Sleep Token's talent can't be masked in sold-out Pittsburgh concert

While Sleep Token’s masks are a key part of their identity, their anonymity may be gone soon enough if they keep putting on strong performances as they did Sunday night in Pittsburgh.

In a show that sold out the Petersen Events Center months ago, the British rockers continued on their genre-blurring sonic journey on their Teeth of God tour. With a dazzling light show (including lots of strobes), Sleep Token played a taut, 90-minute set that allowed the softer and heavier elements of their music to shine through.

Formed in 2016, Sleep Token prefers to let their music do the talking, eschewing interviews and banter from the stage. The band wears masks and cloaks and haven’t publicly disclosed their identities (although fans have doxxed members before). Vessel is the band’s singer and primary songwriter, joined by II on drums, III on bass and IV on guitar. The band’s lore also includes a deity named Sleep, with plenty of references to worship, offerings and other religious imagery.

Would Sleep Token be as interesting or popular if they were to unmask? It’s hard to say, as the masks help to manufacture mystery and remove any focus on the individuals. That lets the music take center stage, as it did Sunday. Dim lighting, occasional fog and a giant, color-changing Sleep Token logo helped to create an aura of mystique, with backing vocalists The Espera elevated on the left side of the stage and the drum kit up high on the right.

Many of the band’s songs start slowly and build to a crescendo, with crushing breakdowns like in “Higher” and “Hypnosis.” “The Summoning,” on the other hand, reversed that with a blistering start to the song. Songs like “Missing Limbs,” which had Vessel playing an acoustic guitar while fans turned their phones into flashlights, gave off an Ed Sheeran vibe yet didn’t seem out of place.

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The pain in Vessel’s voice came through on songs like “Atlantic,” with a haunting outro of the lyrics, “don’t wake me, don’t wake me up.” He also danced unapologetically on several songs, including “Granite,” which also included a brief eruption of a mosh pit on the floor.

While “Alkaline” could easily fit on modern rock radio and other songs evoked the overall vibe of Type O Negative or the guitar heaviness of Deftones, Sleep Token remains its own band. Some of their most powerful moments came near the end of the night.

It felt like catharsis as Vessel sang “you make me wish I could disappear” in “Ascensionism” right before the short encore break. And his vocals sounded appropriately desperate in “Take Me Back To Eden,” the penultimate song before closing with “Euclid.”

More @Sleep_Token in Pittsburgh pic.twitter.com/e07eTQTaLc

— Mike Palm (@MikePalmMedia) May 20, 2024

British extreme metal band Empire State Bastard — the project of Biffy Clyro singer Simon Neil and guitarist Mike Vennart — left a mostly unsuspecting audience stunned in their wake as the opener.

Blasting through punishing songs like “Stutter” and “Harvest,” Neil alternately growled and howled as he contorted himself into positions more likely to be seen while playing Twister. A brief respite came with “Moi?” before more aggressive songs that spanned thrash and metalcore. A doomy, sludgy “The Looming” ended under a roaring wave of feedback as the audience wondered what hit them as they waited for Sleep Token.

.@ESB666_ rocking Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh ahead of tonight’s @Sleep_Token show pic.twitter.com/im5rgjFzpm

— Mike Palm (@MikePalmMedia) May 20, 2024