The Gnashing

I'm genuinely confused as to why both "Great Mass of Color" and "The Gnashing" are the two lead-off singles. By all accounts, they're fundamentally very similar songs on the surface. While "Great Mass of Color" was more bouncy and vibrant, this is rather melancholic, moody, and brooding. The harshness comes solely on the ambient side, and I think it works rather well. Honestly, everything sounds even better on the instrumental side, even if there isn't as much variety or 'structure-bending' as "Great Mass of Color" or their usual material. If anything, the song it comes the closest to structurally is "Near". The guitarwork very much scratches my Deafheaven itch, and the drums and bass are also pretty good, being a bit more in line with the frantic yet natural feeling of Deafheaven's usual work. There's a bit of a comforting feel to it, weirdly enough, and I find that in the elements that are more towards the back of the mix. This is excellent musicianship. So, if everything's great, why am I rating this so much lower than "Great Mass of Color"?

It's the vocals. We have to talk about the vocals. While I absolutely loved George's vocals on "Great Mass of Color", this track reveals a potentially fatal flaw for the upcoming album: He has *no* range here. While "Great Mass of Color" didn't have all too much range either, it did have some, and it was at least dynamic. Here... George's vocals just aren't really good here. Maybe it's because it's all in a lower key, but... He sounds like Brann Dailor from Mastodon (Singing on Crack the Skye and onward) if Brann was one-note in his singing- So pretty much what would happen if you took away everything that makes Brann a fantastic vocalist. Sure, it gets a little bit better on repeat listens, as I can grow to like it while still feeling that it's bad, but then again, I did the same with Ryu's vocals on Mozaiq (Blood Stain Child), and I've been an avid In Flames fan who enjoys all of the newer albums. And if you know In Flames, you know that Anders has a huge reputation for his vocals, which I personally find to hold up on Reroute to Remain and Soundtrack To Your Escape. I'll defend him otherwise, but not there. You can still like and enjoy something while recognizing that it's bad, and these vocals really aren't good. In fact, dare I say it, in some sort of parallel universe where there was a Brann Dailor feature on here, this track would be incredible, it would blow "Great Mass of Color" out of the water. Hell, I wish there was even at least one scream in the back of the mix or something to freshen things up a bit.

I'm tempted to rate this a 70%, but I'm not too sure. On one hand, every other element is perfect. On the other hand, George's poor performance here (Which is especially disappointing considering "Near" and "Great Mass of Color") can not be excused. I'm a huge Deafheaven fan, I always will be, and I do love both of these singles. I already bought a bunch of merch from them including tablature books for Sunbather and New Bermuda. Hell, I'll probably listen to the new album a ton. With all that being said, it is absolutely imperative to recognize one's flaws and address them, no matter how much you admire them. And the beautiful part about it is that, as artists, they always strive to better their craft, so the criticism of their flaws is vital. There's actually one band I can compare Deafheaven to right now, and that's Hundredth, minus the whole 'delete our entire prior discography from our history and pretend like it never happened' bullshit. They used to be a hardcore/metalcore band who eventually changed to Shoegaze with their album, Rare. It was actually really damn good, and you probably heard all about it because it was huge back when it released. Then again, I only learned about it within the past year, so maybe you didn't hear about it. Just like with Deafheaven now, they had one or two songs with backing screams, and that was such a phenomenal fucking touch that should've been used more. Thing is, in terms of screams (And in terms of their prior discography), Deafheaven is absolutely superior, so such a utilization would be even better. However, I get the feeling that we'll only get that on "Great Mass of Color", and that's a wasted opportunity. If you're able to sing in different styles, it's only a boon to sprinkle in some variety, and I don't think they did. But only time can tell, and I'll be eagerly waiting for the album to release.