Genre(s): Blackgaze, Post-Metal
Release Date: March 28, 2025
My Rating: 4.5/5

Now that the year is almost over, it's time to recap some of my favorite music from 2025 that I haven't talked about yet. Next up are San Francisco locals Deafheaven and their frighteningly cold album, "Lonely People With Power"

Calling an album cold may evoke thoughts of spare instrumentation and twinkly chimes, but Deafheaven takes the opposite path. Instead of whimsical penguins sliding along the ice, it's the crushing cold of hypothermia and the strange warmth that comes before death. It's especially evident with George Clarke's tortuous growled vocals, which can simultaneously feel like angels pulling you up and devils dragging you down.

In fact, it's quite a shame that Clarke's vocal delivery is incomprehensible. Even reading the lyrics as he screams, you could maybe vaguely actually hear one in three words. Which just means that you miss all the great poetry he spins. In track #11 Winona, Clarke illustrates the startling contrast in his own music:

The howling energy
Is a shining vacancy
Thinking I'd survive
With everything I was gaining
Behind the curtain I was sinking
With everything I'm supposed to be
I'm waiting for the fall

Or the visualization of fascinating imagery on track #12 The Marvelous Orange Tree:

My body spills into a secret well
God gave me the wish
For religious stillness
Showing shivering skin
Living with this illness

I wouldn't say "Lonely People With Power" is a must listen, as fuzzy black metal isn't a well loved genre. But if you have any interest at all, this is a fantastic place to start.

YT Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nsckTko62cLH3a-j-e2u_w247jyNbRceE

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/5Eh3xMVdGFAUiYwuoPOzXc

Review Date: December 18, 2025
Last Updated: N/A