I may have felt that with 2021’s “Infinite Granite”, Blackgaze pioneers Deafheaven had left the metal behind and fully embraced the post-punk shoegaze sound. However, “Lonely People with Power” proves that they were merely on hiatus from our world and that they still have the stirring brutality flowing through their veins. This is a deliciously variable album that stretches their sound much further than before. Yes, some tracks take us back to their majestic second album, “Sunbather”, but there are others that push their trajectory firmly into post-metal and even metalcore.

In many ways, this is their heaviest and most aggressive album yet. The restraint they have shown on previous releases has gone, and instead, there are moments of real unrepressed anger. All the constituent parts that make up their sound are pushed to their extremes; the black metal is more brittle and more jagged than before, but when engaged, the shoegaze elements are fragrantly more beautiful and enticing. An absolute triumph of an album that shows that Deafheaven are now an unstoppable force in our world.

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