Deafheaven remains as perplexing as ever

Music Review: The past and future sounds of Luke Christopher

A review of the L.A. rapper's "YSTRDY" & "TMRW"

Los Angeles rapper Luke Christopher has been quickly assembling a body of work since his first release “Building Skies” in 2012. In the past three years, Christopher has ambitiously managed to release four mixtapes without ever producing a commercial track. With the recent release of his dual EPs “YSTRDY” and “TMRW” on iTunes and Spotify, he has finally brought a body of music into the commercial market.
In a video interview with the Hip Hop news site Hot New Hip Hop, Christopher explains that “YSTRDY” is a compilation of “Songs that people have loved… but have not yet been released in the commercial market.” “YSTRDY” is essentially a carefully crafted ‘best-of’ mix of his past works (hence the title).
The album’s six remastered tracks serve as an introduction to Christopher’s ability to effortlessly switch between rap and song to convey his message. The messages often, and arguably too often, involve the triumphs and pitfalls of romance. Although the lyrical content of “YSTRDY” can seem slightly repetitive, the instrumentation takes on a variety of intriguing dynamics; the synth pop vibes of “Roll With Me” and the anthem-like quality of “World Without Superman” are particularly unique from Christopher’s usual piano-melody-driven tracks.
This central theme of Christopher’s love life is also seen in the content of “TMRW,” but the lyricism displayed in the album’s fifth track, “Atlas,” shows listeners that Christopher has more to offer. With lines like, “People wanting diamonds and pearls in life / I guess he couldn't handle the weight / Who do you run to when the world beneath is gone?” Christopher questions the materialism of our society through the perspective of Atlas struggling under the weight of the sky. Considering that the earth’s atmosphere is often most harmed by society's materialistic tendencies, it seems a brilliant yet subtle metaphor. If TMRW is just as much a preview of the future of Christopher's music as YSTRDY is a window to its past, then we can expect some top notch lyricism in Christopher’s future verses.
Not only do YSTRDY and TMRW unveil Christopher’s talents as a rapper, they are also a testaments to his proficiency as a producer and a singer as well. This is evident as soon as the chorus’ lower harmonies come in over the jazzy keys in TMRW’s “Roses.” His capacity to control all elements of a song’s creation from beginning to end allows Christopher complete artistic expression. YSTRDY & TMRW illustrate just how much this freedom can accomplish.
Luke Christopher
YSTRDY (2015)
TMRW (2015)

Music Review

Deafheaven remains as perplexing as ever

"New Bermuda" reviewed

This piece represents the opinion of the author:

November 1, 2015

On their latest album, "New Bermuda," Deafheaven relishes its unique style of metal from previous albums but also extends its reach to more accessible and recognizable musical ideas drawn from metal and rock contemporaries. The album’s heavy sections are heavier than ever, but band employs shifts in mood and tone that remind the listener of their versatility and capability to exploring new styles and musical territories at will.

The album opener “Drawn to the Water” wastes no time in establishing this paradigm. After a brief rumbling of guitar distortion and bass, the drums thunder in with an unrelenting bashing of snares and crash cymbals that give way to a fast, galloping triplet guitar riff in the style of thrash metal legends Slayer. On top of this foundation, the lead vocals enter, howling through the sonic landscape like a harsh winter wind on an Arctic tundra. After this heavier-than-usual sonic onslaught, the band frees their guitars of distortion and halves the tempo of the song. Add the the light tremolo-picked guitars and it feels as if a winter covering of ice has melted into a gently flowing river. The respite however, is not long. The distortion returns and we hear the drummer and the vocalist locked in a tight heavy metal groove that gives way to the catchiest guitar riff of the album: a slow, melodic lead guitar motif that lets the song drift off into the quiet outro.

In songs like “Gifts for the Earth” and “Baby Blue,” the band detours into styles previously unexplored. “Gifts for the Earth” features a punky-minor chord progression glazed with a shimmering lead guitar riff that would be right at home in modern indie rock song, while “Baby Blue” takes the band into the wah-wah washed lead guitar lands treaded by thrash metal progenitors like Metallica and Megadeth. These new elements, whether adopted from the sounds of contemporary and past metal acts or from those of indie rock acts, feel welcome and make sense in these songs. The incorporation of darker metal riffs are always balanced out with more left-field stylistic inclusions to play into a constant war between light and shadow, where every turn towards clean, shimmering sounds returns to sludgy distortion and throat-shattering screams at a breakneck pace, and then back again.

None of these jarring contrasts are new for the band. Deafheaven has made a name for itself as one of the most difficult-to-define acts of the current decade. Their work has always featured machine-gun-paced drumming and howling screams that are the hallmarks of black metal, a subgenre of metal originating from Scandinavia known for fast, loud and exceptionally heavy songwriting. To label them as a black metal band, however, often leads to the consternation of legions of black metal purists. Such individuals balk at the idea of labeling a band from outside of Scandinavia black metal, especially one that relies more on bright, reverb-washed, surf-rock riffage than on distorted, guttural, down-tuned guitars. Indeed the juxtaposition of metal vocals and drums with sunny, atmospheric guitars defines and obscures band’s style.

With that said, all the metal-surf rock fusion in the world cannot save what can be at times unfortunately predictable tonal shifts. The chords, drum patterns and riffs may vary but the band only has so many ways it achieves its loud-soft dichotomy. For every blast beat and scream, there is a dreamy respite to balance it out. This makes them a challenging yet rewarding listen, but they become less so when one begins to see it coming.

Nonetheless, such a gripe may be like complaining that every incline on a roller coaster has a thrilling drop. "New Bermuda" is evidence that it is neither the drop nor the anticipation of the incline that makes the experience worthwhile: each element plays into the holistic experience that is the ride itself. "New Bermuda" is exhausting and challenging, but the album finds Deafheaven re-imagining the intersection of metal and rock music in novel and thrilling ways.

Deafheaven

New Bermuda (2015)

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