Feelings.  Metal fans aren’t supposed to have them.  Especially Black Metal fans.  That’s not kvlt.  That’s for total panty waists that drive their dad’s Audi to the mall so they can hang out at Hot Topic.   This is the typical conversation that comes up when someone decides to bring up Deafheaven into black metal circles.  They aren’t black metal because they have post rock/shoegaze stylings.  They aren’t alternative because they have vocals like Mayhem mixed with Cradle of Filth and blast beats.  It’s a conversation that will never end because most metal heads like to bitch and whine about everything.  Deafheaven's critical breakthrough from 2013, Sunbather, was as loved as it was loathed across the board for the exact things stated above.  The cover was even pink for fucks sakes.  Music fans tend to complain when bands don’t break out and do something new within their respective genre’s, yet for some reason most metal heads can’t stand evolution.  Stagnation and repetition seems to be the de facto stance on bands that establish themselves with a style.  Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I LOVE Deafheaven.  While I am a black Metal fan, I have to admit that I have been looking for a time when the genre would start to really stretch it’s wings beyond what it’s been for a while now. Thankfully, with Sunbather and now New Bermuda, I have that band I’ve been waiting for in Deafheaven.  I get the feels and I don’t give a fuck if you know about it!!!

 

Deafheaven’s first couple records, Sunbather and Roads to Judah took the typical drone and dissonance of typical black metal and melded it with quiet breaks filled with melody and melancholy.  These things in my mind seemed to fit the genre well from an aesthetic and sonic standpoint even if thematically it broke form the satanic or nordic mold.  Grand songs that felt so textured and dense that they enveloped the listener.  Fans of bands such as Sigur Ros, or more appropriately here, Mogwai will understand the breakdowns and hypnotic drone of clean guitars and pianos that usually breakdown Deafheaven songs.  They give atmosphere.  They give levity.  They give context to the near constant pounding.  On New Bermuda, more than the past Deafheaven records, the boys decide that breaking those elements up into their own songs isn’t necessary as much anymore.  Here the songs breath more, making the varying elements work better in my mind than in the past.  The songs are also far more accessible immediately than in the past.  

 

With New Bermuda, Deafheaven stated they were gonna go with more thrash than on Sunbather.  Well, it’s obvious on the first track Brought to the Water  that they did do just that.  After a thunderous opening with huge bells not unlike Slayer’s Raining Blood, they bust into a typical Black Metal grind that breaks into a very thrashy verse riff. Now don’t mistake this for the boys deciding that they are now the next Megadeth or anything, as this is Deafheaven’s version of thrash.  Through out the record there are splashes of more head noddy thrash, but most of it is still tremolo picked, reverb drenched black metal. All they’ve done here is add a new element to the mix.  Luna has a tasty riff to start out the track and Baby Blue has a very syncopated breakdown that builds into a heavy ass driving durge.  Don’t mistake all the slow mellow stuff as this not bringing the goods.  It’s hard to deny that there is some pretty damn heavy shit on this record, even if your typical metal head will never admit to you that they are banging their head to Emo Black Metal.  The only hiccup on the record that most metal heads will scoff at is the final track, Gifts for the Earth.  It mostly consists of clean guitars.  If that scares you and makes you feel like you are gonna have the feels, then skip it, but I wouldn’t recommend you do so because it’s a great comedown ending to this record.  

 

If you were a fan of Sunbather, there is much here to hang your hat on. Some of the structure of the album is similar, but it’s a much shorter, more to the point record and the ebb and flow feels better than ever.  Tracking at only 47 minutes and 5 songs, this record gets to the point and the songs are all the better for it.  If Sunbather was the blueprint for what Deafheaven was to the masses, New Bermuda is their answer to what’s next for this new subgenre.  If you weren’t a fan before, there’s nothing here that’s gonna change your stance.  They are the band everyone will look to now.  The balls in their court and they have me listening with full attention.  New Bermuda is an amazing record from a band that are in their prime and taking advantage of it.