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Sleep Token have become one of the most polarizing acts to emerge over the past decade, but Korn members Brian “Head” Welch and James “Munky” Shaffer say that the mysterious UK band’s set at the 2025 Download Festival over the weekend was magnificent enough to “shut everybody up.”
The massive three-day UK fest was headlined by Sleep Token, Green Day, and Korn, with Sleep Token topping the Friday (June 13th) bill. Just like their first shows of the year at the recent Rock Im Park and Rock Am Ring festivals in Germany, Sleep Token brought along a massive set featuring a castle with a waterfall.
In an interview with BBC Radio 1‘s Rock Show With Daniel P Carter (as transcribed by ThePRP), Korn guitarist Head said, “I love it because all these people — I don’t know how many -— but, I heard chatter about people like, ‘Sleep Token headlining?’ Some people were saying they’re so young to be able to headline so quick. And they came with that stage? Shut everybody up. They went bigger than a Slipknot stage, man.”
Fellow Korn guitarist Munky added, “Also, the new record [Even in Arcadia] is incredible. So it’s not only like the stage, yeah you can do that all day long, but they got the songs to back it up.”
Even in Arcadia debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart upon its release last month. While Sleep Token’s popularity has risen exponentially over the past few years, they’ve also gotten backlash from certain fans of heavy music who don’t appreciate the band’s alt-metal sound that incorporates elements of pop and R&B.
Further emphasizing how big Sleep Token have become, their upcoming fall North American arena tour is completely sold out.
Watch footage of Sleep Token’s set at the 2025 Download Festival below.
English (US) · 