Current Events > Is Sleep Token the newest band with the most obnoxious haterbase

(+) Yeah! (+)

the same people that scream something isn't real something, are the same people who think linkin park was hardcore thrash metal

People hated the Foo Fighters?

It feels like the same thing as Ghost, I remember one time I was wearing a Behemoth hat and a girl came up to me and said "I like your hat, I listen to Ghost too"

Never heard of them but I admittedly am pretty stuck in the past on music. As for Foo Fighters I dont remember that much hate. I remember a lot of indifference. I mean even for myself I wasnt much of a fan even though Im a massive Nirvana fan who was and is a big fan of Dave Grohl himself. Hes done so many cool projects musically and I like his interviews and thoughts on music. Fucking love the documentary Sound City he did.

So yeah I really dont recall a lot of Foo Fighters hate. I think a lot of people just viewed it as generic rock but not outright hate. Its not like they got Nickelback treatment, or even say Creed.

Who?

Despised posted...

It feels like the same thing as Ghost, I remember one time I was wearing a Behemoth hat and a girl came up to me and said "I like your hat, I listen to Ghost too"

Yup Ghost gets the same hate, pretty much whenever a metal band gets traction woth the mainstream, metal heads gets super upset

I mean tbf that new sleep token album sucks ass and the band isnt making it any easier to defend them with their whole schtick

Nothing I've heard from Sleep Token makes me think they would like people to defend them as being 'real metal'.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSkY_xmkoYg
(rest of their stuff at least sounds like pretty bog-standard prog metal though)

firedoom666 posted...

Yup Ghost gets the same hate, pretty much whenever a metal band gets traction woth the mainstream, metal heads gets super upset

I really dig Ghost and honestly don't see where the hate comes from

They kind of bring it on themselves though. It's not really a matter of gatekeeping what's real metal or not, the band itself takes the "cry moar" stance towards any minor criticism, and they have pretty trashy fanbase on top of that.

I've never heard anything but unadulterated praise for Sleep Token, in a way that's itself teetering on obnoxiousness.

The resentment towards bands like Sleep Token and Ghost makes sense, imo, just because Metal is for the most part a mostly underground subculture

so when you have a band like Sleep Token using the signifiers and iconography of metal, but ultimately just being mostly lame pop music (as of their latest album), and becoming popular enough that people outside the subculture think oh sleep token is what metal is now, or also this is what metal has to do now to be popular i can see the frustration

to be clear I dont personally care beyond thinking their new album is garbage

TheGoldenEel posted...

The resentment towards bands like Sleep Token and Ghost makes sense, imo, just because Metal is for the most part a mostly underground subculture

..fucking what? Metallica has won Grammys dude.

Cassie posted...

..fucking what? Metallica has won Grammys dude.

And do stadium tours.

How many people do you see walking round with Sabbath or Iron Maiden t-shirts? Loads. More than you do Agyzerax and Soch, anyway.

I find I enjoy their hits that make it onto the radio but then when I try to listen to other songs they just never get heavy enough.

Or in the case of this song doesn't get heavy until 3:15 in.

https://youtu.be/Qw0bebAzsYc?si=CqaU-dEG_86DBIIV

I get why people like them and I also get why people don't.

Also this

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/1/1222d1e4.jpg

TheGoldenEel posted...

The resentment towards bands like Sleep Token and Ghost makes sense, imo, just because Metal is for the most part a mostly underground subculture

so when you have a band like Sleep Token using the signifiers and iconography of metal, but ultimately just being mostly lame pop music (as of their latest album), and becoming popular enough that people outside the subculture think oh sleep token is what metal is now, or also this is what metal has to do now to be popular i can see the frustration

to be clear I dont personally care beyond thinking their new album is garbage

It's pretty much this, I will say however I feel like any people hating on them also don't really give a shit about metal themselves

I'm pretty engrained in the metal culture for texas, go to a ton of shows, know a few bands and promoters, and have generally been in it for a while.... And most all of these people are the nicest humans around, and I generally hear no one talking shit on anything

Most metalheads seem to have a pretty wide listening range

Double Edit: Basically I think the metalheads hating on sleep token and ghost have a high chance of not being as metalhead as they seem in the first place

Triple Edit: I like neither band

This is the first time I've ever heard of them

I can see why people like them, but it's not for me. They're not heavy enough to scratch my "metal" itch, and I'm not in love with the lead singer's voice.

The people saying bands aren't metal enough are the guys who go to a show and crowd kill and get beat up and kicked out

Despised posted...

The people saying bands aren't metal enough are the guys who go to a show and crowd kill and get beat up and kicked out

Part of it could just be what people even consider to be metal in the first place. Some of my friends categorize Tool as metal, (and I love them), but they're not who I would listen to if I wanted to hear some metal.

I will say the one clip I heard was just basic and bad electropop and well I may be wrong it is hard for me to see this group as metal

Who?

ItsNotA2Mer posted...

Part of it could just be what people even consider to be metal in the first place. Some of my friends categorize Tool as metal, (and I love them), but they're not who I would listen to if I wanted to hear some metal.

Yeah there can be a divide there sometimes, some people will get upset over it

Like to me Tool definitely falls under something prog metal, and is one of my favorites (I was actually debating making a tool topic yesterday), but these days the majority of my library is deathcore as far as metal goes

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


Foo Fighters can't be #1 because Nickelback exists.

Cassie posted...

..fucking what? Metallica has won Grammys dude.

Mostly underground

anyway the interesting thing with Metallica is at least a big chunk of their discography is still beloved by people who otherwise hate the mainstream

the number of genuinely metal bands that are even half as popular as Metallica is very small though

vycebrand2 posted...

Who?

Just want to point out this band is touring arenas so all this post says is youre out of touch

TheGoldenEel posted...

The resentment towards bands like Sleep Token and Ghost makes sense, imo, just because Metal is for the most part a mostly underground subculture

so when you have a band like Sleep Token using the signifiers and iconography of metal, but ultimately just being mostly lame pop music (as of their latest album), and becoming popular enough that people outside the subculture think oh sleep token is what metal is now, or also this is what metal has to do now to be popular i can see the frustration

to be clear I dont personally care beyond thinking their new album is garbage

I think this is the most rounded take.

There's a reasonable fear that they're the modern equivalent of when glam/hair metal bands soared to mainstream success. First, a style semi-connected to the metal scene (but poppier) gets big, then it starts to represent the genre in the mainstream view as it ascends. With glam eventually becoming extrmely derivative. All because only that style was seen as commercially viable, which led to a creative dead-end that got quickly swept out by grunge etc.

I like Ghost, and Sleep Token seem talented enough (their singer especially). But...I never listen to them when I'm in the mood for metal. And that says to me that they're fundamentally pursuing something else, with a few touches of it.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Yeah I've seen that before.

Some of the loudest Nickelback haters I've encountered in real life have really generic radio rock tastes in music and will like stuff that's very similar sounding.

The last and only time deathcore popped it's toe into the mainstream was will Ramos doing goblin shit in To The Hellfire, even they caught some flak for doing a couple big shows which I thought was crazy

TheGoldenEel posted...

Mostly underground

anyway the interesting thing with Metallica is at least a big chunk of their discography is still beloved by people who otherwise hate the mainstream

the number of genuinely metal bands that are even half as popular as Metallica is very small though

Pantera
slayer
megadeth
lamb of god
anthrax
Ozzy Osbourne
Black Sabbath
judas priest
iron maiden

those are just off the top of my head. Metal is far more mainstream than you give it credit for.

shout out to @sandalorn for correcting me.

Cassie posted...

Pantera
slayer
megadeth
lamb of god
anthrax
Ozzy Osbourne
Black Sabbath

those are just off the top of my head. Metal is far more mainstream than you give it credit for.

How could you forget Iron Maiden and Judas Priest here.

Cassie posted...

Pantera
slayer
megadeth
lamb of god
anthrax
Ozzy Osbourne
Black Sabbath
judas priest
iron maiden

those are just off the top of my head. Metal is far more mainstream than you give it credit for.

shout out to @sandalorn for correcting me.

With the exception of Ozzy/Sabbath, none of those bands are really mainstream compared to Metallica.

I listen to a rock radio station at work and Metallica gets played numerous times a day, every day.

You'll never hear Slayer, Megadeth or Anthrax.

Thats not mainstream. You dont hear pantera or megadeth on the radio. At most you hear 1 song a year. Ozzy/sabbath, priest, and maybe maiden Ill give you. But even maiden is stretching it. Just because something is big in metal circles doesnt mean its big in mainstream. And I say this as someone who loves Judas Priest, but no one today knows any of their songs outside of you got another thing coming and living after midnight.

VRX3000 posted...

Thats not mainstream. You dont hear pantera or megadeth on the radio. At most you hear 1 song a year. Ozzy/sabbath, priest, and maybe maiden Ill give you. But even maiden is stretching it. Just because something is big in metal circles doesnt mean its big in mainstream. And I say this as someone who loves Judas Priest, but no one today knows any of their songs outside of you got another thing coming and living after midnight.

a-c-a-b posted...

With the exception of Ozzy/Sabbath, none of those bands are really mainstream compared to Metallica.

I listen to a rock radio station at work and Metallica gets played numerous times a day, every day.

You'll never hear Slayer, Megadeth or Anthrax.

yeah I disagree wholeheartedly.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]



Ya, I was kind of going to say this. Not a lot of Hard Rock stations exist anymore but those that do (we have one in Seattle) play most of that list all day long.

Cassie posted...

Pantera
slayer
megadeth
lamb of god
anthrax
Ozzy Osbourne
Black Sabbath
judas priest
iron maiden

those are just off the top of my head. Metal is far more mainstream than you give it credit for.

shout out to @sandalorn for correcting me.

So a couple things

sure, you can name a dozen, maybe two dozen mainstream metal bands. (The fact that you had to be corrected to add literally 2 bands is sort of emblematic of how limited the list is, isnt it?) But note that the absolute newest band you listed has been around over 25 years

so in one sense there is an appetite for metal, and yet the modern metal scene is almost entirely underground because no one wants to support any of the hundreds of great bands out there today

and so you have a band like sleep token come along, making nominally progressive metal (with other genres mixed in), and seemingly the bigger they get the farther they stray from their metal(ish) origins. And so for metal fans, like, genuine metal fans that are out there supporting all the great newer bands that havent broken into the mainstream, it feels kind of shitty when theyre basically the first metal-adjacent band of the decade to hit the mainstream but then drop a new album with trash like this:

https://youtu.be/GSkY_xmkoYg

TheGoldenEel posted...

So a couple things

sure, you can name a dozen, maybe two dozen mainstream metal bands. (The fact that you had to be corrected to add literally 2 bands is sort of emblematic of how limited the list is, isnt it?) But note that the absolute newest band you listed has been around over 25 years

so in one sense there is an appetite for metal, and yet the modern metal scene is almost entirely underground because no one wants to support any of the hundreds of great bands out there today

and so you have a band like sleep token come along, making nominally progressive metal (with other genres mixed in), and seemingly the bigger they get the farther they stray from their metal(ish) origins. And so for metal fans, like, genuine metal fans that are out there supporting all the great newer bands that havent broken into the mainstream, it feels kind of shitty when theyre basically the first metal-adjacent band of the decade to hit the mainstream but then drop a new album with trash like this:

https://youtu.be/GSkY_xmkoYg

no it isnt at all. I literally just forgot them. Im sure I could add quite a few more if I sat down and gave it even an ounce of thought. Korn comes to mind. Sure, theyre classified as nu-metalstill metal.

metal is a lot more mainstream than you refuse to accept, and thats fine. But dont sit there and act like its fact because it absolutely isnt.

Cassie posted...

no it isnt at all. I literally just forgot them. Im sure I could add quite a few more if I sat down and gave it even an ounce of thought. Korn comes to mind. Sure, theyre classified as nu-metalstill metal.

metal is a lot more mainstream than you refuse to accept, and thats fine. But dont sit there and act like its fact because it absolutely isnt.

Name one mainstream metal band that dropped their first album within the last 20 years

TheGoldenEel posted...

Name one mainstream metal band that dropped their first album within the last 20 years

Bring Me The Horizon- Count your Blessing, 2006.

Five Finger Death Punch- Way Of The Fist, 2007

were done here.

Cassie posted...

Bring Me The Horizon- Count your Blessing, 2006.

Five Finger Death Punch- Way Of The Fist, 2007

were done here.

This is sandpit turtle.

Cassie posted...

Bring Me The Horizon- Count your Blessing, 2006.

Five Finger Death Punch- Way Of The Fist, 2007

were done here.

Bring me the Horizon basically entirely abandoned any metal sound at least a decade ago and I mean, I guess Ill give you FFDP but my god theyre so terrible I just blocked them from memory

the fact is as mainstream as you want to argue metal is the mainstream audiences dont want to support new bands. If you look at the hard rock charts (there are no metal charts so this is the closest thing) the hits are almost entirely from bands that formed in the 90s or earlier

thats the conundrum Im talking about. Yes, there is an appetite for metal in the mainstream but metal as a living, thriving, scene is mostly underground as audiences cant move past their extremely limited stable of old bands

imagine if you turned on pop radio and all you heard in 2025 was the latest music from Britney Spears, NSYNC, and, shit idk like Boyz II Men or whatever. Its insane how static mainstream hard rock/metal is

and thats where peoples frustration lies. sleep Token is basically the only band that has any metal element to them to get big in almost 10 years (its probably Ghost being the most recent before them), so as the torch bearer for what metal is in the 20s theyre getting a lot of backlash

JFC...The shit CE argues about...

TheGoldenEel posted...

Bring me the Horizon basically entirely abandoned any metal sound at least a decade ago and I mean, I guess Ill give you FFDP but my god theyre so terrible I just blocked them from memory

the fact is as mainstream as you want to argue metal is the mainstream audiences dont want to support new bands. If you look at the hard rock charts (there are no metal charts so this is the closest thing) the hits are almost entirely from bands that formed in the 90s or earlier

thats the conundrum Im talking about. Yes, there is an appetite for metal in the mainstream but metal as a living, thriving, scene is mostly underground as audiences cant move past their extremely limited stable of old bands

imagine if you turned on pop radio and all you heard in 2025 was the latest music from Britney Spears, NSYNC, and, shit idk like Boyz II Men or whatever. Its insane how static mainstream hard rock/metal is

and thats where peoples frustration lies. sleep Token is basically the only band that has any metal element to them to get big in almost 10 years (its probably Ghost being the most recent before them), so as the torch bearer for what metal is in the 20s theyre getting a lot of backlash

I dont give a rats ass about sleep token, so fuck all that.

the point Im making is that metal is more mainstream than youre giving it credit for and thats a you problem. Im done arguing with you.

who?

I feel like metal heads of ce dont actually walk outside or talk to people in real life much. Like, things we love, no one has a clue about. Even Nirvana isnt really remembered today. I wear a nirvana shirt to the store and I have 20-somethings asking me what is that? Like, the 90s were 30 years ago. These kids werent even born when nirvana was big.

the Metallica shirt people recognize. Metallica is still popular. But a lot of the stuff we listened to is dead and buried to the new generation.