DEAFHEAVEN

DEAFHEAVEN have announced three shows in California in June all with Russian Circles and from Belfast And So I Watch You From Afar. 

June 27th – Sacramento, CA – Harlow’s
June 28th – San Francisco, CA -Great American Music Hall
June 29th – Los Angeles, CA -The El Rey Theater also w/ Chelsea Wolfe

See show details HERE

Although San Francisco-based band Deafheaven only formed in early 2010, it has stormed the musical world by force, in short order signing with Deathwish, Inc. and releasing an impressive, if sometimes imposing, debut album, Roads To Judah, in 2011.  Songwriter and vocalist George Clarke and guitarist Kerry McCoy form the core of the band, which is rounded out by Joey Bautista on guitar, Derek Prine on bass, and newest member Korey Severson on drums.  George took a brief timeout from the band’s seemingly-endless touring schedule, possibly in the middle of a jaunt to Germany, to report on the latest developments of Deafheaven.

Hi George!  Your album Roads To Judah is composed of 4 epically long and involving songs and it blew me away with its combination of melody and aggression.  I love how you mix the sublime with the ferocious, with glorious guitar frisson that reaches for the heavens amid a brutal assault of rapid-fire drumbeats and your viciously roaring vocals.
Thanks, we appreciate that.

You and Kerry formed Deafheaven in 2010 after being in another band together.  How did you know you were both on the same page musically with Deafheaven?
We’ve been friends for a long time and always had similar tastes in music. When it came to forming Deafheaven, we just brainstormed a few ideas and threw them together as we wanted. The whole writing process happened very naturally.

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russiancircles:

When the band I play in, Russian Circles, announced our European tour with Deafheaven for Spring 2012, Grant Brissey asked me to write a tour diary chronicling our trip. I was a little hesitant at first. For one thing, I’ve typically tried to keep my band business separate from my music writing. Additionally, my bandmates aren’t the kind of people that want all their day-to-day business made public. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that most tour documentaries and diaries focus on either the luxuries of wildly successful artists or the trials and tribulations of struggling acts. There aren’t a lot of stories of financially sustainable working bands out there. Presumably, that’s because our stories aren’t particularly interesting. We’ve figured out how to tour in a manner where things are relatively stress-free and efficient. We aren’t partiers. There’s no cocaine or groupies in the green room. We sleep in hotels and travel in vans. I can’t promise this will be particularly insightful or even remotely honest. But this is how we roll.

Seattle to Chicago to London to Prague

My flight itinerary is SeaTac to Chicago to London to Prague. I leave Seattle at noon on April 2nd. We’re scheduled to get into Prague early afternoon the next day. The rest of the band lives in Chicago, and I meet up with them at my layover at O’Hare. The last time I flew out of O’Hare, three separate strangers asked if I was a DJ. Not wanting to get caught up in those conversations again, I choose a seat at the gate next to a guy that looks like Wayne Coyne, figuring he’s less likely to ask me dumb questions.

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Deafheaven live video promo featuring the track Unrequited, from the Pitchfork “Show No Mercy” day party at ND Studios on March 14, 2012.

What’s the current situation with North American Black Metal? To answer that question we should probably turn our attention to California, which seems to be the creative epicenter for extreme music collectives with leanings toward this genre. Take for example Cormorant, Abigail Williams and the relatively new Deafheaven, whose Deathwish Records’ debut Roads To Judah announces the birth of one of the most arresting American bands in recent times.

Stylistically, Roads To Judah is a four song monolith that sounds like many things you probably - at least incidentally - have listened to before: old school Scandinavian Black Metal, Shoegaze, Post Rock, Screamo, Indie Rock, etc. However, it’s in the marriage of these apparent dissimilar genres that this quintet finds its true and unique voice. The resulting sound can only be described as a musical match created on the borderline of heaven and hell. Every song is an epic on its own right and a genuine roller coaster of contrasting moods and emotions. Although all tracks basically maintain the same flow, “Violet” and “The Tunnel Of Trees” become the most sonically ambitious in terms of length and scope. These compositions combine ethereal textures with the blistering attack of blast beats, vertiginous pseudo melodic riffing and distorted cathartic vocals. It’s really impressive how this band is capable of evoking early-day Emperor, Radiohead and many others on the same song, without sacrificing class or originality.

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Alcest played Public Assembly in Brooklyn on Saturday (3/31) with support from Los Angeles’ Deafheaven and New York’s Vaura. It was Alcest’s first NYC appearance since their tour with Enslaved last September, following the release of Alcest’s Les Voyages de l’Âme, the band’s third full-length and next step in the meandering evolution of their ethereal/shoegaze/post-black metal.

The show was sold out, and Fred Pessaro (BBG) from Brooklyn Vegan deejayed a set of thrash, punk, death, grind, hardcore, and black metal to get things going. I’m pretty sure it was the only time I’ve heard Inquisition’s “Command of the Dark Crown” played as part of a DJ set. That’s awesome.

…Deafheaven were next and absolutely killed it. The frontman was goddamn electrifying. He furiously belted out his lyrics, taking breaks to cover his face with his forearm in pained exasperation, and frequently stood on top of a couple of gear cases he had stacked up to dangle the mic stand above the crowd. The crowd reacted enthusiastically and began to mosh (see pics below)- something that didn’t happen for any other band that night. They played most of their debut  Roads to Judah, and were flawless in execution. Deafheaven is a must see band.


Read Full Live Report & Photo Gallery: Alcest, Deafheaven, Vaura in NYC

Maybe it’s just me, but there’s a concept inherent in the term “demo,” isn’t there? Kind of a universal thing, where the simple definition of what a demo is serves as a descriptor, or even a warning, as to the quality of music you’ll find within. See, the whole idea is that a demo works as a rough draft, or a blueprint, that bands use to cobble together ideas that may eventually end up on an album, or to showcase their talents for a potential label. You don’t pay through the nose for a demo – you record it yourself, as best you can, in the hopes that you’ll get some sort of financial backing to realize the full potential in a real studio with a real producer. These days, even with home-recording equipment better, cheaper, and more readily available than it was as little as ten years ago, you’ve gotta have a pretty good understanding of what you’re doing even if you’re in a garage rock band who simply needs its inputs cranked to the red to get the desired sound – let alone if you’re in a technical metal band.

And that’s where Deafheaven enters the picture – with a demo that’s more “demo” than actual demo, and, just to let me confuse you a little more, is called Demo. What does this mean? It means that the San Francisco band (a quintet now, although at the time of Demo’s recording and release they were a duo comprised of George Clarke and Kerry McCoy) pretty much emerged fully formed, and made a mockery of the whole demo policy with a recording that’s so good, I recommend it here without reservation as the definitive place to start for the band. I say this knowing full well that Roads to Judah, the band’s debut full-length, is even better. So there.

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Deafheaven’s George Clarke and Kerry McCoy talk about how they formed and discovered their sound, how they write their music, signing to Deathwish, their favorite parts of being in a band, their upcoming first full-length and more. Watch an exclusive live clip of the band shot at SXSW at this [link]

Russian Circles & Deafheaven European Tour Poster - big thanks to Xavi at Error Design for making this.

SEE ALL DEAFHEAVEN SHOWS &  DETAILS

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The United States black metal scene is arguably one of the most vibrant ones today – not just in metal, but in music as a whole. Multiple bands have moved far beyond the initial confines of the genre, taking elements from the Norwegian pioneers and mixing them with elements of post-rock and shoegaze to create a very different beast from the corpse-painted anthems of the early 1990s. And few bands have been turning as many heads as Deafheaven has over the past couple years.

Originally formed in 2010 in San Francisco, Deafheaven‘s demo was well-received across the Internet, and they began playing shows soon after. They later signed with Deathwish Inc., the label founded and owned by Converge lead singer Jacob Bannon. Their debut album Roads to Judah was released in 2011 to wide critical acclaim, mixing influences from black metal, post-rock, and melodic hardcore to create a uniquely gripping work of stark emotional power.

I was lucky enough to meet George Clarke and Kerry McCoy, the vocalist and guitarist at the core of Deafheaven on March 31st, where they played a set at Public Assembly in Brooklyn, NY opening for Alcest on their ongoing North American tour. We discussed the feelings of being a new band in the limelight, the many influences they brought to the table (musical and otherwise), and what’s next for the band in the interview below.

You can listen to Deafheaven‘s 2010 demo  and 2011’s Roads To Judah on their Bandcamp. Or it can be purchased on CD, and on vinyl along with assorted merchandise at the Deathwish eStore.  -Sam

MB: Despite your recent surge in popularity in the music underground, Deafheaven is still relatively obscure. How would you describe your sound to those who aren’t familiar with the band?

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