Deafheaven – Infinite Granite

For Deafheaven's 'Infinite Granite', the screaming has been toned down for more of an epic, post-rock record....
Deafheaven : Infinite Granite
7.7 Sargent House
2021 
Deafheaven : Infinite Granite

When Deafheaven started just over a decade ago in San Francisco, they merged their black metal origins with their love of shoegaze into something the press inevitably dubbed, “blackgaze.” It’s not been easy for straddling the line between the two divergent camps, instrumentation perhaps not hard enough for the metal heads, screaming lyrics putting off some shoegazers, but it also made them a singular and significant act. For Infinite Granite, the screaming has been toned down for more of an epic, post-rock record.

The emotional heft of Deafheaven is still here, searching the heavens on such songs as the airy lift opener “Shellstar” and the epic & pressing “The Gnashing”. Beauty comes to the front with the likes of “Great Mass of Color”, but there are a number of tracks that start sweeter before getting harder – a lot harder – such as “Lament for Wasps”, “Other Language” and closer “Mombasa”, even including some screaming.

Who knows what longtime Deafheaven fans will think about the shift on Infinite Granite (and they are band that would seem to be a cult act). But the new album definitely will get new appreciation for their epic emotion.

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