Last year’s Deafheaven record, Sunbather, sprung the San Francisco-based band not only to a position of increased commercial success, but also further into the limelight as one of today’s most ambitious cross-genre artists. Combining black metal with waves of shoegaze, the band enable themselves to produce ethereal soundscapes which black metal as a general rule is unable to achieve, causing Pitchfork to note in their review how it is ‘one of the most successful examples of a band using black metal as a starting point and ending up somewhere else entirely.’ The debates over the authenticity of Deafheaven’s right to qualify as a black metal band continue, but the impact Sunbather had is impossible to unfold, ending the year in many ‘best of lists.’
As a way of return, Deafheaven have decided to release ‘’From The Kettle Onto The Coil’’ as part of the Adult Swim Series. The track features the same components as Sunbather, but is decidedly more direct and standing at six minutes thirty six seconds. George Clarke’s vocals tear through Kerry McCoy’s distorted guitars, before the latter delves into a series of solo’s and frantic tremolo to draw a moment of Deafheaven-style serenity, before doing the obvious and blowing the whole thing up again. It’s a lesson in how contrasts can be complimentary, even beautiful, if deployed correctly, a skill Deafheaven are becoming increasingly adept at. Clarke explained in an interview with Clash, how the track isn’t indicative of where the band are going forward, but is to be seen as part of the Sunbather writing era. This may be true, but it is in every respect a step forward for the band, a further signal intent on their behalf that last year’s record is only the beginning of what they have to offer.
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http://www.adultswim.com/music/singles-2014/