What exactly do Deafheaven sound like? In 2020, this was a pretty easy question to answer. Back then, you could fairly describe them as a band that mixes elements of post-rock and shoegaze with black metal, often labelled as ‘blackgaze’. More specifically, the band created lush, sprawling soundscapes that were jam-packed with melody while vocalist George Clarke shrieked over the top of them. Then came 2021’s ‘Infinite Granite’ which marked the biggest stylistic shift the Californian genre-bending quintet had undertaken in their history as a band. The shrieked vocals were almost entirely gone, replaced with understated cleans. With this, the band shrugged off any weight of expectation from fans who had come to expect a certain sound.
It’s no surprise then that the anticipation for Deafheaven’s latest record, ‘Lonely People With Power’ has been sky high. Part of that is surely because fans have been left wondering what on earth it will sound like. Then, in January, lead single ‘Magnolia’ dropped. The song is a pure extreme metal rager, with guitar lines that are more traditionally metallic than almost anything else in the band’s back catalogue. This sent the already high levels of anticipation to fever pitch. The heavier sound promised, at the very least, something entirely different to the previous record, and perhaps even a return to the blackgaze sound that brought them such acclaim with 2013’s ‘Sunbather’ and its successors.
It’d be easy to assume off this evidence that Deafheaven had pulled a complete 180 degree turn, following up their most melodic and accessible record with their heaviest and most brutal. And some of the tracks on the album give credence to that view, with opener ‘Doberman’ being a relentless assault on your eardrums with a few offerings of melodic respite sprinkled in for good measure. ‘Revelator’, later on in the record, similarly leans on extreme metal traditions in a way that other records by this band simply haven’t.
However, this is Deafheaven we’re talking about, a straight up black metal record would be far too pedestrian. Instead, by around the halfway mark of ‘Lonely People With Power’s run time, it becomes clear that this album is so much more than that. ‘Heathen’ pulls strands from the band’s traditional blackgaze sound, as well as the more melodic approach from ‘Infinite Granite’. The result is some of the band’s finest work to date, the contrast between the two vocal styles providing serious heft.‘The Garden Route’ follows a similar pattern. While the vocals are entirely screamed, its sonics sound lush and mellow, melding together Deafheaven of new and old.
As with any Deafheaven record, ‘Lonely People With Power’ rewards the listener for investing their time into it. There’s so much going on here that it takes a good few runs through before it all starts to coalesce in your mind. But when it clicks, it reveals an album that’s every bit as world-class as fans have come to expect from any new Deafheaven release. The epitomisation of this is ‘Amethyst’, a sprawling 8-minute track built around a recurring guitar motif. On early listens, the track feels near impenetrable, but slowly reveals itself to be one of the finest moments on the entire record. This is largely down to the genius of lead guitarist Kerry McCoy whose knack for adding melody to music that is often abrasive is little short of genius.
So where does ‘Lonely People With Power’ rank in the pantheon of Deafheaven releases? As always with a band that makes music so intricate and demanding of repeat listens, time will tell. However, it is clearly a record that is of extraordinarily high quality, showcasing a band that continues to experiment and evolve after well over a decade making music together. If you’re new to Deafheaven, don’t start here. The ideal entry point is and has always been the seminal ‘Sunbather’ (2013). However, with ‘Lonely People With Power’, Deafheaven have given their fans yet another record of stunning experimental black metal to explore, dissect, and cherish for many years to come.
ASH BEBBINGTON