Great Mass of Color

Deafheaven's had a pretty extensive history of being quite the divisive band, with many adoring their blend of black metal and shoegaze/dream pop, and others thinking that they're just hipster trash. There generally isn't much of an in-between. So... After "Black Brick", a single that goes full-on black metal, what's next? The heaviest album of their career? Nope. 100% dream pop. The lightest album of their career, which has been stated to have the screaming and metal mostly absent.

Wait, what?

I only found out about this song (And the existence of the album as a whole) today, so trust me when I say that I was completely thrown for a loop. To any of Deafheaven's detractors, this is the exact nail in the coffin that they've been digging for: An opening heavily inspired by The Smiths and a song that only contains two screams, one of which being of the very last line. However, it's actually pretty damn good, and the subtleties of the songwriting here, particularly in terms of how the exact instrumentation shifts rings true to Deafheaven's overall style, which tends to go unnoticed compared to their blend of black metal and shoegaze- A surface-level observation.

There isn't really all too much to talk about here. For once, the drumming isn't frenetic, the guitars are remarkably like how they were on Ordinary Corrupt Human Love's more dream pop-styled parts, the bass sounds damn good, and the clean vocals... Are actually really fucking good, like how they were on "Near", but more... Natural, softer-sounding, and overall delightful. The song's certainly not so pleasant in its lyrics, like most of Deafheaven's works, though it's not so much as angsty or scream-worthy as it is just... Dreamy (Or nightmare-y?). In a way, it rings completely true to what you'd hear in shoegaze or dream pop songs.

Most will look at the stark contrast in the overall sound compared to their previous works, but in a way, this style of music emphasizes their musicianship and songwriting structure, which is the same as it's always been. They get quite a lot done in six minutes, but it doesn't quite feel like it as much on the first listen or so, and you only really get all of it on repeated listens. Taking into account the previous album, this furthering of direction isn't quite as surprising, but the fact that they fully stepped into dream pop surely is nonetheless. One of the huge pros here compared to Ordinary Corrupt Human Love is that they trimmed the fat of what really didn't on that album. If you've listened to that album, you'll know what I mean. And to any of their fans worried about this shift in sound, they're very much the same band they've always been, they're just trying something different this time, and if you don't like the direction, I doubt it'll be something permanent.

"Great Mass of Color" is a song which I could very much find tranquility or fall asleep listening to, which is certainly not the case for most people with most of Deafheaven's works (Myself excluded, I quite love passing out to "Luna" or "Glint"). If you're a fan of Deafheaven, do give it a chance. Sure, I miss all of Deafheaven's trademark harshness, which is the biggest thing absent here, but it's a side to them I'm nonetheless excited to see. It's a continuation of "Near", if anything, and that was one of my favorite songs from their last album.

Let's see how the album turns out when it's released.