Although France’s Alcest were the first band to have blended these two genres, Deafheaven have been the most commercially successful at doing so. Whilst debut album Roads to Judah (2011) went largely unremarked upon, second album Sunbather (2013) was hailed as one of that year’s best albums by publications as varied as Time Out and Decibel, leading to the band being invited to appear at multiple decidedly non-metal festivals across Europe and the US. Whilst the album struck an appealing balance between lead vocalist George Clarke’s death growls and lead guitarist Kerry McCoy’s melodic riffing, its follow-up, New Bermuda (2015), was a more pummelling affair that was dominated by drummer Daniel Tracy’s blast beats, one with which Deafheaven cracked the US Top 70 for the first time. This was followed by the gentler Ordinary Corrupt Human Love (2018) and the even gentler Infinite Granite (2021), the latter of which was interpreted by many observers as a shift by the band into full shoegaze territory. Those assumptions are now being upended with Lonely People With Power, the band’s sixth album, and their heaviest since New Bermuda.
Opening song “Doberman” sets the tone well for what is to follow, its basic melody sounding similar to “Honeycomb” from Ordinary Corrupt Human Love. However, whilst the arrangement of that song was relatively catchy and lilting, on “Doberman,” McCoy and Shiv Mehra’s guitars take on an epic dimension in terms of their muscularity. This tone continues through “Magnolia,” before the slightly folksier and more pastoral “The Garden Route,” “Heathen,” and “Amethyst.” Whilst the latter two songs are heavier than anything on Infinite Granite by some order of magnitude, they manage to marry the lighter touches the band brought to the songs on that record with a much harsher, heavier style of riffing that sounds like it’s been lifted from New Bermuda. “Amethyst” in particular works well by contrasting the lightness and melodicism of its lead guitar with the brutality and harshness of its rhythm guitar.
One interesting aspect of the album is the interstitial musical arrangements that dot it, the first of which establishes the record’s overall atmosphere well, the second of which is a noisy, discordant venture into dark wave territory with eerie vocals from Boy Harsher’s Jae Matthews, and the third of which utilises the intriguing spoken voice of Interpol’s Paul Banks to provide a contemplative, post-rock-infused palate-cleanser. On the album’s second side, the guitars on “Revelator” work in unison with each other, creating a feeling of enormity and grandeur that has rarely been heard in Deafheaven’s discography to date. They have a similar sound during the choruses of “Body Behavior” and “Winona,” but have a noticeable lightness of touch during the latter two songs’ verses that works as an effective counterpoint. It should also be said that Clarke’s vocals sound as majestic and commanding as ever on this song, as they do throughout the album. “The Marvelous Orange Tree” makes for a powerful finale, its multi-layered vocals soaring above its spacey, Mogwai-esque guitars that leave the listener wanting more long after they fade down to silence.
This album is an artistic triumph. It blends the strongest elements of a “metal” album like New Bermuda with the strongest elements of a “shoegaze” album like Infinite Granite, and features the band playing both metal and shoegaze better than they did on either album. Unlike on the latter album, M83 producer Justin Meldal-Johnsen brings a real power to the band’s sound, making all the instrumentation sound huge but without undermining any of the songs’ melody. The band have clearly honed and developed their musicianship and songwriting abilities in recent years, to the effect that these are some of their best songs. Lonely People With Power is Deafheaven’s best album yet, and one that serves as a snapshot of a band at the peak of their powers.
