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: 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.

Review: If you're going to re-release a Deftones album with stacks and stacks of bonus material, including remixes by artists ranging from The Cure's Robert Smith to Squarepusher, then White Pony was always going to be a solid choice. First unveiled in 2000, the band's third album marked a major turning point in their career and sound, bringing in far more experimental ideas to the already-alternative metal of their early output.

Two decades on and the original work still holds up to significant scrutiny - the kind of scrutiny bands like Deftones are used to, having created legions of highly obsessed fans during their time on the road and in studios. What makes this revisitation so compelling, though, are the bits and pieces that weren't included with the record first time round, which should keep you busy for quite some time.