Deafheaven’s closing set at Outbreak Fest 2022 was an almost life-affirming moment. Most of my favourite hardcore bands had played under the same roof, I’d discovered others and spent a weekend around my friends having a great time. By the time Deafheaven closed the festival I was spent. I watched from the side as they pulled out all of their heavy hitters despite Infinite Granite being their new release, with stage dives aplenty and a mic grab during “Dream House”, it was the pinnacle of what I wanted in Deafheaven. It was heavy, emotional, and beautiful.
Lonely People With Power is a dizzying return to the blackgaze heights which only Deafheaven have ever climbed, encapsulating everything which made that set so special. On what is their sixth album, and following the clean post-punk inspired Infinite Granite, what path they would take was a bit of a mystery especially after their signing to Roadrunner. Moving to the major label has seen a rise to stardom for Turnstile but has seen very limited success for a myriad of other bands which followed in the wake of the hardcore boom. A different signing bucking that trend sees Deafheaven refining their metallic roots with as much power as before and even more invention.
After the introduction “Incidental I”, we’re treated to the marauding “Doberman”, a song which mixes the black metal power of New Bermuda with some of the more emotional soundscapes in which they made their name on Sunbather. Lead single “Magnolia” almost instantly pummels you into the abyss with their heaviest moment on record, even the standalone singles struggle to meet this intensity, the album has a depth and a force to it which was large left off of Infinite Granite. With one of Kerry McCoy’s most memorable guitar melodies in the verse giving way to a trademark Deafheaven chorus, complete with as many blastbeats as they could get out of Daniel Tracy, “Magnolia” is a force to be reckoned with.
This largely sets the tone on an album which turns the saying ‘one step forward, two steps back’ on its head as this is very much a step back tonally, but in terms of quality and ambition there are definitely two steps forward. Of course, Deafheaven have never been a black metal band so you won’t find them relying purely on high tempos and blistering riffs. “The Garden Route” sees the pace slowed down somewhat, with a more exploratory tone throughout the song, a balancing act of sorts. Clarke’s vocals are still his classics shriek, but the soundscape is more aligned with Infinite Granite, an ambient approach to the guitars and a softer drum section allow the beauty to come through. In a similar vein of balance and slowing down, “Heathen” brings back Clarke’s silky-smooth vocals. The quietened music allows his carefully considered vocals to come through, yet he bursts back into life through the chorus as a wall of sound takes hold. These songs show that Deafheaven don’t have to be the post-punk band or the blackgaze band, there’s a place within the margins for everything they want to be to exist. While Infinite Granite saw a lone scream and a few lines at the back-end for the snarls, Lonely People With Power gives all parts of Deafheaven space to breathe.
While the three albums before Infinite Granite had an average song length of over eight minutes each, yet up to now we’ve barely notched five. “Amethyst” feels more like one of their longer-form explorations, allowing the atmosphere and emotion to build across its eight-minute run time. Even four minutes into this, we’re barely beginning, the blastbeats pick up the pace as the tremolo picking grows in intensity and Clarke gets louder too. Another minute of the ambience grows until a loud shriek throws the band into frenzy, each member seemingly doing everything with as much passion as they can muster, an intensity that remains until the dying embers of the song. While it’s missing the memorable climactic lyrics of “Dream House” or the truly gorgeous melody of “Canary Yellow”, it feels like a return to their best work.
“Incidental II” gives the album more space to breathe, while it has the almost whispered hush of Jae Matthews of Boy Harsher lending her vocals, it also shows a different side of Deafheaven. Giving way to a noisier and, dare I say, harsher set of tones in line with the grittier sections of Clarke’s side project Alto Arc before we’re thrown back into some of the heaviest music Deafheaven have put out. “Revelator” sounds like it could have been the next song in the b-side cum standalone single line following “From the Kettle and Onto the Coil” and “Black Brick”, a pure exploration of the more aggressive riffs and powerful drums. A more outright black metal song, that in the past may have been too pure to fit on an album with their ‘throw in the kitchen sink’ approach it fits just perfectly after the “Incidental”. In that vein, it feels like you never quite know which bit of Deafheaven the next track will give you. “Body Behaviour” is what I wish Infinite Granite sounded like. The verses are more straightforward with a drum beat reminiscent of Interpol yet its beneath Clarke’s harsh vocals. When the pace picks up there’s a real edge of something else, the lighter tones quickly give way to blast beats and then back again with the vocals remaining a point of intense focus.
The third and final “Incidental” rings in the final quarter of the album, with a feature from Paul Banks of Interpol, it’s less harsh noise and more a poetic sequel to “Irresistible” and “Windows” from Sunbather. Banks’ spoken word describes a woman and like much of Deafheaven’s work, brings about feelings of love. From here we’re given another peak into the longer form Deafheaven with the grandeur of “Winona”, with a Mogwai-esque build over the first two-plus minutes gives way to the trademark catharsis. Major key tremolo picking, blast beats and an almost hopeful screech are somehow among the most beautiful bits of music I’ve come across. “Winona” is another throwback to their best work on Sunbather with a je ne sais quoi surrounding it which makes it so special. In truth “The Marvelous Orange Tree” is a slightly underwhelming closer, not matching the intensity or grandeur of “Winona”, its mid-pace atmosphere feels less potent even if marking a deliberate end. This tempo and the mixing of clean vocals with harsh highlights Lonely People With Power as an album of remarkable balance and care, if not as remarkable a song in itself.
Lonely People with Power is a tour de force in creating beauty out of disparate sounds which may not hold beauty in themselves. Taking cues from their already classic back catalogues with a sprinkling of new ideas and a heap of passion, it’s an album of huge ups and no downs. An album front to back of everything Deafheaven are, have been and will be with the backing of a major label.
