Every now and then, a band within the heavy music community blows up, seemingly out of nowhere, and that seems to be the case with the mystery band Sleep Token, who've just released a new single called "Granite." But why is everyone talking about them so much?

We call Sleep Token a "mystery band" because there's really not a lot of information out there about them. The identities of the members have remained anonymous, as they wear masks and concealing clothing. All we know is that the band's leader goes by the name Vessel, and that they have two full-length studio albums — Sundowning (2019) and This Place Will Become Your Tomb (2021) — the latter of which, we named one of the best albums of 2021.

But now, their music is starting to gain traction at a relatively quick pace. At the beginning of January, the band had around 280,000 monthly listeners on Spotify [via Metal Shell], and since they've released the singles "Chokehold" and "The Summoning," that number has grown to over 953,000 monthly listeners. The latter track already has over 1 million views on YouTube, despite only being released 13 days ago, and their latest single "Granite," which just came out today (Jan. 19), has almost 100,000 views.

Check out the video for "Granite" below.

The anticipation for the band is likely to continue on an upward trend. According to Genius, they have an album titled Take Me Back to Eden underway, though the specific release date hasn't been revealed. Boolin Tunes reported that during a recent show in the U.K., the group debuted the three new songs live, in addition to another one called "Aqua Regia," so it may only be a matter of time before they release a studio version of it.

"What comes next, only time will tell, but what's certain is that it won't be bound by convention," Spinefarm Records' website reads of "Chokehold" and "The Summoning."

So, what are people saying about Sleep Token that makes them so special? It seems many are intrigued by their ability to successfully craft songs in varying styles — heavy, soft and melodic, atmospheric, experimental and so on.

Someone on Reddit compared the band's effect to that of Ghost.

"I see Sleep Token as Ghost for a new generation. Where Ghost merged the metal stylings of bygone generations with the popsensibilities of the same generations, Sleep Token merges the metal sounds of today(primarily but not exclusively metalcore-ish) with a certain part of of the pop sound that have been really popular in recent years. And that is really cool. Because on paper it shouldn't really work but in practice it does."

Another user on Reddit said that they were "floored" by "The Summoning," calling it a "fucking transcendental experience." Others pointed out that Vessel has taken a slightly different vocal approach and praised his screams.

"The number of firstborn sons I'd sacrifice just to listen to this song's stems would solve world hunger. Those noodly beep boops in the background of the chorus make me happier than they have any right to," another fan wrote of "Chokehold" on Reddit. "Much as I love the pure heavy stuff, this band really shines when they make dark pop babymaking music."

See some other posts about Sleep Token below, and stay tuned for what they have in store next.

Sleep Token - 'Granite'

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