You Can Be My Wave

I wasn't impressed with the last two Deafheaven albums, especially Infinite Granite. The band put way more stock into the dreamier characteristics of their sound at the expense of their more metal side. It was the balance between the triumphant, cinematic, uplifting melodies along with black metal's typical speed and ferocity that made their music so compelling in the first place. Seeing the band tipping the scales further off balance was frankly disheartening. My spirits, however, were lifted upon hearing the first single Magnolia; a convincing statement that the band has not completely turned their back on making heavy music. In fact, this track almost over-corrects, delivering a very direct, straight-up metal track that foregoes the band's typical post-rock and shoegaze tendencies. The chugging riff is muscular, the chord progressions are barbaric, George Clarke's snarling harsh vocals are menacing, and Daniel Tracy is once again delivering impeccably tight blast beats behind the kit. Judging by this track alone, I knew that if the band kept this up, the next Deafheaven album could be another career highlight.

Upon the first full listen of Lonely People With Power, it was clear that the band bounced back in a really big way. Unlike their previous album, the band explores all aspects of their sound, sometimes stretching into new territory. The result is a multi-faceted album that felt familiar, yet fresh enough to not seem like Deafheaven was merely going back to the past. The album gets off to a strong start with Doberman. It's an admittedly typical track for Deafheaven, but I believe this was the band's way of getting you to buy in. Besides, it has a fantastic progression that starts slow yet driving, wall of guitars blaring, and builds towards those crushing blasts. Before you get fatigued around the four minute mark, we get a fantastic riff that leads into a punishing breakdown. Pair this with Magnolia, and you have a fantastic one-two punch at the start.

Following this, we get three tracks that I would characterize as more dynamic, gothic, and appeal to the band's dreamier side. Cleaner guitars layered with delay and reverb effects shimmer in the verses, but the wash of distortion returns in the choruses. Clarke opts to stay in his harsh vocal mode for the most part, creating that emotional complexity that I really enjoy in their music. The last track of the three, Amethyst, is the first monolith coming in at just over eight minutes. It is quite slow in the beginning, but the intensity quickly ramps up around the midpoint. Tracy releases a blast of kicks while the guitars begin to sour, signaling a transition to a tortured black metal passage. The payoff is incredible and the band rides that high all the way until the end. My only complaint about this stretch of the album is that all three of these songs do have similar vibes and progressions, which up until the climax in Amethyst does test my patience a little.

The reward for making it past the halfway point is that the second half of the record is nothing short of stellar. Incidental II, a track that feels like an interlude despite being four and half minutes in length, kicks things off with a power electronic drone. The first section is rather tense as Jae Matthews croons faintly over a soft electrical hum before the track explodes with a flurry of noise. Clarke battles harrowingly to escape from its depths. We then launch right into Revelator, another straightforward metal cut that goes even harder than Magnolia. The guitar riffs are hellish and will have people white-knuckling their crosses. The drumming from Tracy is so powerful especially when he's batting on that ride bell; making sure that thing cuts through the chaos. Clarke is ultra aggressive, but there are moments where his screams are particularly guttural. In general, this song is absolutely relentless for six and a half minutes straight, and it's spectacular.

The band turns down the aggressiveness on Body Behaviour by delivering a rockin' shoegaze track that sounds heavily inspired by gothic post-punk. What's notable about this track is that Clarke reduces the amount of distortion in his delivery, which ironically makes his vocals come across more feral. I also really like the echo effect that is occasionally applied, adding a great deal of weight to some of his vocal lines. The real selling feature of this track are the soaring lead guitars in the chorus that temporarily give this track an uplifting tonality. On that note, the only thing that is missing from the record at this point is that 'out of body' moment brought on by the ultimate combination of the band's cinematic, inspiring, and overwhelming qualities; like many moments on Sunbather accomplish. Enter Winona, the album's second monolith. It opens with gentle pads of clean guitars, followed by Tracy gently rolling on the hi-hat and snare; foreshadowing the blistering pace the song will eventually embark on. With a sharp crack of a snare, the distortion is kicked on and we get this blissful wall of guitar. Tracy is let loose, furiously flailing as he strings together one amazing drum fill after the next; as if my appreciation for his drumming wasn't high enough. We're baited for a brief moment with a lone clean guitar, but with one more signature fill from Tracy, we're off to the races. Winona goes on to be the violently beautiful moment I desperately needed.

The album comes to a close with The Marvelous Orange Tree which is an emotionally cathartic final track. The forlorn and lethargically paced cut once again plays into the soft/loud dynamic, contrasting chiming clean guitars and vocals with heavy guitars and wretched vocals. The clean vocals specifically (which I didn't really care for on the previous record), are very fitting on this track. They put me at peace which is a godsend after such a tumultuous album. This track brings a great sense of finality and closure which is just another point scored for this album. Despite the vaguely monotonous run of tracks in the first half, and my wish for a few more moments that bring about that sense of astral projection, Lonely People With Power is a tremendously impressive album. It's easily their best record since Sunbather.