Deafheaven - "Roads to Judah"

Deafheaven are one of the latest American bands to continue an exciting new wave of black metal. This, their debut album, shows obvious influences from the post-rock and shoegaze genres. "Violet" opens the album with a slow, warm swirl of beautiful guitar melodies - before the blastbeats kick in and vocalist George Clarke begins to howl tirelessly and at full force. But this flurry of aggression and despair doesn't come with the intention of taking the listener by surprise. Instead it comes off as a logical progression within the context of the song.

"Roads to Judah" consists of four tracks and clocks in at around thirty-eight minutes overall. The songs are lengthy, but they don't overstay their welcome. The post-rock influence is apparent in the way that these songs expand and contract. Every track here builds up to a climax and successfully balances out fury with moody reflection. This is a dramatic record in every sense of the word. "Roads to Judah" evokes euphoria, melancholia and rage - sometimes all at once. "Tunnel of Trees" turns "Violet" on its head, beginning with a galloping burst of guitars, drums and screams before retracting into a meditative calm, exploding into a huge crescendo once more and finally winding down the album with a simplistic yet decorative keyboard outro.

The band improves upon their already excellent 2010 demo release with this debut. The songs have much more room to breathe and evolve. The vocals are buried deeper within the mix too, and as a result there's a stronger feeling of harmonious interplay between the musicians. Deafheaven favour beauty over brutality with "Roads to Judah". It's exciting that a record which can be loosely defined as "black metal" can sound so inviting. It does well to demonstrate that this kind of music doesn't have to be ugly or unapproachable to newcomers. This is one of 2011's highlights and is thoroughly recommended to anyone who is interested in powerful, emotive or grand music.

"Roads to Judah" is out now on Deathwish.

Planning for Burial - "Leaving"

It's pretty astounding that the solo project Planning for Burial's debut album, Leaving, is a product of home recording. The hard work that has been put into this is clear from the outset. Layers of sound build up and strip back down, evolve and regress - often within the same song - executing the loud-quiet convention commonly associated with post-rock successfully. But this isn't really a post-rock record. In fact, it's a product of many years worth of influences. Elements from the 80s goth/gloom and shoegazing movements have clearly influenced Planning for Burial's sound, yet these inspirations (among others) are morphed together in such a way that they work in harmony. Nothing here seems untidily stitched together, and that's an accomplishment.

One of the most remarkable aspects of Leaving is how it is layered and textured. Album highlight "Oh Pennsylvania, Your Black Clouds Hang Low" features echoed vocals buried underneath all of the noise, struggling to be made out. Subtle keyboard parts are strategically placed within the mix of cymbal taps and crushing riffs. Moments like this are peppered throughout the album, and they amount to a satisfyingly textured sound which remains rich and gripping if you're willing to pay close attention. Even on the noisier tracks there is always some subtle melody dancing away underneath all the racket. Not that this is a particularly heavy record overall - most of it manages to come across as approachable, even pretty or friendly, and it sounds incredibly professional for a D.I.Y. recording.

For the most part the record moves slowly, sometimes stealthily and other times abrasively, but it retains this droning, trudging feel which can be exhausting all at once. The closer and title track is a thirteen minute drone/mood piece which would have been overstaying its welcome if it wasn't so damn unobtrusive. Instead it tiptoes away to its exit without disturbing you even to say farewell. Nevertheless, it's a slightly underwhelming conclusion considering what has come before and might have been better as a shortened bridge to glide the listener through to another section of the record. It's the busier cuts on Leaving that were made to engulf rooms, such as the faster-paced and therefore somewhat ironically titled "Seasons Change so Slowly" and the aforementioned "Oh Pennsylvania...". Who knew that music made under these circumstances could sound so huge?

Leaving winds through several moods and drips with references to other genres, though being defined by any one of these does not seem to be in its primary interests. Instead, Planning for Burial has focused more on making an atmospheric record that sounds more accomplished than a lot of music coming from artists with much more backing. It is most certainly a credit to its label.

"Leaving" is out now on Enemies List and is limited to 200 copies before moving to digital only.