Demo

US black metal group Deafheaven recently gained a ton notoriety shortly after Pitchfork readers and variable metalheads alike began discovering this band in 2013. Well right now, it's the end of 2013 and I can say myself without the grief that this band too was added to my music collection after giving a listen to this year's breakthrough LP. Interestingly enough, Deafheaven did not already began wowing audiences only recently. Their untitled demo tape, dug up from the depths of the band's very 2010 beginnings is incredible, if not just as good as Sunbather.

Conjuring fair shares of influences shift back and forth, including post-hardcore, post-metal and shoegazing. Black metal has never felt this warm. The songs displayed here have a vibe like nothing that has been visited in the genre previously. What impresses me the most is this a no-bars held demo tape, completely written by two men and performed by three. No label writing their songs or telling them what to do, thus proving the unadulterated talent Deafheaven holds. Session drummer John Kline, while was not officially a part of Deafheaven, gave an outstanding performance heard here. I also want to get it out of the way that some of the riffs on this album are simply amazing and contentiously have me coming back for repeated listens, most notably the riff heard in the middle of the demo's opening track "Libertine Dissolves", which contains a riff so pleasing to the ears, I feel like referencing its time spot would serve unnecessary. When you hear it, you'll know which riff I'm talking about.

Going back to Kline's performance on an analog kid, I forgot to add that his snare sounds nearly exactly the way I want it to. It's loud and leaves me satisfied. The whole production of drums as a whole sounds great and they're completely trigger/programmed free. The drums heard on here is the real deal, they're recorded raw with no triggers or samples and I absolutely love how they sound. Not to mention his double bass tactics combined with rapid blast beats that he gravitated off the rim of his snare sounds as authentic as ever purely because of how real this drumming is as it hits the ear. Unfortunately enough, Kline did pass away just two years after this recording. A drummer with this much stamina, talent and dynamic only lived so long. May he rock in peace.

Now as I continue, I feel like many people reading this review would feel as if it's empty without mentioning the vocals. Basically, they're not much different to Sunbather. It's your typical black metal scream shrouded in studio-effect echo and distortion, but the lyrics are what really get me. Oddities such as "I laughed at the cigarette stain" are reminiscent to fellow US black metal Liturgy's "chattering useless teeth" line found in their track "Mysterium", just with the ridiculousness taken to a whole new threshold. Albeit, sure he's not taking a step as big as saying "my pussy tastes like Pepsi-Cola", but retains as this weird thought to the back of your mind at times asking if the lyrics are serious or not. Acting out as if these lines have some deep, misperceived meaning is simply the greatest way to compliment the band.

By what I do understand, however, the lyrics in all seem to be put at the point of lost love and heartbreak:

• "I loved a girl I'll never speak to again/ I spoke to a girl I never stopped loving" - "Libertine Dissolves"
• "He smudged the blood of his lover. 'We are never apart. Maybe in distance, but never in heart.'" - "Exit:Denied"

Impressive musicianship and structured songwriting that manage to blow the listener away as songs in their best efforts not only stray far away from following the same formula as the last, but also introduce various sounds from track by track is not the only reason why I give this release a 95% score. It's the simple fact that this is very real music. It's not studio reliant stuff, it's not producer written material and certainly was not done to make a quick buck. Everything down to the drums is genuine as it gets. Had this been a label released album, I probably would have deducted at least 10 points away from my final score. It's the simple fact that this is a demo tape is why it gets the recognition from me that it does.