Sleep Token distance themselves from outside musical projects claiming an association with the band

The masked metal band issued a rare statement after a new project reportedly promoted itself using a connection to Sleep Token’s origins.

Sleep Token have publicly distanced themselves from outside musical projects claiming an association with the band, issuing a statement that makes clear they do not endorse such claims.

Posted to the band’s Instagram Stories on Sunday (18 October), the message reads: “A word, for the sake of clarity. Sleep Token has no affiliation with any outside musical project that invokes this name, nor with anyone who uses it to promote one.”

It continues: “Such claims are not made with our blessing and are not endorsed by Sleep Token. What is ours is here, and here alone.”

The band did not identify any individual or project by name. However, the statement has been linked in subsequent reports to Arcus, a mysterious musical project that emerged last month.

Arcus reportedly initially promoted itself as a project from the co-creator of Sleep Token. The connection has drawn attention because of the band’s closely guarded identity and the limited information available about its early formation.

Music publication Stereogum has identified Tom Quigley as the person behind the claimed connection. Quigley has described himself as Sleep Token’s co-creator and lead designer, saying he was involved in developing the band’s presentation before leaving in 2018. Those claims have not been independently established in full, and Sleep Token have not named him in their statement.

The band’s message does not explicitly mention Arcus, and it remains unclear whether the project was its intended target. Arcus’s social media profiles reportedly no longer mention a connection to Sleep Token.

The statement comes after a year without live performances or new music from Sleep Token. Their last reported concert took place in Los Angeles on 11 October 2025, while their fourth studio album, Even In Arcadia, was released in May that year.

That album reached number one in the UK and US, extending the band’s rise from a largely anonymous alternative metal act to one of the genre’s biggest contemporary names.

For a group whose identity and visual mythology are central to its public presentation, the wording is notable. Sleep Token have not announced a return to live performance or new music; instead, their latest message is focused on drawing a boundary around the band’s name and the projects permitted to claim an association with it.

For now, the band have offered no further clarification about the statement or the project that may have prompted it.