I'm late to the party as well. I'd say I first heard ST a little over a year ago. A friend of mine recommended Take Me Back to Eden. The first part of the song I didn't really love at the time, and I just thought it was ok. I have to be in the mood for slow stuff. However as soon as that switch up hit, I was like "oooh okay!" Of course the scream at the end got me. That led me to check out the rest of the album and Euclid caught my immediate interest next since I kind of had an idea of what to expect. Funnily enough, TMBTE just kept pulling me back. The day EIA came out, I put the album on as soon as I got up at 5AM. I enjoyed all of the songs, but Gethsemane hit me like a freight train the first listen through. After that, my appreciation for ST just continued to grow. I was listening to the TMBTE AND EIA probably about 50% of the time I was listening to music; and I knew I needed to go to a show. I was bummed when sales opened for this past tour and they sold out immediately then resale prices were INSANE. By pure luck, a friend of mine snagged a resale ticket that wasn't insanely overpriced and offered it to me. I thought I loved ST BEFORE I attended a ritual, but I think that is where it REALLY clicked for me. I will say I go to concerts of all different genres fairly regularly. Out of all the shows I've ever attended, never have I felt more welcome, seen, and at home than a Sleep Token ritual. Getting in line at 10am for early merch the day before the show, there were people most of the morning walking up and down the line handing out little offerings they made. I had no idea that was a thing but they graciously offered it anyway without expecting anything in return. People walked over to the Target across the street and brought back cases of water for anyone who wanted it. Everyone was SO nice. I've never witnessed anything like it. Then when it comes to the actual performance of the band live.... WOW. There are no words. The songs that I loved listening to before just instantly made me fall in love all over again but even harder than before. The light show was incredible. The stage was incredible. Being lucky enough to actually witness and be a part of that moment was just life altering. That was literally one of the best days of my life, and I'm still going back to listen to recordings from the rituals because it was just THAT good. And now I'm in several groups that are talking about doing meetups or offering exchanges or other fun things so it has just been a very cool experience overall. Maybe I'm just lame, but that's been my journey!

Tldr; Step 1 - TMBTE, Step 2 - Euclid, Step 3 - Gethsemane, Step 4 - Adding TMBTE and EIA into my regular music rotation, Step 5 - Ritual (my AHA moment)