REVIEW

The sixth album from US California-based blackgaze/post-black metal band Deafheaven.

Formed in San Francisco in 2010, Deafheaven has established itself as one of the most prominent acts in the blackgaze movement, fusing black metal intensity with shoegaze atmospherics. Their 2013 sophomore album “Sunbather” received widespread critical acclaim across major music publications, expanding the band’s influence globally and securing its status alongside Alcest’s “Souvenirs d’un Autre Monde” as a defining work of the genre.

The band currently operates as a five-piece featuring George Clarke (vocals), Kerry McCoy (guitar), Daniel Tracy (drums), Chris Johnson (bass), and Shiv Mehra (guitar). While their sound has continuously evolved across releases, a pivotal shift came with their fifth album “Infinite Granite” (2021), which foregrounded dreamy textures and clean vocals, steering away from their earlier black metal foundation. The record divided long-time listeners, yet simultaneously expanded their reach into shoegaze and dream pop audiences.

“Lonely People with Power” marks a recalibration of that trajectory, reintroducing black metal elements while balancing screams and clean vocals, aggression and silence, noise and melody with refined precision. The result is a work that feels like a culmination of their career to date.

Structured with the interludes titled “Incidental” as structural anchors, the album unfolds in a three-part cinematic arc. The first section interweaves beauty and violence, the middle descends into darker, more corrosive impulses, and the final stretch resolves into emotional elevation, creating a film-like sense of progression.

Track lengths are generally tightened to around five minutes, enhancing immediacy without sacrificing immersion. Recorded with all members performing simultaneously in the same room, the album also carries a heightened sense of physical presence and live tension, giving the production a more visceral edge.

#2 “Doberman” erupts with blast beats and feral screams, while melancholic walls of guitar tone cut through the chaos, distilling the band’s signature duality. #3 “Magnolia” reclaims the heavier, darker energy of “New Bermuda,” unfolding with relentless speed and impact. It was met with strong reactions upon release, particularly from listeners aligned with the band’s earlier extreme metal direction.

#4 “The Garden Route” introduces a more dynamic contrast between delicate clean tones and dense guitar passages, leaning into post-rock and post-metal structures. #5 “Heathen” functions as a continuation of the “Infinite Granite” aesthetic, with George Clarke’s clean vocals taking a more prominent role before shifting into screams and full-blown blast-driven intensity in its final section, showcasing increased vocal maturity.

#6 “Amethyst” channels a more pastoral, Alcest-like blackgaze sensibility with waltz-like melodic phrasing, underpinned by notably powerful drumming. The first arc as a whole encapsulates multiple facets of the band’s evolution through distinct stylistic shifts.

#7 “Incidental II (feat. Jae Matthews)” introduces a drone-like unease, with Boy Harsher’s Jae Matthews delivering a spectral spoken-word performance. As noise surges and distorted screams surface, the atmosphere collapses into a disquieting intensity reminiscent of the unease found in Ethel Cain’s “Perverts”.

#8 “Revelator” leans fully into raw black metal aggression, driven by unrelenting blast beats and serrated tremolo riffs. #9 “Body Behavior” pivots toward a post-punk-inflected groove, where melodic guitar lines ride over a driving rhythmic foundation, with blasts deployed as sharp accents in the chorus.

#10 “Incidental III (feat. Paul Banks)” features spoken-word contributions from Interpol’s Paul Banks, functioning as a transitional passage into the final movement of the record.

#11 “Winona” opens quietly before unfolding into luminous, “Sunbather”-esque melodic release, evoking a sense of clarity and emotional uplift. The closing track #12 “The Marvelous Orange Tree” merges dense walls of sound with soaring clean vocals, culminating in a cathartic resolution that feels both expansive and conclusive.

“Lonely People with Power” integrates the bleakness of their black metal roots, the emotional intensity of “Sunbather,” and the ethereal aesthetics of “Infinite Granite,” binding them into a tightly executed, career-defining statement. It stands as a crucial reference point for understanding both Deafheaven’s current artistic position and the broader state of blackgaze.