ALBUM REVIEW: Infinite Granite – Deafheaven

That DEAFHEAVEN have been the target of some derision over the years goes without saying. What does need saying, though, is just how little it’s fazed them. Since breaking out with 2013’s Sunbather, the band have steadily progressed and pushed their sound from its already interesting major key blackgaze roots. Despite this, and the left turns taken on previous album Ordinary Corrupt Human Love, there really was no preparing for the massive stylistic left turn they’ve taken on their latest opus Infinite Granite. 

Almost entirely gone is the blackened fury, though the esotericism remains. Instead of continuing on as they have before, they’ve done the most DEAFHEAVEN thing imaginable and made a post-rock, shoegaze album. Opener Shellstar is serene, with swirling guitar passages and soaring choruses, ending with whispered spoken word moments amongst the swirling calm. While it initially seems like a huge leap, though, the shoegaze flourishes that were already present on Sunbather, for instance, have instead been fleshed out into full songs without losing their emotional impact. 

In Blur follows much in the same vein, painting with broad strokes and washes of guitar work with crooning vocals; it’s with Great Mass Of Colour that we’re treated to perhaps the most anthemic song of the album – matched perhaps only by The Gnashing – along with one of the very sparse blackened screams of the album. It’s not used without purpose, though. The ebb and flow of the song between verses and chorus crescendo gradually until it all comes to a head as a guitar motif is repeated with more urgency and the screams make their appearance. They don’t feel at all out of place, either, instead accentuating the song and further strengthening the emotional gut punch of such a pay off. 

The aforementioned The Gnashing is similar in scope, the more simple verse-chorus structure belying the band’s grandiose ambitions. While these are the most immediate songs by some way, others reveal themselves more gradually. Take the midway Lament For Wasps; its soft, crooning opening leads into a stirring chorus as the song builds into a guitar break. In an album full of bold moments, this song stands tall amongst them. 

This is almost certainly going to be a divisive album; some that derided the band for “not being black metal enough” will likely feel vindicated, while those that defended them from such accusations could feel let down by the swing away from such blackened pastures. Ultimately, though, this album isn’t for them. Infinite Granite is first and foremost an album made by DEAFHEAVEN for themselves; an album they needed to make to satisfy their own experimental leanings and creativity. In regards to that particular criteria, it’s wildly successful.

It would’ve been so easy to make Sunbather Part Two, Three, and so on and so forth, but that simply isn’t who DEAFHEAVEN are. Instead, they’ve crafted an album that takes those post-rock and shoegaze moments and leans fully into them, crafting an adventurous album that may not be as immediate as predecessors but is packed with minute details that reward repeated listens. This is a bold, adventurous step into new pastures that still fundamentally feels like a DEAFHEAVEN album, and for that they deserve acclaim. 

Rating: 8/10

Infinite Granite is set for release on August 20th via Sargent House. 

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