Deafheaven - At Work In The Fields Of the Bomb EP REview
Deafheaven push further into black metal on a three-track EP whose intricate songwriting matches its ferocity.
Last week, modern blackgaze pioneers Deafheaven graced us with a surprise EP. In a recent interview with Spanish outlet Binaural, guitarist and founding member Kerry McCoy teased fans with information about an EP they hoped to release later in the year, describing it as their heaviest music to date. For people familiar with the relentless ferocity of Deafheaven’s most recent (and critically acclaimed) record Lonely People With Power, that was quite the lead pitch. After finally listening to At Work In The Fields Of The Bomb, McCoy was not exaggerating.
That being said, anyone familiar with heavy music genres will be aware that ‘heavier’ does not always equal ‘better’. As a young metal fan, cohabiting a genre riddled with copycat acts and trend-followers, I learned to translate ‘our heaviest work yet’ as an artist’s admission of defeat in their attempt to evolve past their debut project’s sound and audience, and an unexcited return to their already tired original style.
However, in the case of Deafheaven, one of heavy music’s most thoughtful, creative and innovative exports, you need not worry as you do with other acts. While only 23 minutes long and consisting of two songs and an interlude, this record sees the band continuing to prove their ability to tell a story through their work, to embrace black metal tradition on their own terms, while recontextualising and building upon it.
The project opens explosively with ‘Hunter’, engulfing you with a haze of ferocious blastbeats, tremolo picking and blood-curdling screams from vocalist George Clarke. This song sees the band fully embody their black metal influences, with tasteful injections of classic metalcore (à la Converge) at certain moments to provide contrast and balance. Despite its 7-minute runtime it goes by in a flash, jumping expertly from one time signature to another, one style to the next, with no motif or idea overstaying its welcome. It’s a masterclass in song structure and artistry, effortlessly combining different styles and genres one after another to where their proximity to each other feels obvious and inevitable. I’ll be honest, it’s already one of my favourites from the band.
The ambient blackgaze sonic landscapes Deafheaven were instrumental in popularising are at a minimum on this project, but that does not come at a cost of atmosphere. Instead they embrace more symphonic influences to great effect, combining that with a hypnotic wall of distortion that envelops you entirely. This is a textbook case study of black metal at its most cathartic and immersive, a feeling I believe this genre does better than any other.
The record also shows how the San Francisco quintet have grown as musicians. Like in Lonely People they prove once again that they are some of the best songwriters of the metal scene, combining harrowingly poetic lyrics with impeccable structure, getting the most out of every idea and organising them with great care. This results in a project and songs which feel lively, unpredictable and emotional, contrasting intensity with unsettling beauty, curating an immersive, powerful listening experience.
The second song (well, interlude really), ‘Three Princes’, is an example of this. With both ‘Hunter’ and ‘Sorry Laid The Hearth’ as intense as they are (albeit different flavours), the gloomy atmospheric break is welcome, both setting the scene for what comes next, and also providing a moment for you to catch a break and recoup before the next round. As someone who tends to find instrumental interludes a little wearisome and overplayed, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed and appreciated its presence.
The next and final song, ‘Sorry Laid The Hearth’, opens the final act with despondent open strings, like a demonic church bell’s call to worship. Somehow more nihilistic in tone and message than ‘Hunter’ and nearly double its runtime, it yet again does not feel it at all. It is both mesmerising and expansive while also mirroring that space with tremendously vicious blastbeats and screams which close around you, swallowing you whole.
After a beautifully eerie clean instrumental phase at the middle mark of the song, there begins a guttural and slow-tempo movement, which slowly over 4 minutes devolves into a pit of dissonant despair, as if the song and its creators are tearing themselves apart at the seams, until there is nothing left but the expanse it inhabited.
It may be obvious at this point, but I loved this project. It proves to us what many of us already knew post Deafheaven’s last album, which is that they are at the top of their game, releasing some of their greatest music to date, and nobody else of a similar position in their world can really match them. If I had to nitpick the project, I do think the mix and tone are not to the level of their previous album, and feel its guitar tones and mastering of the different instruments do mean it feels a bit more flat with less air to breathe. That is not to say it sounds bad at all, as Lonely People With Power is one of the best modern metal records I have ever heard, and it is only slightly deficient in this area. It is still better sounding, better balanced and more immersive than the vast majority of metal projects these days.
The only other critique I can level at this EP is that it’s too short! Only 2 proper songs and an interlude is a shame. However, it is clear the band chose quality over quantity, and quality is what they delivered in spades. This feels like one third of an amazing album, and I’d much prefer to leave an EP wanting more than wanting to skip. It does what you hope from an EP, leaving you excited at the direction the artist is going, and impatient to experience that next chapter.