Loathe and Sleep Token's came up together in the U.K. alt-metal underground, but Loathe singer Kadeem France speaks of his peer band as if they're his musical heroes.
"Their singer is unbelievable. His vocals are just unreal," he gushes. "Anytime I go to see them live I'm like, 'What am I doing with my life?'"
While many musicians might radiate jealousy to see their contemporaries soar to such heights, France has nothing but positive things to say about Sleep Token, who were opening for Loathe shows just a few years back.
"I love how dedicated to their art they are," France says. "In terms of the visual aspect of it, how they dress, how it's so mysterious. They've somehow kept their identity under wraps throughout this whole thing, and I really, really admire that… Them stripping [their individual personalities] away just makes it a lot more about the music. The music kind of speaks for itself."
Notably, the two bands also linked arms when Sleep Token released a moody, piano-based reinvention of Loathe's shoegaze-y epic "Is It Really You?" from their 2020 album, I Let It in and It Took Everything. France and his bandmates were honored to hear Vessel's stripped-back take on their song.
"Vessel has always been a really big Loathe supporter and likewise with us being big Sleep Token supporters," France explains. "We kind of view music in the same way. There was a time in the past when he did a piano cover of our song 'White Hot.' He randomly sent us it at one point and we were just blown away by it. And I guess [Sleep Token's version of] 'Is it Really You?' is an extension of that.
"One time we went to go see them — this is before [I Let It in and It Took Everything] had even been released — and Vessel started to play the intro to 'Is It Really You?' in their set. We were just like, 'Yo, no way!' We had sent him that song before it had been released. That tune really touched him so it made sense for him to do a cover of it."
For a deep dive into Sleep Token's history so far, order Revolver's collector's issue devoted to the band — featuring rare photos, a breakdown of their album trilogy, famous fan tributes, and more — at our shop.
