Deafheaven is by no means the first metal band to combine the delicate and the brutal, but by god, the group wins the prize for taking the most shit over it. Hard to say whether this is a byproduct of its notoriety after 2013’s Sunbather, that album’s pink album cover (really?), the band’s penchant for shoegaze or that metal purists didn’t appreciate the fact that us MAGNET nerds embraced Deafheaven as one of our own. New Bermuda is a brilliant record, but I’m here to tell you that it won’t change anyone’s opinion. The juxtapositions persist, with each song o ffering a pot of maggots at the end of the rainbow. Delicate piano and gorgeous guitar strumming inevitably meet obliteration from blast beats, fearsome walls of guitar sound, and vocals that could only be replicated by dropping a wasp nest and microphone into a mason jar and adding synapse-destroying amplifi cation. Still, there is evolution here, the deathgaze now mixed with more traditional metal elements, such as the whammy bar workout and closing chuga-chug ri ffage (think Metallica’s “Seek And Destroy”) on “Baby Blue.” The result is a more focused attack that all tribes—heshers and hipsters alike—should get behind. —Matt Ryan
