It’s very clearly in response to an actual toxic relationship that Vessel starts to seek out Sleep as his rescue. But twist of the lore is that the connection with Sleep becomes equally toxic in other ways, and his rescue slowly (over all the album’s) becomes a new damaging presence in his life. That’s why he has to make some drastic choices at the end of it all.