Deafheaven – DFHVN

Like the first piercing shard of light through the black, tumultuous clouds of argument that have erupted in recent months over the ‘infestation’ of the black metal scene by shoegaze and post-rock arrangements, Deafheaven arrive. Coupling graceful, soaring melodies with striding, empowering sections of metal – this self titled EP takes the wandering intrigue of bands like Wolves in the Throne Room and marries them to the style Neige has come to categorise (and then consistently rape) in recent years.

DFHVN emits certain Krallice and Liturgy like vibes during the animated sections of riffology before coalescing and diving freefall into a discharge of overburdened euphoria. Mild associations with depressive black metal can also be made: the meandering, arpeggio distortion played at mid pace, the howling, abyssal vocals. This switch between sections of driving metal and melancholic uncertainty recurs throughout the EP. Final track Exit: Denied summons an impressive funeral doom felt ending. Church bells hover over brutally slow riff progressions before guitars low in the mix introduce melody and a sense of direction.

DFHVN is epic. The music is engaging, ardent, hypnotic, despondent and exhilarated. The musicianship is tight, thought provoking and presents one of the best progressions into this territory of sound I have heard. Give Daedalus a listen and try not to get sucked in – watch the track evolve from jubilation to complete melancholy in a matter of minutes. DFHVN liberates. It couples the sublime with the introspective. An undiluted recording of our reaction to the awe-inspiring, euphoric revelations of life.

You can hear and download the release for nothing over at the Bandcamp page, although I heartily recommend you donate some of your cash to their worthwhile cause. A cassette version of the DFHVN demo will be made available shortly as well as an EP at the backend of January. The band will be recording a full length in December which will make its way onto vinyl in the early months of 2011. All go in the deafheaven camp – give their EP a listen and help this fledgling project out a bit.

You'll find me in the vast wilderness of British Columbia, talking metal at LURKER, or working in publishing and front-end web/eBook development.

12 Comments

  • Reply October 1, 2010

    Noah Coleman

    that cover kind of bums me out. i feel like i'm about to listen to the new fischerspooner or something.

  • Reply October 1, 2010

    Anonymous

    Your logic is fucking stupid, great demo.

  • Reply October 1, 2010

    N.

    Awesome EP. Nothing wrong with the artwork, it's original and fresh. It fits.

  • Reply October 1, 2010

    Daniele

    One of the greatest band of the last time!!!

    Really original cover for a black metal album!!!

  • Reply October 1, 2010

    Anonymous

    This band is so fucking awful. This is not black metal, but instead an attempt by hardcore kid screamo with a few blastbeats. Fail.

  • Reply October 1, 2010

    Anonymous

    Come back when you aren't a teenager and you might understand why people appreciate this.

  • Reply October 1, 2010

    Richard

    I bought this last night… Still to listen! Not a fan of the artwork myself but don't give a fuck as long as I like the music.

  • Reply October 1, 2010

    Anonymous

    yeah the artwork is awful, but the music is pretty great.

  • Reply October 1, 2010

    Anonymous

    I think the artwork, like the ep, is supposed to not be typical. maybe they wanted it to be confusing? idk, but this demo is grea stuff! amazing for such a young band

  • Reply October 28, 2010

    Anonymous

    I really wanted to like this and not be a typical nay-sayer regarding this type of black metal, but I just don't feel it is very well executed. A shame really! Fair play to them though…

  • Reply October 29, 2010

    Richard

  • Reply October 29, 2010

    Anonymous

    Cheers i'm liking it!

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