Korn think Sleep Token “shut everybody up” at Download with a set that “went bigger than a Slipknot stage”
2025’s Download Festival lineup boasted a trio of new headliners: iconic punk rockers Green Day, legendary nu-metallers Korn and alt-metal’s latest buzz band, Sleep Token. With their divisive pop-heavy sound and relative newcomer status, Sleep Token’s inclusion was met with criticism – but Korn’s Brian “Head” Welch and James “Munky” Shaffer are firmly in Sleep Token’s corner.
Speaking on BBC Radio 1’s Rock Show With Daniel P Carter, Welch and Shaffer reflect on the mysterious band’s Download set. “I love it because all these people – I don’t know how many – [were like] ‘Sleep Token… headlining?’ Some people were saying they’re to young to be able to headline so quick,” Welch says. “And they came with that stage? Shut everybody up. They went bigger than a Slipknot stage, man.”
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Host Carter is also in agreement with the sentiment, recalling a time he watched Sleep Token back in 2023 at Aftershock festival alongside Shaffer. During the set, Carter recalls Shaffer even commenting: “These guys are gonna be headlining this thing in two years time.”
“I did say that,” Shaffer boasts. “I called it!”
Korn have grinded their way up Download line-ups for 30 years to earn their headline spot, while Sleep Token only formed in 2016. The comparison has been a major point of critique, so Welch and Shaffer’s eager support of Sleep Token is sure to shut down that argument.
Sleep Token’s set has also been praised by the likes of Metal Hammer and Kerrang!, with the masked unit transforming the stage into an intricate cliff face set. Some attendees have commented on them having the smallest crowd of the three headliners, but take that with a pinch of salt – Korn and Green Day have been around for decades, after all.
During the interview, Shaffer even voices his love of Sleep Token’s music. He notes the gang’s 2025 release, Even In Arcadia. “The new record is incredible,” he insists. “So it’s not only the stage – you can do that all day long – but they got the songs to back it up.”
Last month, Even In Arcadia was released to a full spectrum of reviews. While NME awarded it a dazzling five stars, Pitchfork gave it a cold 2.3, coining the term ‘djentrification’ due to the record’s watered down and marketable use of djent textures.
Andy Copping, the founder of Download Festival and Director of Sleep Token’s management company, Future History Management, defended the decision to have Sleep Token headline earlier this year. “When Wembley went on sale and sold out in 10 minutes I was like, ‘This is beyond anything that anyone could have thought in terms of their popularity explosion,’” he told Kerrang!
“This is their moment, this is their time,” he continued. “We, as a festival, have to be bringing bands through and believe in what we’re doing, but we don’t do it in a haphazard way… I think that any detractors, when they see it, will get it. They’ll understand what it’s all about. It’s a lightning-in-a-bottle moment for our scene where a band has come in and done that.”
“I think they’ll win over non-fans at Download with how dynamic the show is. Out of curiosity people will watch, and mark my words, they’ll say after they play, ‘I was not familiar, but they’re now my new favourite band.’ They have something about them that’s going to win people over. People will become part of the gathering, part of the Worship.”
He goes on to note that, despite it being early on in Sleep Token’s career, lots of bands gained traction after one or two records. He points to Guns N’ Roses “exploding on album number one” and Nirvana “exploding on album number two”.
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