Sunbather
Deafheaven’s second album is an epic mix of intense black metal and chiming post-rock, the sort of sound that inspires the wide-screen feelings people look for in Sigur Rós, Mogwai, or Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
Deafheaven is a pretty polarizing band, and for every person gushing about the transcendental nature of its new full-length, Sunbather, there’s a metal purist dismissing the group as another “hipster” act like Liturgy, and then going back to listening to something far more authentic (i.e. from Sweden). The problem…
San Francisco's Deafheaven brought a great crossover record to the table with 2011's Roads to Judah, a dramatic debut which used the passionate aggression of black metal as a starting point for more adventurous means. With Sunbather, they're constantly merging grand, lush melodies together with the intensity of extreme music: Dream House, the first cut, sounds like Mayhem jamming with My Bloody Valentine.
Clash reviews 'Sunbather', the second album from San Fransisco-based band Deafheaven, and the highest-rated record of 2013 so far
With an artfully arranged title - Sunbather - splayed across a sunkissed gradient ranging from salmon to pink lemonade, you'd be forgiven for Deafheaven had jumped labels to chillwave stronghold Mexican Summer. Track titles like "Dream House", "Irresistible" and "Please Remember" don't exactly screa