New heavy metal is not your uncle's Black Sabbath-type music. In the early 1970s, music fans knew what to expect. A darkness to the songs with some droning bass, a guitar solo or three, and lyrics about the sadness of burning life to the ground and being OK with that.
But metal has evolved over the decades. At one point, it had branched off to become hair metal. The clothes (and, of course, the hair) were over the top, the presentation of the music somewhat silly at times, and the production a lot more glossy.
In 2025, though, metal is getting more difficult to define. Some argue that Ghost isn't metal, but Tobias Forge has never tried to say one can only call his band heavy metal and nothing else. He has also been more influenced by 1970s AOR, so more hard rock than metal.
The next step for heavy metal is completely unknown
The point, of course, is to make good music, and if people classify that as metal, then so be it. This is where Sleep Token comes in. The masked band has become something of a sales sensation, with their latest album, Even in Arcadia, reaching number one in the United States.
They might be termed prog-metal or simply alternative, but a more accurate description might be pop metal. They create airy songs with bass that borrows from hip-hop. Not all of the new tracks strive to be metal. They are more pure pop.
Sleep Token is more metal in atmosphere, but not in execution. The same could be said of musical artists such as Bad Omens and Spiritbox. Are they metal or simply hard rock?
Metallica is metal, and it feels safe calling them that. They dial up the bombast and volume. Sleep Token many times intentionally dials it down. Spacey interludes that might be more Philip Glass than Iron Maiden.
Ultimately, however, is the newest version of metal good? Maybe, and it might bring many new fans to the genre. What is the next step, though? What influence will bands such as Sleep Token have? And will the music of those bands being influenced still make heavy metal? The answer could be the death of the genre.