Review: Deafheaven at Rosemount Hotel

Deafheaven at Rosemount Hotel
w/ Tangled Thoughts of Leaving
Sunday, June 11, 2023

On a rainy Perth Sunday night, Deafheaven delivered a mesmerising set that balanced the American five-piece’s origins with the group’s newer directions to the delight of a crowded Rosemount Hotel. Returning to Perth for the first time since they visited for the Perth Festival in 2019, the band, who has melded elements of black metal with shoegaze and alternative rock to form what has been termed ‘blackgaze,’ have since almost completely annexed the black metal tag from their sound. The group’s most recent release, 2021’s Infinite Granite, featured mainly clean vocals from frontman George Clarke, as opposed to his trademark growl, which, along with founding guitarists Kerry McCoy’s heavy, yet lilting and melodic guitars, found the band treading in more of a shoegaze direction than ever before.

Local four-piece Tangled Thoughts of Leaving were an ideal opening act on the night. With the drum riser in place for the headliner, the group lined up in a row at the front of the stage, which served to heighten the intrinsic communication between each of the players. Highlights of the set were numerous with each musician having their own moments. Keyboardist Ron Pollard’s masterful playing led the way on several tracks, enhanced by the addition of handmade percussive elements from guitarist Paul Briggs. All of this was anchored throughout by the group’s rhythm section. Luke Pollard hit multiple strings at once (a la Lemmy from Motorhead) to produce a bombastic overdriven rumble, while the dynamic and unrelenting beats from drummer Gracie Smith moved the band fearlessly from metal grooves into no wave and free-jazz territory before allowing the band to re-emerge into steady, doom-laden grooves.

Deafheaven opened their set with the blistering Black Brick before launching into the epic 10-minute-plus Sunbather, which sounded as fresh and unique as it first did upon its release a decade ago. Stopping briefly from patrolling the stage like a cat on the hunt, vocalist George Clarke thanked the crowd before advising the next two tracks were from the group's latest release, Infinite Granite.

In Blur and Great Mass of Colour were warmly received by the crowd as guitarist McCoy displayed his musical dexterity, producing majestic lilting and reverbed chime sounds in contrast to the heavier and broader strokes that the set's earlier pieces called for. These two newer tracks recalled the rockier aspects of 1990s shoegaze acts like Ride, though the pieces remain uniquely those of Deafheaven.

The emotional highlight of the main set came from Mombasa as the bass, guitars and drums built throughout the track before reaching their climax. At this point, Clarke's clean vocals broke into a torrid of angry screams that served to unleash the instruments into an ordered but chaotic release of energy. As the band simultaneously seemed to break out in all directions, the power was breathtaking.

After leaving the stage briefly, the group reappeared for a two song encore. The crowd, still reeling from the sonically bone-crushing set, enthusiastically welcomed the group back as the five piece dove into fan-favourite Brought To The Water before launching into the opening track from their critically acclaimed 2013 Sunbather LP, Dream House. Captivating and ethereal, the band stopped to hug and exchange handshakes with the front rows before exiting the stage, with all of the members appearing to have enjoyed playing the gig as much as the audience rejoiced and lapped it up. With a career-spanning set, captivating musicianship and a tangible connection with their audience, you couldn't have asked for anything more from this performance.

MICHAEL HOLLICK

Photos by Adrian Thomson