San Franciscan black metal outfit Deafheaven have been garnering high praise following the release of their sophomore album Sunbather in June.
Scoring a formidable 8.9 on Pitchfork and making Tone Deaf’s own Top 15 Albums of 2013 You Might Have Missed list, the response to the outstanding record is greater than vocalist George Clarke could have anticipated.
“For it to receive this much critical acclaim and so forth is very surprising. It’s hard to gauge success, but we’ve definitely been very appreciative of all the support so far,” he said.
While the record has been hailed as a resounding triumph, it did not come about easily.
“Releasing the record was, for us, an accomplishment in itself because we‘d put a lot of work into it and a lot of time,” the singer admitted.
The humble, well-spoken young man would seem at odds with the one responsible for the intense screaming that pervades Deafheaven’s sound, however this dichotomy demonstrates the incredible depth of both Clarke and his group’s music.
This musical style has taken time to develop. While Deafheaven’s 2011 debut LP Roads To Judah showed signs of how good the group could be, it lacked the cohesiveness and complexity of its successor.
Clarke puts this improvement down to “time and practice”.
“I think that we’ve just matured as musicians. When we wrote Roads To Judah we hadn’t been a band for too long. This time around we were able to take some time writing the songs and utilise a lot more focus.”
“It’s hard to gauge success, but we’ve definitely been very appreciative of all the support so far”This songwriting process involves Clarke working in collaboration with fellow founding member, Kerry McCoy.
“Kerry will normally come up with a riff and then we’ll bounce ideas off each other and figure out what we want to do with it and it just grows from there. Then eventually we’ll have multiple riffs. Then the hard part is fitting them all together and making it all work in a cohesive way,” the songwriter explained.
Clarke and McCoy, who live together in San Francisco, were joined on the album by new drummer Dan Tracy. Tracy was introduced to the pair by their housemate, whose band had toured with Tracy’s other group Creepers.
“We ended up getting along really well. He’s a good guy so it worked out well. He definitely brought his own skills to the table, which was excellent.”.
Line-up changes have plagued Deafheaven’s career, but not according to Clarke.
“This is a solid line-up. I think one of the biggest accomplishments for us this year was really solidifying players that have brought a lot to the table.”
Clarke and McCoy, on the other hand, have a long history together. “We first met when we were 14,” he explained. “We didn’t start playing music together until we were around 18, but we’ve been good friends for a really long time.”
The pair formed the initial permutation of Deafheaven in their hometown of Modesto in Northern California before moving to nearby San Francisco.
“We’ve been best friends for a long time now. I think music is probably our strongest common bond, but at this time it’s everything. We’re more like family.”
According to Clarke, the duo has had a long-standing shared appetite for music.
“He showed me who Dead Kennedys were and I showed him who Slayer were. He showed me who The Smiths were,” the Californian recalled. “Then, when we got older, we both got into post-rock and a lot of instrumental music, black metal, and death metal, and we were constantly emailing each other links to bands or showing each other new records.”
All of these influences can be heard on Sunbather, and the wide range of genres referenced adds to the record’s strength.
In particular, Clarke’s screamed vocals evoke classic black metal acts such as Emperor and Burzum.
“With the style of music that we play the vocal style is there to really display the intensity of the emotion and to add to the intensity of the music,” explained the metaller.
“It’s really about getting through to people that what we’re talking about should be handled at that level of intensity.”
While the vocals are generally incomprehensible, a read through of Sunbather’s lyrics reveals the songwriter’s talent as well as the deeply personal concepts and emotions behind the album.
“We’ve been best friends for a long time now. I think music is probably our strongest common bond”“There are certain parts that are a little soul-bearing [and they] are a little intense to look back on. But overall Deafheaven is meant to be very honest and that’s just part of what we do. It wouldn’t feel right to talk about things that weren’t very personal.”
Deafheaven’s lyrical and musical themes are also relevant to their audience.
“I think we talk about things that people are very familiar with. I like that. I think it’s interesting when people are able to relate to what we’re talking about.”
Australian audiences will have a chance to connect with the metal band when they make their first trip to our shores early in the New Year, a prospect that Clarke admits he is “really excited about”.
“It’s going to be quite a ride, but I’m stoked for it,” he said of the whirlwind Australian Tour, which will see the group play in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, and Perth on four consecutive nights.
“I think we’re going to try to stay a couple of extra days too and hopefully utilise the [limited] time as much as possible.”
The tour marks the beginning of another busy period for the group. “We have a US tour in February and March and then we may be doing Japan in April and May,and hopefully more of Asia. Then back to Europe and back to the US and so on and so forth…we’re going to be pretty busy next year.”
With all this touring, there won’t be a great deal of time for writing new Deafheaven material. “We’re always kind of writing here and there, just jamming on certain things, but there’s no real plans for writing right now.”
“Hopefully by the end of next year we’ll sit down and discuss where we want to go in terms of new material.”
Fans may therefore have to wait some time for the next Deafheaven record, but if the quality of Sunbather is anything to go by, it may be worth the wait.
Deafheaven Australian Tour 2014
January 8th – Brisbane – Crowbar
tickets on sale now from lifeisnoise.com, oztix and the venue
January 9th – Sydney – The Annandale Hotel – Sydney
tickets on sale now from lifeisnoise.com, oztix and the venue
January 10th – Melbourne – The Corner – Melbourne
tickets on sale now from lifeisnoise.com, oztix and the venue
January 11th – Perth – The Rosemount Hotel
tickets on sale now from lifeisnoise.com, heatseeker, oztix and the venue
