Infinite Granite - Deafheaven: Review
Deafheaven
are a San Francisco based experimental rock band. In 2013 their sophomore album Sunbather became a breakout success receiving massive critical acclaim for the bands fusion of black metal and shoegaze, fittingly referred to as Blackgaze. In records since then the band worked to expand into realms of post-rock as well, but the trio of singles leading up to Infinite Granite projected a shift into full on shoegaze sounds.
Review By Lav:
I know I start about 60% of reviews on this channel with the phrase "I love "artist"". But I love Deafheaven. Sunbather completely blew me away when I first heard it and I was still on the hook for both of the bands follow-up records. 2018's Ordinary Corrupt Human Love was my first opportunity to review the band and I was thrilled to absolutely love the record. It's fusion of blistering black metal, dramatic post-rock and hazy shoegaze totally blew me away once again. I had a feeling that the band would continue to evolve their sound but after a trio of singles, I was nervous that their embrace of shoegaze tropes above all else might sound like a downgrade. As it turns out my disappointment with the record has less to do with its simplified sound and more to do with underwhelming songwriting.
There are certainly plenty of nice things I have to say about the record but we should probably clear out some of the messier parts first. In Blur was the most recent single so it's in my head and we will start there. The instrumental on the track isn't exactly doing anything I've never heard before and the 90's alt-rock refrains fail to land with me for the most part. The only silver lining is the guitar tones which can be pretty intoxicating on the bridge. The death knell for the track is when even the final rush of instrumentation in the finale also fails to excite me. The only other song that missed me completely on the record was Lament For Wasps far and away the most toothless of all these songs. The vocals deliver one painfully underwritten and under-sung refrain after another for most of its 7 minute runtime. There are flashes here and there of some memorable guitar lines and more great drumming which appears all over the record but they never translate into memorable passages when the refrains consistently fail to stick the landing.
The second single The Gnashing wastes no time introducing you to it's heaviest instrumental sounds. It is thankfully one of the more interesting songs here with another memorable chorus that sets up its refrains pretty well. The only issue I have with the song is that it gets pretty indulgent on the back half as it wanders compositionally to a conclusion. Opening track Shellstar is a slow developing opener that works its way into a shoegaze standard wall of guitars. The lead vocals are a bit more frontal and clean than you'd expect to hear on a song like this and they do occasionally disrupt some of the songs dreamy haze. The high point is no doubt the hook which features an exciting drum fill and a shimmering array of background vocals. As an opener it is exciting enough but also predictive of some of the records issues.
In the tracklist of the record itself Mass is followed by a 3 minute mostly ambient interlude that I actually find pretty interesting. I like the contrast of the glittering electronics that flutter in the distance and the wiry guitar tones that crash into the very front of the mix. It feels like a specious breath of air that was always welcome. Villain is a dreamier more stripped back cut but I think it shows off some better songwriting chops with a variety of vocal stylings that keep it pretty engaging throughout. By the time the harrowing screams crash into the back of the song alongside some huge drums the sonic gravity of the track is turned up more than enough to be enjoyable. Other Language in contrast is one of the more conventional rock cute with a strong groove and some wailing guitars more reminiscent of the bands earlier work in the back half of the track. The vocals fit in much better on this track than most and the songs steady build up to an eruption in the final minute was satisfying every time.
Ultimately the record flirts with some of the things that made Deafheaven so exciting in their earlier renditions, but feels watered down both compositionally and conceptually. The best way I can display this is with the closing track Mombasa. It opens as the softest and most acoustic track of the bunch spinning light refrains over a glittery lighter instrumental palette. I definitely find this section of the song to be a little bit too breezy despite more great drums that are mixed way too faintly relative to the quality level of the performance. Thankfully the last two minutes of the song and the record are a fitting return to the bands blackgaze roots that long time fans can't help but love. Even though I enjoy the passage a lot I do have to actively wonder if its too little too late at this point on the song and record.
While Infinite Granite has plenty of individual moments of instrumental appeal like any Deafheaven record I think it consistently fails to stick the landing and translate these great sounds into great songs. Despite some big highlights listening to this entire tracklist as a 50 minute runtime can start to feel like a slog at points particularly when so much time is wasted with mediocre tracks like Lament For Wasps. I don't think this record will be predictive of Deafheaven's future and I expect them to undergo even more sonic transitions on whatever they do next. But compared to some of the monolithic artistic statements of their past, Infinite Granite is a whisper. A whisper with some absolutely killer drumming, but a whisper nonetheless. 5.5/10
This cover is a striking graphic but I don't really get album cover from it. It could easily be a preset desktop background or stock image. The color is pretty but there isn't any noticeable branding or personality to it. What will someone take away from this if they know nothing about the artist. I don't think it would be anything of value to the music it represents. 2/10
