Deafheaven - New Bermuda (2015)^{Release ID: 1326}

Last month I found myself revisiting San Francisco blackgaze legends Deafheaven's fourth full-length "Ordinary Corrupt Human Love" & being really impressed with what I heard so I immediately popped the previous album "New Bermuda" into my Spotify playlist for this month so that I could see how it compared. I remember thoroughly enjoying it at the time of release & not much has changed in that regard as it's yet another quality release from an extreme metal band that simply couldn't produce a dud if its life depended on it. For the follow-up to 2013's classic (& heavily divisive) "Sunbather" album the band opted to reignite their black metal passion with this record being perhaps their most black metal release however that's not to say that Deafheaven's signature blackgaze approach has dropped off the radar by any means as they tend to skip between the two sounds quite often. There's a little post-metal here & there but I wouldn't say that the post-rock influence is anything that isn't covered by the blackgaze tag. The screaming vocal performance of front man George Clarke is a highlight as usual, as is the blasting drumming of Daniel Tracy. I guess it's fair to say that everything that Deafheaven touch is pure class. They could fart in my face & I'd probably praise the complexity of the fragrance & the textured & melodious tonality of its song. In saying that, the last track "Gifts for the Earth" does see the quality drop a touch & I'm not sure "New Bermuda" ever threatened to enter my Hall of Metal Glory with one of my more prestigious ratings. It just pips out "Ordinary Corrupt Human Love" for the highly sought-after honour of being my third favourite Deafheaven record these days though (behind "Sunbather" & "Roads To Judah") & I think most black metal fans would really dig it if they gave it a genuine chance.

For fans of Lantlôs, Numenorean & Alcest.