Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives

Message board

* FAQ    * Register   * Login 



Reply to topic
Author Message Previous topic | Next topic
chrisahc
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2009 10:20 am
Posts: 25
PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2013 6:20 pm 
 

Image

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIHH9THNRQA

How do you feel about this album? It completely reverses the typical black metal aesthetic, replacing coldness and grimness with upbeat melodies, major keys and post-rock influences. There's a very vocal section of the metal community that are resistant to new ideas in the genre and "hipster influence", but I really like what they're doing here.

Also, if you criticize the band for their hairstyles, you're no better than a stereotypical pop music fan in my opinion.

Top
 Profile  
ThePoop
Metalhead

Joined: Thu Sep 22, 2011 8:38 pm
Posts: 1075
Location: America
PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2013 6:42 pm 
 

I have high hopes for what this band will accomplish. They've certainly hit their stride with Sunbather. When Roads to Judah dropped, I felt it was pretty good but not necessarily good enough to stand out among the many other bands experimenting with this approach. But man, Sunbather really blew my socks off. Being a huge fan of post-rock and black metal, this album was one of the most honest mixtures of both styles I have ever heard. What really impresses me about the album is it's sincerity. I feel that had the recent trend of mixing "post-rock" and "shoegaze" with black metal never happened, this album would still exist.

I had the privilege to see them live a couple weeks ago. Easily matched the emotional intensity of their recorded material.

Also, I'd like to comment on the "vocal section of the metal community" who have cried "hipster" and "untrue" about Deafheaven and similar bands. Like many shitty things in this world, this community seems to only really exist on the internet. I've had numerous conversations about this band with a wide variety metalheads at many metal shows. Or just casually hanging out with some of my metalhead friends. Most have praised the band, and absolutely none of them have spouted the typical elitist garbage you read all the time (mentioning the word "hipster", saying it's not metal etc). I digress though. Awesome band, bottomline.
_________________
My favorite Carcass album is Swansong.


Last edited by ThePoop on Thu Jul 18, 2013 9:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Top
 Profile  
Subrick
Metal Strongman

Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2010 7:27 pm
Posts: 10167
Location: United States
PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2013 7:17 pm 
 

I absolutely loved this album. My guitarist sent me a Youtube link to a stream of the album, and even though I put off listening to the whole thing for a couple days (I only listened to Dream House the day I got the stream), I was just sucked into the album once I decided to listen to the whole thing. I've not listened to Roads to Judah so I can't really comment on how Sunbather is compared to that album, but from all that I've heard about it it sounds inferior to Sunbather. Musically I think of the album as being if Liturgy's formula was done right; a mixture of shoegaze and black metal built on the idea of sounding both chaotic and really optimistic, at times even beautiful, only Deafheaven's writing is much more developed and engaging compared to Liturgy, who just flat out don't have enough good ideas to carry an entire hour's worth of an album.

In the end, Sunbather is fucking amazing. I'd say that it's my album of 2013 already, but The Underground Resistance by Darkthrone and Circle by Amorphis are making choosing that distinction difficult. 2012 and 2011 were so much simpler. :P
_________________
Earthcubed wrote:
I'm just perpetually annoyed by Sean William Scott and he's never been in a movie where I wasn't rooting for his head to sever by strange means.

Blacksoul Seraphim Gothic Doom Metal
Autumn's Ashes Melodic Death/Doom Metal

Top
 Profile  
jute
Metal newbie

Joined: Tue Mar 24, 2009 12:30 am
Posts: 150
PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2013 7:27 pm 
 

I love hearing new ideas in music, though mixing black metal and post-rock (and shoegaze) is common enough that I'm not sure it qualifies as a new idea. My problem with this band, and others drawing from the post-rock well, is that I find post-rock's near-total diatonicism gratingly bland and colorless and the omnipresent crescendo structure sort of condescendingly manipulative (to be fair I didn't notice Deafheaven committing this latter sin in the video the OP linked). I like the album art, though.

Top
 Profile  
caspian
Old Man Yells at Car Park

Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2004 11:29 pm
Posts: 6414
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2013 8:53 pm 
 

Poop, you were doing fine until you started ranting about the honestly rather non-existent "elitists" and all that shit. Most people who haven't liked this record have said it's boring, I don't think I've heard one person actually say it's untrue, honestly.. what a total load of horseshit. The "vocal section of the metal community" is 95% composed of people going "WERE BEING OPPRESSED BY ELITISTS!!!!!!1" than actual, y'know, elitists.

I have to side under boring for now myself, although there's enough ideas in there for me to give it a few more listens. I don't find the post-rock parts that exciting, nor do the faster, heavier moments do that much for me. It sounds like the sort of thing I should like though. I've had it praised to the skies by certain people who's opinion I respect so I'll give it a few more listens before saying that it's the most boring BM this side of Woods of Ypres, albeit with cool cover art.
_________________
https://kybaliondoom.bandcamp.com/album/poisoned-ash big ugly death doom by and for big ugly dudes

https://strangercountry.bandcamp.com/al ... the-chebar new album! Power shoegaze? Dream-doom???

Top
 Profile  
ThePoop
Metalhead

Joined: Thu Sep 22, 2011 8:38 pm
Posts: 1075
Location: America
PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2013 9:39 pm 
 

My point was basically that these "elitists" aren't as prevalent as the the "WE'RE BEING OPPRESSED BY ELITISTS" camp would have you believe. So I think we sort of agree. As I said, in actually talking with real people these types of people don't seem to exist by my experience. However on the webs (especially on forums much like this :oh shit:) I have seen many people spouting these opinions. Though I acknowledge that my little rant was ultimately nonconstructive towards any rational discourse... Ahhh metal politics. I just get so wrapped up in it sometimes. :ugh:
_________________
My favorite Carcass album is Swansong.

Top
 Profile  
Marag
Veteran

Joined: Fri Feb 27, 2009 8:55 pm
Posts: 2773
PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2013 9:41 pm 
 

From this thread I was expecting it to be another tired and dull american post-black metal/blackgaze that is hailed as the greatest thing ever by the open-minded brigade, but I actually liked the song posted on the OP, It kinda of sounds like later Envy with black metal instead of screamo. I'll have to listen to this more carefully later.

Top
 Profile  
iamntbatman
Chaos Breed

Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 5:55 am
Posts: 11421
Location: Tyrn Gorthad
PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2013 9:48 pm 
 

Good call on the Envy comparison.

I was fairly excited by this band after hearing their Mogwai cover, which was really well executed, but their debut was mostly pretty boring. I've only heard one promo track from this album so far and it was a little better focused but still didn't really get my panties wet. I'm not going to hold my breath and hope that these guys eventually churn out a truly great album, but as I've said before I do think it's possible that people might take some cues from them (since they do seem capable of competently blending post-rock and black metal into cohesive musical ideas) and produce something genuinely compelling.
_________________
Nolan_B wrote:
I've been punched in the face maybe 3 times in the past 6 months


GLOAMING - death/doom | COMA VOID - black/doom/post-rock

Top
 Profile  
Pfuntner
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Jul 19, 2006 9:33 pm
Posts: 1058
Location: United States of America
PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2013 9:51 pm 
 

Probably my favorite metal album of the year, and is a close second behind "The Terror" for my favorite over all. It's such a huge step up from their debut in every way possible. I love that it has the guts to actually address some pretty weighty subjects on an emotional level, and that the constantly shifting linear song structures actually relate to the same sense of fleeting happiness that the lyrics deal with. It's a smart record that works on a few different levels, which is more than I can say about most stuff I've heard this year.
_________________
Random Child : http://randomchild.bandcamp.com/

Top
 Profile  
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Reply to topic


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Curious_dead, darkred, Wilytank and 70 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

  Print view
Jump to:  

Back to the Encyclopaedia Metallum


Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group