Back catalogue: Metal

Review: With 2021's Infinite Granite taking a sharp left turn into the realms of hazy, luscious dream-pop, eyes have been pointedly fixed on San Francisco blackgaze heroes Deafheaven ever since, with many of their fanbase pondering where to next? The answer is their highly anticipated sixth full-length, Lonely People With Power, which finally showcases the band freed from all creative restraint and audience expectation, marrying their equal and effortless understanding of black metal malevolence and shoegaze ethereality, even allowing frontman George Clarke to make full use of his recently discovered vocal range. Howling shrieks and delicate crooning weave around one another on the euphoric heft of 'Heathen', whereas 'Magnolia' offers up one of their most succinctly black metal cuts to date, radiating with the caustic aura of Emperor's more proggy latter-day output. Forgoing their usual post-rock penchant for a small number of tracks all clocking in at approximately ten minutes, the numerous cuts (12 in all, marking the most of any Deafheaven album to date) prioritise instantaneous delivery on their most sprawling and musically diverse collection yet, fusing their harshest and most accessible sonics into one monumental victory lap touching upon everything from black metal to shoegaze, dream-pop, thrash, post-rock, emo, screamo and post-punk.

Review: Following on from 2021's hard left turn into dream-pop territory on Infinite Granite, San Francisco blackgaze legends in the making Deafheaven return with a work that they've always been striving towards. Their sixth full-length, Lonely People With Power, takes lessons from the saccharine shoegaze of their previous outing and injects it directly into the veins of their heaviest material since 2015's New Bermuda, culminating in a deft balancing act that finally combines vocalist George Clarke's shrieking, inhumane howls with his recently discovered crooning lilt, exuded as such on the beautiful warring of styles that is 'Heathen'. Elsewhere, 'Magnolia' provides a cataclysmic beast of proggy black metal akin to latter-day Emperor whereas 'Doberman' goes full euphoric blackened shoegaze reminiscent of 2013's breakout sophomore triumph Sunbather. Striking a unique chord between their equal and effortless understanding of black metal malevolence and the ethereality of cinematic post-rock, the album sees a notable trade off from their their usual smaller collection of lengthy, grandiose tracks that all clock in at over ten minutes a piece in favour of a more varied, yet succinct and instantaneous batch of cuts, 12 in total, marking the most that any Deafheaven project has ever offered.

Review: San Francisco blackgaze auteurs Deafheaven offered a sharp left turn on 2021's Infinite Granite, which saw the band embrace a fully-fledged dream-pop sound complete with lush, gentle vocal cadences from enigmatic frontman George Clarke, known primarily for his shrieking, inhumane howls. Returning with their sixth full-length Lonely People With Power, the band seek to finally strike a balance between their equal understanding of black metal malevolence and ethereal shoegaze beauty, trading their usual penchant for small collections of lengthy, post-rock indebted ten minute plus tracks in favour of more instantaneous delivery, spread out across 12 individual pieces (their most on any project to date). Ranging from their heaviest and most straightforward black metal work on 'Magnolia', to the blackgazing familiarity of 'Doberman' to the seamless fusion of styles exuded on 'Heathen', which makes ample use of Clarke's now fully elaborated vocal range, marrying his caustic screams with fragile crooning, this is where Deafheaven have seemingly always been striving to land, it just took them a few albums of experimentation to get there.