Deafheaven-New Bermuda (2015)

Deafheaven-New Bermuda (2015)

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”

George Bernard Shaw

By: Ghost Writer

Not exactly black metal,  but something close to it,  close in spirit to transcendental black metallers Liturgy,  equally cerebral,  but not as experimental,  Deafheaven is one of those bands stepping into complex ground,  as their vision to broaden the limit of shoegazing and black metal is no easy task,  but doubters will be pushed aside by the ambitious Brought to the Water,  New Bermuda's opening track featuring desert dry guitars (characteristic in the whole recording)along intense BM rhythms and spine chilling screams, the band works here greatly as a BM band,  but as the song goes on, something starts to happen as subtle traces of melody are introduced and guitars become better defined, less blurry,  the band being able here to cross border almost to sonic territory similar to Coheed & Cambria or even some post rock stuff.

Textural elements on guitars are keys on the whole record,  they give the pieces a unique sound,  very dry recorded,  they belong more to the Thrash Metal specter than to BM or Death Metal, while the band add other elements in the background in order to give some diversity to the mix,  is obvious that BM purists will be alienated by some parts in songs like Luna,  that almost touches pop punk,  but the not to clean production and the brutal vocals certainly keeps the band away from mainstream, but the band apparently enjoys ambiguity as the intro to the non BM titled Baby Blue shows, Baby Blue feature a languid guitar,  but it quickly transforms into a rabid creation, with the band obviously toying with genres,  and constructing beautiful soundscapes like in the end of the theme sounding like something out of a The Cure record.

While Deafheaven obviously enjoys their uncompromising music, it will obviously alienate less open minded listeners, as it sometimes submerges into the world of non-aggressive post metal, you just can't deny the beauty of the sounds the band conjures on Come Back, Hell! Just read the title! But beauty is a big contrast from the ugliness prevailing in the BM genre in general, but is precisely this contrast which makes the band so particular and unique, as this looseness is precisely the cause the band seems so free to experiment and to get out of the BM disguise and create truly challenging music without getting tedious or boring, innovating and sounding fresh and modern at the same time.

Album's closing track named Gift for the Earth is again another courageous attempt at combining a soft and languid side with a brutally intense attack, the almost shoegazing stuff along screaming vocals creates a definitely weird effect, as tension continues in an unending fashion slowly introducing dissonant elements in a tortuous way, making quite an experience this last theme, a complex trip, one that is at time merciless, and then the next second soul caressing, Deafheaven shows that it is capable of still growing up as a band developing a sound too many will kill for, but just a few talented ones are able to create.