What we know about President, rock’s latest masked group

On February 18 of this year, a mysterious new metal band, known as President, began posting a number of ominous posts on social media, one of them being the announcement that they will be performing at this year’s Download Festival in the U.K. With no music even released yet, music lovers immediately began speculating just who this band might be and how they were able to land a slot at Download with no projects to show for it. Figuring out who President are has proven difficult, as the members are all anonymous. For now.

Since news of President first arose, there have been many theories as to who the band might be. Since their initial activity on social media in February, the majority of people online have speculated that President may be a spinoff of rock group Sleep Token. One of the most popular metal bands of the last couple of years, many fans are speculating that the common characteristics between Sleep Token and President might hint towards a strong connection.

The Timeline

President first made headlines on February 18, when the band posted a total of six posts on their social media pages. The first was simply a picture of a dark silhouette of a person standing in a red-lit hallway. The caption simply read, “P R E S I D E N T.” Following posts hinted at something called “the campaign,” and urged followers to click the link in their bio to join. That same day, President also made a post announcing their upcoming performance at Download, referring to the festival as “the inauguration rally.”

On February 27, President posted for the first time what appears to be a clip from a music video, with a brief snippet of audio and a man standing in a church. A line of text at the end of the clip read, “in the name of the father.” Nothing more was heard from the band until April 1, when they posted another clip, this time with a person standing in a hallway wearing a suit and what appears to be an older man mask. At the end of the video, a date was listed: May 16, 2025.

At the end of the month, on April 29, yet another clip was posted of the masked figure, featured in this video sitting in a chair smoking a cigarette while the “I Like Ike” tune plays in the background. This song, composed by Irving Berlin, was famously featured in TV commercials during Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 1952 presidential campaign.

Once again, no further news was heard until last week, when President made the announcement that their debut single, “In the Name of the Father,” will be released on May 16. In a brief clip featuring the song’s audio and video, an anticipatory pulsating beat is soon overcome by heavy guitar breakdowns and screaming hardcore vocals. The promotional video for the debut single is set to premiere on YouTube on May 15 at 7:00 pm (EST).

Aside from a new single and the initial Download Festival announcement, no further news has been revealed. Through social media posts, they encourage listeners to sign up in the link in their bio. When users register, they receive an email and a note that reads, “Thank you for registering. With your endorsement, we move forward together.”

This is all we know of President so far that is concrete, but fans have been digging into and theorizing about who the members of President might be behind the masks.

The Main Theories

President are a Sleep Token spinoff

When President first made their online introduction, fans immediately theorized that the band is a spinoff of Sleep Token. Having just released their fourth studio album, Even In Arcadia, Sleep Token are one of the most popular rock and metal bands today. They are one of the major headliners of this year’s Download Festival, alongside Green Day and Korn, resulting in one of the first clues that could point to how President landed a spot at the fest.

On the Download Festival subreddit, one user made a post titled “Who/what are President (band)?” The user found out that both President and Sleep Token share the same management, Future History Management, and both bands’ websites appear to be created by Allotment Productions.

These similarities, as well as the fact that both bands are anonymous and convey a mysterious and heavy artistry, have convinced many fans that President is undoubtedly founded by one or more members of Sleep Token. However, a lot of others have disagreed with this theory.

Some users on the same Reddit post have commented that, although both bands wear masks and make anthemic rock music, their aesthetics truly are almost opposites. Also, with Sleep Token having just released a new album, it doesn’t make much sense that they would go and start a side project while releasing and marketing a new record. However, this counterargument has not stopped Sleep Token fans from theorizing that President might just be the band entering a new musical and artistic era.

But if President aren’t connected to Sleep Token, then who else might they be?

President are a rock supergroup

While it isn’t for certain that President contains members of Sleep Token, there is some evidence that they might include members of another rock group — or several. One user on the Reddit thread commented that President were only following one account on X: Deftones. At the time of this writing, President no longer follows any account on X, or Instagram for that matter. However, they do follow only six accounts on their Facebook; they follow Kerrang! and Rock Sound as well as four bands: The Cure, Deftones, Underoath and Mogwai.

On President’s Facebook page, they also include only these four bands as their “music” interests on their profile. It might be possible that President is a supergroup containing members of these four groups. Several Reddit users have even compared what little audio has been heard of President’s vocalist to Deftones frontman Chino Moreno. It is also worth noting that all four of these bands have had members join other side projects or supergroups.

One last bit of evidence supporting this theory is that some fans have compared President to that of Moreno’s side band, Crosses. Both President and Crosses share similar cross-like logos, and fans have said both bands share the same vibe and sound.

Other theories

Alongside these main theories, a number of other artists are rumored to be involved with President. At the time that Reddit threat was created, both Sleep Token and President followed one mutual band on Facebook: Slipknot. Another famous rock group known for their signature masks, President no longer follow Slipknot on any social media platforms at the time of this writing. With the band’s evident political themes, one Reddit user even theorized that Rage Against the Machine/Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello might somehow be linked to the project.

After some extensive research, one Reddit user speculated that either Charlie Simpson or Bullet For My Valentine‘s Matt Tuck must be heavily involved. Known for his work with Busted and Fightstar, Simpson also owns a media company, Komorebi Entertainment Ltd., that owns the trademarks to President. Simpson has also written alongside Tuck, and the Reddit user theorized that President might be a side project from Tuck so he could write songs that might not fit in with Bullet For my Valentine.

What we know

At this time, there is no solid evidence that reveals who the members of President are. It might be a Sleep Token spinoff, it might be a rock supergroup or it might be something completely different. However, with no music released when they were selected to perform at Download, the band needed to have some pretty big pull in order to land a spot at the festival.

What we do know about the band so far, aside from their debut single arriving soon, is that their imagery and themes are inherently political. The band, who chose to name themselves President, arrive at a time of social, economic and political disorder and turmoil. The band’s intentions — or if they plan to remain longterm — remain unsure, but what is evident is that the band sparked interest and imagination right from their mysterious and haunting introduction, and they are persistent in making a bold and impactful statement for those who choose to listen.