Daily Jam - Vertigo

It’s not that I’m sad or upset about anything, but sometimes I’ve just got to put on something heart wrenching and get lost in it for a little while.

In the narrative form, it’s oft referred to as misery lit, or more succinctly misery porn. These are devastating, soul crushing tomes of literature or film that find our protagonists facing any and all manner of unspeakable tragedy, and then invite us to wallow in it, an aching sadness prevailing over all, and on come the waterworks. And we as a culture just devour it. Bring on the misery. Bring on the pain. Bring on the unending turmoil and moments of disquiet.

Are we getting off on this?

I don’t think it’s so salacious as that. Honestly, in the constant hum and toil of this world, a mass deadening of the senses uniting us all in discordant harmony, sometimes it’s just nice to feel something, even if that something is sorrow or anguish. And we revel in it. Maybe that’s being hyperbolic. Maybe that’s being cynical too. But it feels right. I think we live in a society where we deny ourselves our emotions a lot of the time (God knows Western civilization’s hyper-masculine bullshit will put the hammer down on male tears), so when a story or a piece of art strikes a particular nerve, we want to hold onto it. And why shouldn’t we? Good art should make you feel something. Good storytelling should stick to your soul, be it comic or tragic. Maybe the tragedy is just a little easier to relate to.

There’s a lot of misery porn to be found in music too. And I dwell on it all the time. I’ve written about death music before, self-ascribed funereal albums that harken to my own personal loss, and I have no intention of repeating myself here, but listening to “Vertigo” from Bay area metal band Deafheaven’s 2013 breakthrough record Sunbather, it’s hard not to fall back on that. It still moves me every time I hear it. It makes my heart hurt. It can make me cry. Even in the abstract, if I remove my personal experience from the song, and take the sounds at face value, what’s left is absolute sorrow.

There’s power to that. The song hits on a visceral level, utilizing classical and operatic structures paired with wailing guitars, bombastic drumming, and howling, screaming vocals in its 14+ minute runtime, creating a mood of epic, sweeping despair. Lyrics don’t matter here, and really it’s not like you can decipher them without written aid anyway. It’s the emotion within those screams, the utter sadness they pull out of me, and I’m getting goosebumps in my car as the song crescendos.

I’m feeling something, and it’s marvelous.

Listen below, our Daily Jam.

Alto Arc

Yesterday saw the release of the debut, self-titled EP from supergroup Alto Arc.  The band consists of Trayer Tryon of Hundred Waters, producer Danny L Harle, Deafheaven's George Clarke, and makeup artist Isamaya Ffrench.  Death Grips and Hella member Zach Hill even shows up for a track.  The project's result is a hard describe mix of electronics, screaming, noise, soaring synths, and an all around gothic vibe.  It's cool, and you probably won't hear anything else that sounds quite like it today.  Check out the album opening "The Model Gospel" below and get the EP here from Sargent House.

Deafheaven

Deafheaven has a new album heading our way in August, "Infinite Granite," and going off of the first single, they're trying something new this time out.  "Great Mass of Color" finds the band leaning into the dreamier, poppier parts of their sound, foregoing George Clarke's usual anguished and growling wail for something prettier for lack of a better word.  There are falsettos in there and everything.  My jury is still out on this one, as much as i like for artists to push themselves in different directions, but it's worth a listen.  Check it out below, pre-order the digital version of the record here and the vinyl here from Sargent House.

 

Deafheaven - Black Brick

Deafheaven released a new track today, "Black Brick," a B-side from last year's excellent album "Ordinary Corrupt Human Love."  It's a blistering, pummeling tune, and worthy of your ears today.  Listen below and get it here via Anti.

Deafheaven - Night People

I know it's already been out a couple of weeks, but i don't believe i've written about how outstanding "Ordinary Corrupt Human Love," the latest album from shoegazey, black metal, post rock band Deafheaven is.  Granted, i've been out of town, but no excuses.  The record finds the band maybe more contemplative than in the past, with long sections of subdued and beautiful music taking over for the band's more frequent use of turmoil-laden howling.  And Chelsea Wolfe's on the thing too!  Watch the video for the Wolfe-assisted "Night People" below and get the album from Anti-.

Deafheaven - Honeycomb

I wasn't expecting new music from Deafheaven today, but here we go.  "Honeycomb" is the first single from the band's upcoming "Ordinary Corrupt Human Love" LP, due in July on Anti-, and it certainly sounds like Deafheaven.  Watch the video below.

Youth Code - Lost at Sea (Chelsea Wolfe Remix)

Industrial duo Youth Code recently made the excellent decision to recruit Goth folk chanteuse Chelsea Wolfe to remix their 2016 track "Lost at Sea."  Ms. Wolfe then made the excellent decision to recruit Deafheaven's George Clarke to provide new vocals on the track.  The end result is a scorching and haunting mix of icy electronics, metal wail, and noise.  I love it.  And as a bonus, all the proceeds go to Planned Parenthood.  Buy it here and listen below.

Deafheaven - Come Back

Here's another new one from Deafheaven's upcoming album "New Bermuda."  "Come Back" is a sticky, heavy mess that soon falls away to majesty.  Listen below and grab the record next month from Anti-.

Deafheaven - Brought to the Water

Deafheaven's "Sunbather" LP was easily my favorite record of 2013, and i'm stoked that the black metal/post-rock band have a new album hitting us in the earbuds this October.  Listen to "Brought to the Water" below and pre-order "New Bermuda" here.

Deafheaven - From the Kettle onto the Coil

I seem to be touting Adult Swim's summer singles series on an almost daily basis, but the output thus far this summer has been fantastic.  The latest, which will be available for free download next week, comes from San Francisco metal band Deafheaven.  "From the Kettle onto the Coil" continues the band's blend of black metal, shoegaze, post-rock, and pop that they perfected on last year's "Sunbather" LP.  Listen to the track below.

Deafheaven and Pallbearer at Red 7

Last week, my wife had to leave town for a few days for a work thing in Fort Worth, leaving me flying solo with the boy and the dog.  It was a fun week, but pretty exhausting in its own right, so i rewarded myself upon my wife's return with some live metal music from Pallbearer and Deafheaven.  It was a great show and left me, fittingly enough, kind of deaf in my left ear yesterday.  Here's a couple of pics below.

Pallbearer

Pallbearer

Deafheaven

Deafheaven

Black Monolith

One man black metal-tinged records seem to be coming out of the shadows all over the world, each a seething, dark ode to all things ugly and macabre, or beautiful and awed.  Oakland's Black Monolith is no different, the project of occasional Deafheaven touring guitarist Gary Bettencourt.  "Passenger," which comes out later this month on All Black Recording Company is a raw and powerful mix of screaming metal, atmospherics, and crusty, dirty punk rock, a nonstop assault on the senses.  And it's not polished.  It's like listening to people make glorious noise in the garage.  Listen to the album climactic, instrumental finale "Eris" below.

Deafheaven

I love that shoegaze meets black metal is starting to become more of a thing.  It makes so much sense, that it's ridiculous it didn't start surfacing a long time ago (i realize that there may be some underground misfits that i've never heard of who were doing this sort of thing well before it was "cool").  Ugliness and beauty at deafening, blissful levels.  San Francisco trio Deafheaven will be releasing their "Sunbather" LP in June from Deathwish.  Everything i've heard sounds amazing.  Listen to first single "Dreamhouse" below.