Infinite Granite

For the most part, I don’t think anybody is surprised that Deafheaven’s fifth album sees them go full on shoegaze. As well as 2019’s Ordinary Corrupt Human Love turned out, it was clear that the “black” component of their blackgaze style was getting minimized. The most extreme elements played a supplementary role to the more melodic instrumental segments and the rasps were starting to feel like something the vocalist had to do rather than something they wanted to. Change was clearly on the horizon.

With that in mind, it’s nice to see the musicians adapt well to their alternative rock influences completely taking over. The focus remains on the guitar textures, which maintain an almost suffocatingly dreamlike ambiance. The less frequent blasts allow the rhythms to take on a more abstract attitude. The vocals also maintain a distant spot in the mix, rarely shaping the melodies but still providing a reassuring presence.

The album’s real surprise comes with the songs themselves, which offer more rounded lengths that never reach the ten minute mark. While this would suggest more accessible songwriting, there still isn’t much priority placed on particularly memorable compositions. Great Mass of Color and The Gnashing are immediate standouts for their more active beats. It’s also quite neat to see a specter of their blackened past maintain itself at the climaxes of Villain and Mombasa.

While Infinite Granite may fall a little shy of its ambitions, it still feels like a natural move in Deafheaven’s overall trajectory. Like all their past albums, its atmosphere is pleasant to lose yourself in and the structures are serviceable even if they aren’t overtly catchy. One could hope for the vocals to step up a little more in the future or the transitions fit to a more accessible mold in the future, but nothing can really deter the band as long as they maintain that signature vibe. This won’t replace your copy of Loveless or Souvlaki, but at least it’s giving it a shot in their own way.

From what I've observed, it seems that reviews and thoughts on this record from this site and other places have, so far, mostly come from a place of being a fan of Deafheaven's most critically acclaimed works like Sunbather and being disappointed at what their new record has to offer. I come into this review with a rather different perspective. You see, I have never been a Deafheaven fan. I find their blackgaze/screamo/hipster black metal/whatever-you-call-it routine to be corny, bloated, and uninteresting. I believe that their real strengths are in their clean interludes, particularly "Irresistible" from the Sunbather album. So, naturally, when I heard the first single for this album, "Great Mass of Color", and the cleaner sound it had, my hopes were sparked for a good Deafheaven album for once, one that might be a style where they have more strength in. It was not to be.

This album is very much the logical evolution from Ordinary Corrupt Human Love, the band's 2018 album on which they added in a lot of material that was removed from heavy music, including entire songs that were decidedly post-rock and also featured vocalist George Clarke's first attempts at clean singing on a Deafheaven record. On Infinite Granite, heavy music and harsh vocals have more or less been thrown out the window entirely in favor of a cleaner style that is a mix of post-hardcore, A Rush of Blood to the Head/X&Y era Coldplay, and Slowdive. The latter two sounds show up the most, and like Slowdive but unlike Coldplay, there aren't many memorable, ear-catching parts. Not much songwriting going on (always a bit of a problem for this band). Just an abandoning of heavy music and an emphasis on creating a "dreamy" sound with lots of atmosphere and clean guitar melodies. The only time the band showcases the sound that most people think of when they think of Deafheaven is at the end of "Mombasa". Why they decided to only kick the speed and aggression into high gear at this final point, I don't know. Other that that, things never really pick up the pace.

One might think that with clean singing abilities now under his belt as well, George Clarke would be able to deliver a more varied and interesting vocal performance on this record after testing such a thing out on the previous one. However, hardly any such variation exists. Harsh vocals only make three brief appearances on this record: at the ends of "Villain", "Great Mass of Color", and "Mombasa". Otherwise, Clarke sings the entire record in a clean voice. His singing turns out to be just as one-dimensional as his screaming: no dynamics or emotion, stonefaced, and boring. Occasionally he slightly varies things with a whisper or two, but otherwise it's very dynamically flat wandering melodies that really don't have a hook to identify with, or even a real place in the music. The tone of his voice even resembles that of Slowdive's Neil Halstead a bit.

This is music that's just there. A vegetable. Not alive and breathing and active. It's serviceable and technically competent, that is for sure. But it just isn't special. Again, I say that "Great Mass of Color" was a promising single when I first heard it. I thought that, at the very least, it was going to be a power ballad of sorts in the middle of a heavy album, if not a straight-up cleaner-sounding album. Out of all the tracks on the album, it's the one that has the most songwriting and memorable moments going on. However, now that I think about it, maybe I only think that because it's the first single from the album and the style of Infinite Granite was only sort of cool the first time I heard it. Now perhaps it's all meant to drift past you and just be background noise, like I imagine a lot of post rock and shoegaze is. There's a time and place for that, but not if I want an engaging listen that I know is great the more I listen to it. Infinite Granite as a whole simply does not vary itself enough or put enough emphasis on songwriting along with the atmosphere for it to be anything but a bore. Ironically, the few moments where variation does occur (like the aforementioned "Mombasa" ending or the instrumental ambient piece "Neptune Raining Diamonds) are among the album's most memorable moments. This is a problem consistent with Deafheaven music throughout their career, but this time they backed off on the distortion setting. Even the comparatively short track lengths (by Deafheaven standards) feel way too long. My hopes for a good Deafheaven album: not realized. Listen if you need background music for a long drive or something.

Oh, one more thing - what kind of album name is "Infinite Granite"? Why is there so much granite as to seem infinite? Is granite ever even mentioned or alluded to? And why do the song titles look like they came from games of exquisite corpse?

Before I start, I'm perfectly aware that a score of 70% is both too generous and far too low. Please hear me out before you tear me apart for it.

I absolutely adore Deafheaven. They're one of my favorite bands ever, and I've even gone so far as to review the singles of this album even though I knew they would be on here. Still pissed that I missed the release date by a week, but eh, I've listened to it. We can very well talk about how they popularized blackgaze with Sunbather, but everyone and their mother refuses to shut the fuck up about that album, so I'm going to skip it.

With "Great Mass of Color", they completely flipped everyone's expectations on their heads- Particularly after the pure black metal murder weapon known as "Black Brick". They went full 90s shoegaze/dream pop in a way that's more reminiscent of The Jesus and Mary Chain, R.E.M., The Cure, and other bands. On a scale from Slowdive to My Bloody Valentine, the intensity and songwriting falls nicely in the middle. You can tell that these guys have an incredible love for and understanding of shoegaze, and they've managed to infuse some of the technicality taken more often in metal than modern rock and infuse it into shoegaze. If you ask me, they do it right, and they really have made a pretty good shoegaze album. With that being said, all of the songs are pretty good, but none of them truly stand out (i.e. "Glint", "Luna", "Vertigo"), maybe aside from "In Blur".

Thankfully, the only real low point in terms of vocals is "The Gnashing", which I've come to warm up to. I don't think the vocals here are good, I just like them despite them being bad, like Siren Charms and Device. If you know that band (Which you might, given it was a short-lived Disturbed spin-off that somehow aged better than the majority of their material), you know what I mean. Otherwise, Clarke is a damn good singer. However, this brings me to one of my two huge problems with this album: There are only four instances of screams. Firstly, the last two lines in "Great Mass of Color". Secondly, the last two lines in "Villain". Thirdly, two screams that don't even comprise of words in "Other Language". Fourthly, and thankfully substantially, the last two minutes and forty-five seconds of the closer, "Mombasa", which sounds so goddamn phenomenal. Those last two minutes and forty-five seconds of "Mombasa" does everything that Sunbather attempted to do (Save for the interludes) better than that album- And you can fight me on that, Sunbather's the most fucking overrated thing I've heard, even if it is decently good. Trust me, I'll get to that album when I actually want to listen to it, which probably won't be for a long while.

The guitarwork is mostly resigned to shoegaze-y stuff. There are a couple of metal moments, such as the end of "The Gnashing" and that last two minutes and forty-five seconds of "Mombasa". There are many more metal-tinged moments, but they are still more rock than anything. "Mombasa" also prominently features acoustic guitars, which is nigh uncharted for Deafheaven! While the guitarwork is pleasant and all overall, it's decidedly way safer than I ever could've feared Deafheaven going, even if it still has the same Deafheaven sound, charm, and structure-bending that they're known for.

Maybe it's me just not remembering anything, but I don't think Dan goes past a brisk mid-pace in terms of his drumming. It never even really picks up twice, with the one time being relegated to, you guessed it, the last two minute forty-five seconds of "Mombasa". I should just be copying and pasting this at this point. As for the bass, it's awesome. It's audible, it sounds fucking nice, and the basslines are pretty good, which leads into the production. The production is really fucking good, somehow managing to layer everything (And there's a lot) in a way that not only sounds good and feels natural, but also leaves everything clearly audible. The vocals (Get this) also aren't fucked in the mix like how they are in Sunbather. I don't give a fuck if it's tradition in shoegaze to have the vocals be towards the middle to back of the mix, it's very fucking easy to get that wrong, and Sunbather really gets it wrong. Meanwhile, with Infinite Granite, the vocals are pushed a bit towards the middle, but they're just a bit towards the middle while still being in the front of the mix. Overall, it's the perfect compromise (At least for me), and I think this and RARE by Hundredth are how shoegaze vocals in terms of the mixing should be the standard in modern shoegaze going forward.

As I said, there's very little here that really stands above the pack, and the reason for that is because 1. It's all rather safe, and 2. It's all very similar. It makes for a nice shoegaze albums that flows well and all makes for a really listen, as the tone and atmosphere perfectly line up with what is to be expected. That being said, only the last two minutes and forty-five seconds of "Mombasa" takes any sort of risk at all, and that leads me to my second problem.

This is the safest take on an enormous risk I've ever seen.

While the technicality and tinge of metal is nice, there is nothing done to distinguish this from the rest of the pack when it comes to both past and modern shoegaze. Unfortunately, I feel like RARE accomplishes the transition from heavier material with little to no prior clean singing to shoegaze much better, as the soundscape of RARE is much more dynamic, and because the simple fact that every song on that album stands out from one another and stands on its own. Infinite Granite doesn't really accomplish either of these, even if half the songs do truly come alive and burst out from simply being shoegaze in the last minute or two. It's the fucking 'A Thousand Suns' plague. Again, the overall sound is wonderful, but you come to expect more from Deafheaven, especially since they occasionally channel that here. Only the last two minutes and forty-five seconds of the fifty-three and a half minute album try to break out of the mold. I know, inverting the formula you popularized isn't anything exactly unique or revolutionary, but neither is what you did here. And while shoegaze is very much about putting the egos of both the artist and the listener aside, it doesn't mean that one should resign to complacency, and this album is the soundtrack of complacency. That reason is why I only have this album at a 70%. I'd love to rate it higher, but I just can't do so in good conscience. However, I will say that I happily bought some merch from them, and wouldn't regret the purchase of their album. I love it, my subjective rating for it is much higher than I have it, but I do have to bring a reasonable amount of objectivity to the table. While OCNH was an amalgamation of this sound and New Bermuda (Or rather a transition from New Bermuda to this album), I think it's preferable, even with its low points. I hope that if they ever try again with this sound, they get a bit more creative, a bit more metal, and have more screams. I may love this, but I want to see what could have been. Oh, what could have been.

Songs to Recommend: "In Blur", "Mombasa" (I love "The Gnashing", but I can't entirely recommend it)
Songs to Avoid: None. They're all pretty good, and I constantly cycle between which song (Save for the three above) is my favorite, but the sheer similarity of them all keeps me from making a decision there.

I always love American bands who do not sound American. Deafheaven are one of these. The were called 'post black metal' once but we can forget that now. Because this album is pure shoegaze. Nothing new, nothing fresh. well, perhaps it is 'new' to those who have no grasp of musical history anyway. Shoegaze goes back to the late eighties with The Jesus and Mary Chain (Scotland), My Bloody Valentine (Ireland), Lush (England) and many more.

I only know their 'Sunbather' album which was in essence already a shoegaze album but with blastbeats and harsh vocals. Now that was kind of fresh, an interesting mix of styles, when it was released back in 2013. But in all honesty 'blackgaze' (mix of black and shoegaze) was already happening since 2005 really, mostly in France, so Deafheaven were not quite the first but they did give give the subgenre a popularity boost.

But in all honesty, when the novelty of a subgenre wears off, only the quality of the music/songs remains. And after a few years I stopped playing Sunbather because I simply got bored by the vocals. (I did see them live in 2014 but the band simply did not convince in the middle of the day in the burning sun. Not very fitting)

So, now in 2021 they've gotten rid of harsh vocals (still some hints and small parts though) and metal drums. And....surprise! Only the shoegaze remains. Without those added elements, they now sound over 30 years old. No problem if the material is great. Is it ?

Well, the material is entertaining enough. Good shoegaze is a soundscape which makes you espcape reality, Preferably late at night, and when alone. I never listen to shoegaze in the company of others. And 'Infinite Granite' does a good job providing such a shoegaze soundscape. It's not a classic album, it won't really go down in history, but it does the job. I've listened about 7 times to it now and no 'song' stands out because it is one constant vibe. Exactly what I want right now from such an album.

Just don't expect something like Sunbather, that's all.

Deafheaven is a band that I always respected more than enjoyed, it seems like yesterday they were one of the most polarizing bands in extreme metal for allegedly popularizing the whole “blackgaze” trend of the early 2010’s, much to the chagrin of black metal elitists and the die-hard fans of Alcest. However, over time the band developed their own cult following and even became “the one black metal band your obnoxious hipster friend who subscribes to Anthony Fantano and reads Pitchfork like a gospel won’t shut up about”, but I digress, in 2021, 3 years since their last record, Deafheaven came back with Infinite Granite, and this is the album that made Deafheaven click for me, for better or worse.

For starters, one of the elements that people praised and lambasted Deafheaven’s music for was their lush, shoegaze and alt-rock inspired leanings which they incorporated into black metal in order to create aggressive music that was also, for lack of a better word, beautiful, that was certainly the case with 2018’s Ordinary Corrupt Human Love, but for Infinite Granite, the band completely discarded their extremity and fully embraced post-rock and shoegaze in a very unabashed way. Infinite Granite is a shoegaze and post-rock album through and through, almost to its detriment because outside of the occasional brief moments of extremity which include the trademark shrieks of vocalist George Clarke in tracks like “Great Mass of Color” and “Mombasa” (which are two of the better tracks in the record), those tracks also have some aggro guitars and drums, but overall this is a shoegaze record, to make a tired and overdone comparison to Alcest, this is Deafheaven’s Shelter. The main issue is that while the band are very talented and have tight and consistent performances, this album doesn’t really do anything different or unique, its just a shoegaze record with brief, but few and far between moments of extremity.

That being said, I also think this is a solid album and what clicked with me is how Deafheaven are just doing what they want to do, regardless of what elitists and hipsters say about them, and for the music itself, this album is a distillation of the best elements of the previous record, for as massive as Ordinary Corrupt Human Love was, it felt like two albums meshed into one, that isn’t the case here, while the band’s execution of shoegaze is not particularly unique, they still do it with both precision and passion, its no secret the guys at Deafheaven love bands like Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine, and it shows, the music as a whole shows a deep understanding of shoegaze, because while this is not at all a metal album, the band still display a sense of depth and sonic intensity that’s still in line with metal even if the music is serene and psychedelic. The band achieved this like any good shoegaze through layered guitars, but a unique twist the band employed is having a more dynamic melodicism, its not just a wall of sound. The clean vocals of George Clarke are also surprisingly good, the perfectly match the music’s tone and atmosphere, and that’s also another aspect where the band succeeded, the music’s atmosphere has a distinct mysterious but also serene feel, like the band wants the listener’s to be calm but alert at the same time.

Overall while Deafheaven didn’t reinvent the wheel on shoegaze, they also didn’t need to, the whole “blackgaze” trend died out as soon as it got momentum, and bands that stuck to it just got boxed into their niche without any way to grow or expand, Deafheaven decided to go on a different direction and only time will tell if they continue this direction or try something new down the road because they clearly do not wish to do Sunbather again, whether their fans and haters like it or not.

Best tracks: In Blur, Great Mass of Color, Mombasa

I love Deafheaven and I'm not afraid to admit that. From Roads to Judah to Ordinary Corrupt Human Love, this youthful act has turned black metal on its head with tranquil interludes and major key riffs, accompanied by a warmer tone that makes them more approachable than others within the genre. Not that they're the first to incorporate such elements, but the execution holistically is unique and hard to find elsewhere. You can argue they aren't black metal because of the way they represent themselves aesthetically, but their music has always had roots there nonetheless.

This is where I draw the line and make testament that they've lost their goddamn minds with this release. I was listening to a podcast recently where Bryan Funck was elaborating on how he doesn't believe Thou is a metal band. Aaron Turner of ISIS has made a similar claim before and I sincerely wonder what it takes for these artists to end up with their heads so far up their own asses that they deny the labels placed on them when they exist to help both them and us as listeners. As if they can't settle for what they've been characterized as in some desperate attempt to appear distinguished. My bet is that's what is happening here with Deafheaven, and unlike the aforementioned bands they've absolutely succeeded. Congratulations, everyone. This release isn't metal at all.

But here's the issue. I've believed in this band for a long time and there are plenty of others who've done the same -- because of what they already were! It's like they've forgotten they have a following. If I wanted to listen to Coldplay, I'd listen to Coldplay. Except now we've got Deafheaven's brand-new-take on Coldplay materialized into an album that nobody asked for. That doesn't make you unique, it makes you look clueless.

The low score isn't just earned by its intention. There are plenty of bands who've experimented with their sound before. The album itself features clean vocals almost in its entirety. The guitars work together to establish the signature wall of sound, the clean vocals don't contribute enough to override them, and blah blah blah it's shoegaze. Oh, wait. What's this? Just about every track ends in a near chaotic erruption that whispers of the kind of sound I actually want to hear. When I heard the first single, I wrote it off because I thought it was the first track. Surely the album gets heavier after the opener, right? Wrong. It doesn't. What a disappointment.

And I even like shoegaze, but there's something missing here. It's stale. The melodies aren't memorable. The singing is nasally, but there's something else about it that I can't quite put my finger on. It just doesn't fit. You made post-black shoegaze before and now you make plain old shoegaze that isn't even good. Yuck.

Remember when Deafheaven released "Sunbather" back in 2013 and become one of the most controversial black metal artists for the next couple of years? Well since the hatred for them has died down, a lot of people have been warming up to Sunbather as well as their other releases. I personally didn't jump into the Deafheaven hate bandwagon, as even with their weaker stuff, they still had a lot going for them. So when their latest album "Infinite Granite" was announced earlier this year, me and others had a lot of hopes for them, especially since this new album seemed to be moving in a more rock-orientated sound. Well after I gave the album a listen, I can't help but feel a little let down.

Okay, let's get to the positives first. The instrumentation of Deafheaven has always been great, and Infinite Granite does have plenty of good instrumentals. "Great Mass of Color" remains a highlight for me as well as the best song in the album, as the melodic and heavenly guitar riffs and soft drumbeats give the track a very angelic and calming atmosphere, and is great for some soft shoegaze. "Lament for Wasps" is also another highlight for me, as the track goes for a more upbeat tone, which is executed well with its energized riffs and technical drumming. And the lyrics are also great, as they are simple and basic, but its execution works spectacularly with the atmosphere of the tracks.

However, the main problem with this album is the blandness of some tracks, mainly with "The Gnashing". The more rock-based track should sound good in theory, especially since it has some decent guitar riffs. However, the way the track is composed makes it sound like every other generic shoegaze band right now, especially with the monotonous "hard" parts. Seriously, if you were to play this song in a café, I wouldn't even know it's from Deafheaven. Even with releases I didn't enjoy like "Ordinary Corrupt Human Love", it still has that special Deafheaven sound that I know. In many tracks, however, it's kinda generic, and that's not a good thing. Another example of this would be in "Villain", where it sounds like it's trying to replicate the sound of some of the other tracks, and the emo-like screams in the middle of the track do not help it at all. With Deafheaven moving into a more rock direction, it seems like they're sacrificing their signature sound, which is a bad sign for just about any musician.

And speaking of vocals, this is easily the worst Deafheaven has to offer in terms of vocals. George Clarke can be a good vocalist, and even in this release, he still has some good vocal moments, particularly in the track "Mombasa", where his soft, melodic singing flows perfectly to the track's soft guitars and slow beats. However, where his vocals skills fail is not only when he screams in an emo-like tone, but it also fails in sounding like every other shoegaze vocalist. To see what I mean, take a look at "In Blur". This is one of the more stronger songs, especially in the instrumentals with a good transition from a soft tone to a more intense atmosphere. However, George's vocals sound very weak, as his singing gets a bit too soft and boring, almost like he's trying to sound like most other soft rock bands. And again, those emo screams do not help his vocals get better in some tracks. While his vocals still have some good moments, they can also be terrible with some emo shrieks and tedious singing.

I listened to this album two times already, and I still can't give it a higher score than a 50. Yes, it does have some good moments, especially in some tracks, but the more dull instruments and worsened vocals make this album a disappointment for me. I mean, this is the same band that made Sunbather and New Bermuda. What happened here? While it is okay for those who are a fan of some general shoegaze, for Deafheaven fans, I recommend you skip this one.