Sleep Token is one of the more unique bands out there today, mixing pop, hip-hop, and alternative rock with prog-metal brutality. They have released a handful of extremely well received albums and foster a cult-like following that tends a massive online labyrinth of lore and band history.
The anonymous UK-quartet is known for their high-theatrics including face-masks, touring choirs, and sci-fi pseudo-religious imagery which overtakes the entirety of the band's image and creative vision. Their songs are deep, story-driven metal tracks which meld many different genres into perfectly produced packages, ready for any listening situation.
It is hard not to listen to Sleep Token on repeat, especially if you love a good adventure or love story. It is especially difficult if you fall for their unique brand of prog-metalcore wonder. Here is a list of the 10 best Sleep Token songs that demand to be listened to repeatedly. Keep reading to worship.
10 Hypnosis
This Place Will Become Your Tomb (2021)
The fantastically hypnotic "Hypnosis" is definitely one of my favorite Sleep Token songs. Off of This Place Will Become Your Tomb, "Hypnosis" moves effortlessly from electronic machinations, to slick metal riffs, to out-of-this-world post-grunge.
Lyrically, the song is built around two really cool patterns. The first would be the use of repetition, which gives us a very physical sense of hypnosis. Next is the songs prayer-like list of pleas and confessions to Sleep - this really dials up the cosmic qualities of the song.
Sonically, "Hypnosis" is full of everything great about Sleep Token. Their sound is perfect - uncompromising production means that we can count on every Sleep Token song sounding crisp, clean, and huge.
"Hypnosis" is indeed huge. I love the restraint of the first half of the track, but I am immediately drawn to their signature crushing breakdown which evaporates into the crystalline purling of the song's outro.
9 Say What You Will
Sundowning (2019)
"Say What You Will" is another absolutely classic example of the talent and instincts of Sleep Token. The song is split almost straight down the middle, one part emo-tinged alternative-indie ballad and one part drop-tuned, symphonic wonder channeling the old gods like Between the Buried and Me in a totally fresh way.
Dynamics have a lot to do with this song's success. In the quiet parts, we feel intimacy. When the song ramps up towards the second half, we feel energy. What I love about this song is the beauty that is constant throughout these changes - from the incredible sound design to the layered vocals at the end, every decision is correct.
I also really appreciate that this song is off their first record. One of Sleep Token's strongest qualities is their purposefulness, seems like everything they release is ready to be heard, even their early work is essential listening.
8 Vore
Take Me Back to Eden (2023)
"Vore" is just good old fashion metalcore and I love it. Sleep Token's expert brand of progressive metal seems to know no bounds but where it excels is in the world of heavy music. "Vore" slips between screamo, melodic hardcore, and metal almost fluidly - it seems verse by verse the vocalist guides the course of this powerhouse of a track.
Personal demons and love lorn obsession. "Vore" is more than just a quick-tempered metal banger. I when Underoath first dipped into prog-metalcore with their 2006 hit album "Define the Great Line," which redefined just how melodic those metalcore bands could go while also delivering blistering guitars, heavy breakdowns, and beyond human drumming.
For Sleep Token, tending such a constellation of sounds is almost second nature and while they do build their way through tracks beautifully, watching "Vore" kick off like a rocket is exhilarating and heavy as hell.
7 Granite
Take Me Back to Eden (2023)
Ever wondered what The Weeknd would sound like if he tuned down the pop and experimented with some heavier sounds? "Granite" is a brooding track that gradually progresses from atmospheric R&B and lands square into palm-chugged, string-pinching metal riffs that make this song an ideal pick for getting hyped up.
"Granite" checks all the boxes for a song with purpose and energy. This song is building somewhere. Uniquely, "Granite" evolves quite a bit from its dramatic, moody entrance to its final form. Unrequited love is one of the most powerful source materials and "Granite" dives headfirst into the world of broken love. It is extremely to-the-point, talking of love and lust and lost innocence, and how a broken heart can turn to stone.
Matching Sleep Token's characteristically clever lyrical instincts to precise prog-metal twists and turns, "Granite" easily became a replayable hit. When the band is on-point, they really get it right.
6 The Offering
Sundowning (2019)
Whoever came up with "keep it simple stupid" must have not enjoyed music and certainly would find Sleep Token's tendency for the dramatic to be over the top. Thankfully, we know better. "The Offering" is a non-stop, uphill climb from dreamy synthwave to full on metal intensity replete with supernova-sized vocal work.
What I love about "The Offering" is the freshness of Sleep Token's debut mixed with the band's keen vision. It really feels ambitious and composed simultaneously. Sleep Token's affinity for genre travel should not be taken lightly. They are not looking for a sound, they are weaving their own with a palette of great musical colors.
"This is a giving, an offering /In your favour, a sacrifice in your name," this song is a much more sensual Sleep Token track. Here there is no brooding, just archaic ion. In the fashion of the band, "The Offering" brings Sleep Token's almost medieval imagination and mixes it with modern pop appeal.
5 Chokehold
Take Me Back to Eden (2023)
"Chokehold" off of Take Me Back to Eden is Sleep Token doing straight up rock and roll. Well, that and some modern trip hop break-beat cues carried in their specific prog-synthwave toolbox. I love this song because it is falsely restrained. Lacking the full metal onslaught of most of their catalog does not mean that the song does not have its own set of teeth.
I come back to this song because I really enjoy the jagged synth-like harmonics of the opening riff, which just kicks off into short bursts of jungle-inspired cues and straight-forward rock and roll ballad territory. I love the sort of bluesy breakdown in the middle of the track, which sees the band move from moody reflection to full-throated optimism. It is hard not to enjoy this song and it is easily replayable. "Chokehold" is peak prog-metal. It is also extremely accessible without any compromise.
4 Fall For Me
This Place Will Become Your Tomb (2021)
With Imogen Heap making headlines again in 2025, I have to talk about "Fall For Me." Sleep Token really shines in the quieter moments of their work; they can be delicate without shrinking or becoming melodramatic.
Lyrically, the song is a beautiful poem crying out for some providence: "My insecurities surround me like lions in the den / And I feel like I'm losing touch with what I am again."
"Fall For Me" is anything but an add-on song or filler, it is a beautiful break in This Place Will... showing off Sleep Token's aptitude to do a lot with very little. The song is fairly stripped down using a select few studio effects. The band is able to create a lush sonic world from just singing voices. Pitch-controlled choruses bleeding into reverberating, flowing landscapes, "Fall For Me" is made to be blasted into your headphones so you can absorb the complexities of Sleep Token's minimalist songwriting.
3 Alkaline
This Place Will Become Your Tomb (2021)
"Alkaline" is a juicy, slow-moving pop ballad. Fitted out with restrained chugging guitars, featuring big choruses, and the perfect number of synths, it is a classic Sleep Token track. Where other tracks lean back on metaphor and religious allusions, "Alkaline" is a no-nonsense praise song. An ode to Sleep.
What makes "Alkaline" special is its commitment to its metal mandate. Clock-like drum machines and metallic synth voices go a lot further than a piano ballad with additional guitar work. Once the song kicks into its final phrases, the stakes are raised tenfold with choruses of vocal layers and guttural exclamations tempered by spaced out synth cues.
While I really enjoy Sleep Token when they are at their most ambient, "Alkaline" is the perfect example of a song which is fairly straightforward for the band, but still a rocking track that you can listen to over and over again.
2 Take Me Back To Eden
Take Me Back To Eden (2023)
"Take Me Back to Eden" is definitely one of Sleep Token's longest songs, but for good reason. The multi-faceted metal opus is more story than song, as we see the band drawing conclusions to stories they started on Sundowning. Off the final album in a trilogy following the characters Vessel, Eden, and Sleep, "Take Me Back to Eden" is Vessel's final reflection on the loss of his first love, Eden. It features Vessel rapping, singing, and screaming: a perfect trifecta for such an introspective song.
Sleep Token's multi-genre approach is very diverse, but their song structures are all very similar and specific, the band is very aware of time and often splits their songs in half, into three semi-equal sections, or some other digestible number of semi-equi-length chunks. This makes their songs perfect for story telling because they move in expected acts. Their gift for narrative makes this song absolutely replayable.
1 The Summoning
Take Me Back to Eden (2023)
My favorite Sleep Token song is definitely "The Summoning" off of Take Me Back to Eden - it really has everything I am looking for in a metalcore track. From the hardcore-metal inspired guitar solo in the first half of the song to the masterful chorus, the song is a top offering from the band and shows off an immense amount of growth from their previous albums.
It has squealing pinched guitars, -conscious distortion, and an out of this world ambient break, which just heightens the entire experience of this song. "The Summoning" is a track I would have fallen in love with back in 2003. The song transitions smoothly between intimate solo vocal phrases to a full-on, theatrical closing reminiscent of early Fall Out Boy swagger. "The Summoning" proves that Sleep Token can do it all, even in a single song.