San Diego’s iconic blackgaze band, Deafheaven will be performing tonight at the Capitol Theater as part of their tour following the release of their most recent album, Lonely People With Power. Their other majorly acclaimed releases include New Bermuda, and Sunbather, the 2013 album which marked a defining point of the blackgaze genre.
They are supported tonight by Harm’s Way and I Promised the World. Harm’s Way is a hardcore band originating from 2006 in Chicago, building their music with industrial and experimental electronic elements. Though beginning in their youth with “kill all frat kids” lyricism, they’ve lately gone down the more serious black metal inspired route, and have recently performed alongside bands such as Basement and Knocked Loose. I Promised the World (formerly named Sinema) are a young hardcore band out of Texas, currently touring along Deafheaven throughout most U.S. states (except Texas). Their music builds on hardcore with a nostalgic screamo quality, and are sure to put out a great performance tonight.
Deafheaven returns back to heavier and darker tones of their past in Lonely People With Power, while their classic pained catharsis flows and powers through each song. Throughout their discography, the band has experimented between genres of metal, rock, and pop, living and making music from the underlying grooves connecting them all together. The influence can be heard throughout each release, with some albums clearly drawing their inspirational ties tighter and looser as the band evolves. It’s been fascinating to follow this band throughout the years, and to notice the distinct evolution that lives underneath their constantly changing sound. Lonely People With Power is both a return to that deepness of their past and their genre-defining Sunbather, changed by a clear pop influence in the musicality, instrumentation, and song structure. This album stands far on its own as another era of the band, another fantastic point in the evolving and genre-defying Deafheaven.
Given the intensity of this show, I advise all attendees to come prepared with earplugs. Their setlist tonight will likely focus on Lonely People With Power, with tracks from Sunbather and New Bermuda likely sprinkled in. I do fret and worry, that should Incidental II be perhaps performed tonight, my soul may be inclined to escape the confines of my body.
Tickets for the event are for sale from First Fleet Concerts here.
