10 Years Gone (Live)

Album review

Over the course of a ten-year career, the San Francisco band has fuelled many debates about the form of its music; but also about the way the artists have defended it. Totally avant-garde for some, showing too much finesse and calculation for others, Deafheaven has managed to establish the perfect balance between the extreme side of black metal, and the more airy and ethereal atmospheres borrowed from currents such as post-rock or shoegaze. They took an off-the-beaten-path approach (which could be said to have been pioneered by the French band Alcest) which gave birth to some sublime albums. Although these albums share a very particular sound, they also prove that the band refuses to sit still, and never hesitate to leave their comfort zone, moving from a dark and raw register to more delicate climates. Whatever form they take, Deafheaven's songs exude real emotion, intense and organic, which always ends up bringing a certain light that illuminates even the darkest themes that the group addresses. After a decade of albums, each one as successful as the last, it was time for a celebration. This was to the form of a tour centred around a well-thought-out set-list, which would tell the band's story without neglecting any one period. But the year 2020, darkened by a pandemic, decreed that this was not to be.

In order not to break their bond with their fans, Deafheaven therefore made the same choice as many other bands caught up in this year's turmoil: to play live in the studio and record the performance in order to better broadcast it after the fact. 10 Years Gone is the result of this very special exercise, carried out under the leadership of Jack Shirley, the man behind their sound and producer of all their albums (from the very first demos), at Atomic Garden studio. This is an opportunity for the listener to (re) discover gems like From the Kettle Onto the Coil, which came out as a single (and as a free download) in 2014, or Daedalus, the very first song composed by the band in its early days and now available with a more powerful and defined sound. The rest is divided between the group's four albums: 2013's legendary Sunbather pulling the pin with three intense songs whose durations range from nine to fourteen minutes. The black metal passages are played at high speed, with a visceral intensity mingled with post-rock ambiences loaded with delay when the time comes to drop the tempo and get down to business. The perfect mastery of the repertoire and flawless execution will give more than a few listeners the impression of a revisited studio experience rather than a real live performance, but the immersion is total. Because Deafheaven is so unique, the sound the band distils is experienced as much as it is heard. 10 years Gone is the very picture of a perfect album, and it buries lazy compilations which are content to stack pieces end to end without making any other effort. Here are songs which we have heard before, but which are now indispensable in this new form. © Chief Brody/Qobuz