LIVE REVIEW: Deafheaven & Touché Amoré @ SWX, Bristol
This evening, the well respected SWX is graced by the presence of three artists: PORTRAYAL OF GUILT, TOUCHÉ AMORÉ and DEAFHEAVEN. A strong line-up, unquestionably. The audience is bound to be a mix-and-match of characters. Ranging from hardcore/pop punk kids, with their point-and-run antics, to extreme metal elitists, clad in black and beards, and of course – hipsters who have been told that DEAFHEAVEN are cool by Pitchfork and TheNeedleDrop, and felt obligated to buy a ticket.
PORTRAYAL OF GUILT enter the stage to a barrage of noise, preceded by a discernable beat, playing through the speakers. Almost deafeningly loud, louder than the band themselves, this audible vignette, as well as those that will succeed it, set the crowd on edge. The band are poised under moody purple lights, and with an abrupt stick count from the drummer, the first song is unleashed. Ripping through the tension in the air comes the high pitched shrieking, blasting drums and gatling riffs. The music is very exciting. Every song is preceded with ambient sounds, or collages of noise played through the speaker. The songs end so abruptly, and are often so short, that the audience mistake these ambient interludes as being part of the song they have just heard. As a result, some of the most impressive tracks in the setlist go unapplauded.
The band occasionally dip and weave into cleaner, more melodic instrumental passages. There’s always a retention of macabre, sinister intent with everything that they do. The band’s colour palette is undeniably black and grey, and maybe a splatter of red. They fit a certain mood, and emotion, and are a good addition to this touring line up, but they may be lost on some, especially the hardcore kids who came for TOUCHÉ AMORÉ. PORTRAYAL OF GUILT’s musicianship and chemistry is formidable, and very impressive. It’s evident they’ve played together for a long time. The jaggedness of their constant stopping-and-starting motion takes a little getting used to, but comes with a noticeable pay off.
They don’t give away any of their song titles, and speak only to give their name, and thank the other bands for taking them on tour, and the audience for coming out. There’s no issue with this lack of communication with the audience, not every band needs it, however, it would have been nice to have known what some of the tracks were called. Never underestimate the apathy of a live music crowd. You’ve gotta give them every single reason and resource to go and listen to your music on their own time when you’re up there.
Rating: 6/10
Of all the great bands writing this kind of music, including LA DISPUTE, BASEMENT, CITIZEN, DEFEATER and so forth, it’s considerable that TOUCHÉ AMORÉ certainly hold up the weight of the team a lot of the time. It could be argued that they’ve never actually made a bad or even sub-par record, in fact. A feat which a lot of the late 00’s emotional/melodic hardcore bands couldn’t pull off. Moreover, they never appear to lose touch with their live audiences, and this tour with DEAFHEAVEN is no different.
The band are playing a mammoth setlist of 23 songs tonight, including their debut album …To the Beat of a Dead Horse in its entirety. The band cut the pretense, and come on stage tuning and checking their own guitars, a sight that’s refreshing in any event. The polyrhythmic clapping that so famously starts off And Now It’s Happening in Mine, fills the room, at vocalist Jeremy Bolm’s command.
The longest song on the whole record is just shy of two-and-a-half minutes, so the band are getting through the songs with urgency. The songs soak into each other like blood through a plaster, and the crowd can’t catch their breath. During Throwing Copper, Bolm has escaped the stage, and surfing the front rows of the crowd, to meet in the middle with an enthusiastic fan, as they sing together atop the slew of bodies, lapping like a stream beneath them. Then, Bolm disappears completely into the audience, and the microphone duties are being adopted by whatever rabid fan can get their hands on the SM58, as it gets passed around like a joint behind the bikesheds.
Bolm makes an impassioned statement about how much the band enjoy touring with bill partners DEAFHEAVEN, and makes a point of being self-aware of how it often sounds insincere when bands say this kind of thing on stage, and is adamant that this is different, and that comes across in his words. The band wrap up the album, and move on to other songs from across their discography, including Amends, New Halloween and Is Survived By. The band’s energy doesn’t cease for a moment, and now more of the casual listeners in the crowd are joining in with the fun, as they’re hearing songs they recognise. Holm’s voice sound like it’s starting to wear a little bit, especially when he addresses the audience, but somehow he pulls off every track despite this.
A moving, heartfelt and possibly understated performance of Skyscraper changes gears for just a glimpse. The live version is infinitely more enjoyable than the studio version, though it is lacking the inclusion of one Julien Baker. Regardless, this performance appears to go mostly unnoticed by the excitable crowd, but it is certainly affecting for those that paid proper attention.
Naturally, the band close with what is arguably their most notable hit ~. The entire floor comes alive once again, a flurry of bodies contort and gracelessly twirl through the air, on a torrent of tired hands. From the stage to the back door and the smoking area, SWX is filled with the chanting of a myriad of voices, all paying homage to this formidable, and incredible band, who just tackled 23 songs and made it look like a cake walk.
Rating: 7/10
The same backdrop, featuring art from the official tour poster, has been projected since PORTRAYAL OF GUILT exited the stage. A vibrant pink rectangle, with a contrasting yellow spill of liquid strewn across it. It is dizzying, and possibly by intention. As DEAFHEAVEN return from last minute high-fives backstage, they leave no one in the room ambivalent (for better or worse) as they open with latest single Black Brick. Acclaimed by many, for it’s more conventional use of heavy metal riffing, juxtaposed with the band’s usual, idiosyncratic approach to the genre and its ‘rules’. The song is a strong opener, but fails to highlight all of the band’s different personalities to anyone in the audience that may be unconvinced. Namely, of course, the hardcore kids.
To be concerned with the opinions of others is no distance too far from death by way of natural causes. Inexplicably human and unavoidable, but death all the same. Occasionally, there are bands, artists, songs, albums or shows that strip the individual of their neurosis, and hyper-awareness all but entirely. Enough so as to actually absorb the music for what it actually is. DEAFHEAVEN at the SWX is one of those shows.
The cascade of green, red, blue and purple lights clashes violently with the backdrop projection, and is something of a nauseating headache. Genius. The band’s set consists of six songs. They are woven into one another, with minimal talking or crowd interaction in between. From Honeycomb to the end of Canary Yellow, there is a tangible loss of time. Somewhere between the tremolo picked guitars, uttering beautiful, complex chords, and the urgent but always nuanced drumming of Daniel Tracy, the minutes become hours become days become hours and back and forth.
Black metal by its very nature is subversive of expectation. Often people associate it solitarily with the wave of violent crime and religion oriented arson that took place in Scandinavia, towards the end of the last century. What is forgotten is the compositional acumen and musicological importance of the genre. In part, this is a result of rampant elitism within the target audience itself. Black metal is an incredibly complex set of ideals, standards and subversions put into practice, borne of the underground music movements that sprouted up worldwide in the aftermath of punk. Where American death metal sought to be warmer, richer, thicker and bigger, Scandinavian black metal sought to be colder, poorer, thinner and smaller.
While DEAFHEAVEN embrace much more modern, cleaner production values than their musical ancestors, they maintain a distinct level of discipline in their songwriting. Of course, renowned for their fusion of all things, we are not subjected solely to tremolo picking, blasting beating and shrieking, as the setlist is bullet pointed by clean, dynamic and ambient instrumental passages. Often times, the goal of good black metal is to be isolatory, atmospheric and above all: transcendent. There are no mosh pits on the dance floor. There are many stood swaying and twitching, eyes closed, bathed in synthetic stage lighting. People brush by and interrupt the ‘zen’ state, as a reminder of one’s surroundings, but ultimately, there are many here that are exiting themselves, and unbound by time. This is conditional of DEAFHEAVEN’s authentic and heartfelt performance.
Guitarist Kerry McCoy starts Worthless Animal with the opening chords to RADIOHEAD’s Subterranean Homesick Alien and once again, the whole song feels as if though it’s over before it’s begun, yet lasted for an eternity. In the closing moments, from the back of the room, the five figures on stage become silhouettes of themselves against the vibrant backdrop. There is nothing to clearly define them as themselves, they are just Rorschach shapes spasming wildy against pink and yellow. Dream House shuts up all the naysayers, puts all the fires out, and opens the door to another day. If you haven’t seen DEAFHEAVEN live, do.
Rating: 8/10
Check out our photo gallery from the night’s action in Bristol from Normandy Photography here:
