Deafheaven

Deafheaven originated in 2010 as a San Francisco duo before expanding into a five-piece unit whose restless experimental approach to metal continues to defy easy classification. Although frequently labeled black metal, the musicians regard that designation as restrictive and instead treat the style as one key source among several. Their sound has shifted across successive releases to incorporate black metal alongside shoegaze, post-rock, and even streamlined yet demanding arena-rock textures, a progression audible on 2013’s Sunbather and the more aggressive, dynamic New Bermuda that followed two years later. Ordinary Corrupt Human Love, issued in 2018, tempered their established black-metal foundation with comparatively restrained, exploratory, and cinematic writing. Their fifth studio album, Infinite Granite, appeared in 2021 and marked their furthest move away from metal, favoring dream-pop, ambient, and alternative-rock palettes instead.

Vocalist George Clarke and guitarist Kerry McCoy formed the initial lineup and began fusing black metal with shoegaze elements to introduce warmth into the genre’s customary chill while broadening its emotional scope beyond conventional motifs of death, despair, and hopelessness. Working alone, the pair self-recorded a demo that caught the ear of Jacob Bannon, frontman of Converge, whose label Deathwish Inc. issued the resulting untitled EP in 2010. The duo then added guitarist Nick Bassett, bassist Derek Prine, and drummer Trevor Deschryver for the 2011 debut full-length Roads to Judah; those three members departed the following year. Returning temporarily to a two-person writing process, McCoy and Clarke composed the next album before bringing in drummer Daniel Tracy for the studio sessions that produced Sunbather, released to widespread acclaim in summer 2013. With new bassist Stephen Clark and guitarist Shiv Mehra on board, the now-quintet Deafheaven embarked on extensive international touring, sharing stages with Between the Buried and Me, Pallbearer, No Joy, and numerous other acts. In 2015 the band signed with Anti- and delivered its third album, New Bermuda, again produced by longtime collaborator Jack Shirley; the October release reached number 16 on the Top Rock Albums chart and sustained lengthy worldwide touring that introduced the group to audiences outside typical heavy-metal circles.

Late the following year Deafheaven reconvened at 25th St. Recording in Oakland with Shirley once more at the helm. The musicians broadened their intense, propulsive approach by weaving in psychedelia-tinged vocals, jazzy percussion, and detailed acoustic piano lines that contrasted with their signature black-metal and post-hardcore sonorities. Taking its name from Graham Greene’s novel The End of the Affair, Ordinary Corrupt Human Love explored themes of yearning romanticism. Lead single “Honeycomb,” nearly twelve minutes long, arrived with a video in April 2018; while the clip offered studio glimpses and street scenes from San Francisco, its lyrics alluded to Argentine novelist Julio Cortázar. The full album followed in May, featuring guest vocals from singer-songwriter Chelsea Wolfe on the track “Near.”

A planned tenth-anniversary tour in 2020 was postponed amid the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting Deafheaven to issue the live-in-studio set 10 Years Gone on Sargent House that December instead. The recording revisited staples such as “Vertigo” and “Kettle” while also documenting “Daedalus,” the first song Clarke and McCoy wrote together. Infinite Granite, the band’s fifth studio album, emerged in 2021. Departing from prior work, it largely omitted screams and metal riffs in favor of swirling guitars and clean vocals shaped by Radiohead, Ride, Tears for Fears, and Chet Baker. To mark the tenth anniversary of Sunbather, the group enlisted original producer Jack Shirley for a remaster and supported the reissue with a ten-city U.S. tour.