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CRITIC REVIEWS
100
Fifth album by San Francisco band finds intense and yes, ethereal, shoegaze taking over from black metal.
91
Infinite Granite is a stunning journey from beginning to end, as Deafheaven continue to refine, develop, and even experiment with their identity. Undoubtedly, it contains some of their boldest and most heavenly material to date, and it peppers in just enough heaviness to embody the other side of their sound.
90
For a decade, Deafheaven have been a gateway into heavy music for those who don’t normally partake and the stylistic transition on Infinite Granite will welcome considerably more fans than it alienates.
87
Over the past eight years, they’ve demonstrated their creative ambition, as well as the courage to move away from the sound that made them successful. And on Infinite Granite, they prove they have the chops to follow the path of their choosing, wherever it may lead.
81
Infinite Granite feels less like an abandonment, and more like a new era – a rebirth that fans can either jump on or off for.
80
On Infinite Granite, they continue that journey, softening, brightening, and elevating themselves to shimmering cerulean skies, sometimes still pulling through storms, at home in a new world.
80
This is a bold, adventurous step into new pastures that still fundamentally feels like a DEAFHEAVEN album, and for that they deserve acclaim.
80
Infinite Granite resounds with delights in its own ingenuity.
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1y
80
It’s the sound of a band transforming into something subtle but beautiful—the same way trees do when their foliage fades from green to orange.
80
As before, there will probably be talk about what this band is, or should be; what genre conventions it fits into, and so on—it’s shown that it doesn’t care about any of that, and this album is a riposte to the doubters as Deafheaven morphs once again, into quite possibly the best version of itself.
80
To some, Infinite Granite is a further step away from what they want. To others, a step further into it. For Deafheaven, it’s simply who they are. Truthfully, it’s who they’ve always been.
80
Infinite Granite is a surprising record for all the right reasons. A brave statement of intent from a band refusing to stand still.
80
It has the potential to be an outstanding listen ... but Deafheaven has still crafted a record to get lost in. The metal purists crying sellout will sorely be missing out.
80
Instead of constantly reaching for the same musical heights, Deafheaven has focused on broadening their stylistic horizons to pull in ’90s alt rock, ambient space-rock experimentation, and the confessional lyrical heritage of emo.
80
The risk here pays dividends. It’s their most ambitious and cohesive album to date and embracing their shoegaze selves brings renewal: for a band known for torment and chaos, it’s a joy to hear them sounding so hopeful.
80
If you want the old Deafheaven you can go and listen to Sunbather or New Bermuda, because the new Deafheaven are here and you suspect that, sooner rather than later, they are going to be everywhere. Selling out never sounded so good.
80
Deafheaven’s Infinite Granite is a very successful shoegaze-inspired alt-rock record with a great sense of dynamics and some really catchy songs.
80
Deafheaven round off some of their metallic edges on their new album Infinite Granite, and prove that you don't have to shout loud to hit hard.
75
At it’s heart, Infinite Granite is not a metal record, but an above-average shoegaze/indie rock record.
70
Infinite Granite is a transitional record, but it's an enormously pretty one, and it suggests that their directional shift is an excellent idea that warrants further exploration.
70
Whereas the conflict between the band’s harder and softer sides has sometimes resulted in a lack of focus and coherence, the material here represents a more fully developed synthesis, one that’s more overtly melodic and often disarmingly pretty.
67
With Infinite Granite, the Bay Area genre alchemists go full shoegaze, to pretty but diminished effect.
65
Abandoning black metal’s harsh intensity in favor of softer, gentler sounds, Deafheaven push themselves into surprising terrain. It’s a tricky proposition.
65
Moving ever farther away from metal, Deafheaven lean fully into shoegaze, to fascinating, if limiting results.
60
There’s no doubting Deafheaven are a band exploring their own sonic capabilities, and they should be applauded for treading their own path, but it’s the heaviest parts of the record that feel like the band are really hitting their stride.
60
Really, this is a Slowdive album by a band who usually sound more like Ash Borer – but as much as it seems like Deafheaven are not your black metal band anymore, Infinite Granite shows that they never really cared enough to have the argument anyway.
60
After infusing their metallic fury with melancholic shoegaze and post-rock for the better part of their career, the question wasn’t if Deafheaven would go all in on their softer moments but when, and most importantly: how good the outcome would be. The answer is, well, a bit disappointing.
58
Infinite Granite does posit a concrete achievement of sorts with Deafheaven’s career. Its style is continuous and, while occasionally underwhelming, never disastrous.
40
Infinite Granite is still very clearly a Deafheaven record, and carries the emotional core that makes their back catalog so remarkable. But while the core is intact, the song writing is variable, which dilutes it.
8mo
30
Infinite Granite finds Deafheaven eschewing the blackened aspect of their sound in favor of boilerplate shoegaze and post-rock.
In Shoegaze circles Blackgaze is considered a screaming abomination.
While Black Metal purists consider Blackgaze soft and unworthy.
What a fucking mess.
Deafheaven, Alcest & Lantlôs have surely seen and felt this and rather than running away in fear from the narrow mindedness have seized an opportunity to lean against it and chain their very artistry to the restraints of gatekeeping just so these bands can in turn smash the gates clean off their hinges, leaving the doors wide open ... read more
Everything is about feeling. And sometimes we can find beauty in gloom.
Growing up and evolving as a human being while you grow together with a band is something inexplicable. And after hearing Deafheaven's new album, I can tell you how important they are to me. Nowadays music is the only thing that can bring me a real feeling, and sometimes music is not just production and stuff like that, sometimes we are lucky to came across albums that not only brings really good songs, but that they also ... read more
...zzzzzz... huh? Wait, Deafheaven released a shoegaze album? Good for them!
You read that correctly. Deafheaven take a step back from their metallic blackgaze roots (mostly) and go full-on whitegaze. I know a lot of people are either gonna despise this new direction or absolutely love it (though I think your opinion is super valid either way). For me, this is a very natural transition for the band as they've pretty much experimented with dreamy, gaze-y aesthetics throughout their discography ... read more
Lament For Wasps is definitely the standout on this, and the one time where I felt like their decision to go full shoegaze paid off. Deafheaven is always been a puzzling act to me (and I guess all black metal for that matter). They are very talented musicians, so the instrumentation on their previous albums have been great. There are moments on Sunbather, that remind me of early Mogwai (Young Team-era). But I could never get past the howling vocals (especially when you read the lyrics, cause ... read more
deaf part is right, pretty loud experience, and sure I suppose some parts are heaven-like or at least attempting that. but god does this lack any interesting qualities, no flavor to this shit, even tho they get so huge and panoramic. they do it, every single time. but every single time, it leaves basically no impression. it just feels like they're doing that to cover how bland it all is, especially for such a typically cutting edge band. so many of the parts that are supposed to be this huge ... read more
It's official, these guys don't miss.
But seriously, if any other artist made this album without having a metal past then this would at least be in the 80s, this LP is legit beautiful, and genuinely one of the best shoegaze albums I've heard in recent years. Yall can argue for days on end on what genre they did here, whether it's "post-black metal" or "post blackgaze" or whatever the shit, because I feel like this is undeniably Shoegaze, and it's amazing Shoegaze at that. ... read more
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Contributions By
Alejandro González, MusicXXY, Novell_sx, fdrc, CoL1, gbar25, domvic, Toasterqueen12, anztec, Baylen's Music Café 🌻☕️, riley, hex, gm1806Become a Donor
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Track List
| 1 | Shellstar 6:06 | 78 |
| 2 | In Blur 5:29 | 78 |
| 3 | Great Mass of Color 6:00 | 82 |
| 4 | Neptune Raining Diamonds 3:05 | 69 |
| 5 | Lament for Wasps 7:08 | 74 |
| 6 | Villain 5:41 | 76 |
| 7 | The Gnashing 5:34 | 71 |
| 8 | Other Language 6:10 | 70 |
| 9 | Mombasa 8:17 | 78 |
Total Length: 53 minutes
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| #11 | / | Treble |
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| #15 | / | Chorus.fm |
| #16 | / | The Guardian |
| #20 | / | Sputnikmusic |
| #24 | / | Punktastic |
| #25 | / | Decibel |
| #27 | / | Paste |
| #28 | / | No Ripcord |
| #29 | / | RIFF |
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Added on: June 5, 2021