Deafheaven’s New Song is Even Better Than Your “Dream House”

Deafheaven released a new track while I was out of the Mansion last week and, though late, I’d be remiss if I didn’t post about it now. It’s that good.

If you’ve ever listened to Deafheaven before you will immediately notice that “Dream House” is way better produced than anything the band’s done prior, and quite frankly I’m blown away by it. The melodies on 2011’s Roads to Judah were cool and all, but the fact that the album sounded like it was recorded in a tin can inside Varg Vikernes’ bunghole made it hard to listen to. Not the case here: the sonics are big, booming and clear, with multi-layered atmospheric guitars, thunderous drums and raspy, shrieked vocals that cut through the mix. The band has stepped it up harmonically, too; this 9-minute epic lives entirely in a conquering, triumphant major key. The track retains trace elements of black metal, but it’s closer to atmospheric post-rock jawns like If These Trees Could Talk or Constants than it is, say, Nachtmystium. It’s almost like if Cloudkicker decided to incorporate a black metal element into his music. Put another way: it’s fucking awesome.

Stream “Dream House” at NPR. Sunbather comes out June 11th via Deathwish.