For well over a decade, we’ve heard the subgenre-jumping Deafheaven go far with their ambitious approach to songwriting within the circle of heavy music. Lonely People With Power, Deafheaven’s sixth studio album, is another exciting entry into their discography. In short, it’s easy to sell as “on brand” with the rest of their work; if anything, this far into their career, they’ve shown consistency. Known for a sound that’s rooted in black metal meeting shoegaze – into what’s commonly now referred to as “blackgaze” – Deafheaven have well established a signature sound that’s only expanded on with this record. One of Deafheaven’s strengths has always been the ability to produce records that deliver this signature sound, without it ever feeling repetitive. You can run through each album individually, listen carefully and you’ll never get bored once.
Lonely People With Power doesn’t hold back when it comes to blending some sounds and genres, featuring a solid bedrock of blast beats from Daniel Tracey with Kerry McCoy and Shiv Mehra’s heavy distorted guitars draped over in various soundscapes, pulling stock from post rock, synth pop and shoegaze to build massive walls of sound with each track. Looking at the track listing, you’re right to assume this one crosses into the lane of a concept album in places. The three tracks “Incidental I – lll” seemingly fit together like a glove, if depth is what you’re looking for. Here’s the deep end of the pool. Even if a concept isn’t what you’re looking for, or what you typically enjoy, these tracks serve as great noise-filled breathers in what is overall a fairly intense listen. “Incidental II” is certainly the most prominent of these three concepts with some soft vocals shared by Jae Matthews of Boy Harsher; a voice which really adds to the atmosphere and undoubtedly adds to the album overall. These long breaks from intense drum rolls and snarls periodically throughout help stitch together the hour runtime.
The album begins with “Incidental I”, an introduction to the more conceptual side of the album, given the title; it’s a short, under-a-minute synth track that’s really trying to get you to pay attention to what you’re about to hear. It’s a bit obnoxious, but in a good sense, and really these synth swells and drones are just the vessel to “Doberman”, where the album picks up and you’re quickly greeted by some pretty intense riffs. If there are any real metal fans reading, you’ll find the first of many batches of heavy riffs here. If you’re into Deafheaven because you do happen to have that taste for the heavy riff side of them, or metal in general, you’re going to love “Magnolia”.
“The Garden Route”, brings back some of the synth sounds teased in the very beginning, adding a thick layer of ambience throughout the song, which is a great example of the signature sound referred to previously: a heavy sound that still holds a strange glitter. “Heathen” and “Amethyst” continue this trend – not that anything slows down in particular, you’re still being served everything upon a platter of blast beating drums and alt-picking guitars, things are just a lot more drenched in reverb, delay with leftover room for some synth, clean vocals and some deep spoken word. These are some songs that really fit the “blackgaze” mold.
“Amethyst”, the album’s longest track, has no shallow point. From the beginning of the nearly-nine-minute track you’re faced with some prominent delay guitar embracing the band’s more post-rock side before George Clarke delivers some spoken word. This is then starkly contrasted with his signature harsh lead vocals that reappear minutes while the song circles back into intensely faster drum rhythms. “Amethyst” touches all the bases on the field Deafheaven has laid on their field.
“Revelator” is another one for the metal die-hards, if not likely to be the metalhead’s personal favorite track here. It features a main riff that serves as a real head bopper with a guitar tone reminiscent of bands you’ll hear on Deathwish Records, but it’s not without the double dip into some usual Deafheaven tricks. There’s some slow downs, some bursts of energy – if I were standing at a Deafheaven show and hear this track starting, I’d quickly be looking over both my shoulders in anticipation someone has it in them to start moshing abruptly.
“Body Behavior” will catch you by surprise when you work your way to the far end of the tracklist. I only mean this in a good way. Personally, I think this is the most interesting track on the entire album. The reason is simple; they’ve spent 40 minutes or so either drenching in atmosphere or pounding out heavy riffs and, up until this point, there’s not been a whole lot of space between the two. “Body Behavior” surprisingly breaks out the sugar jar and dips some lead guitar licks right in there. It’s far from what you’d call a pop song, but there’s that chorus with the over shadowing bright guitar lead that really gives it a bit of pop feel for a bar or two. It’s enough for this song to stand out as the brightest sounding; a short burst of sun through a dark overcast sky.
“The Marvelous Orange Tree” closes the album in a fashion that’s to be expected when after an hour run time; a slower start with some synth swell gives the impression the album is nearing its end. Clean vocals are reinstated near the halfway mark, but we’re departing on a steady drum rhythm as the last of the swirling sound scapes swirl through our ears.
Lonely People With Power is certainly worth checking out for any Deafheaven fan. If Sunbather is what caught your attention, you’re going to want to listen to this. It’s certainly not the same record – there’s plenty of distance between the two making each unique – but there were numerous points where I find myself drawing some similarities. That’s not a bad thing; when you’re known for crossing into multiple genres over the course of six albums, consistency is an easy thing to lose track of. Lonely People With Power however, proves Deafheaven are a group that stays the course and keep delivering that signature sound they’re known for.
