So if Deafheaven are Blackgaze, then this is Deathgaze, the unholy matrimony of ethereal beauty and raw aggression. Hailing from Arizona, “Alunea” finally sees their conceptual vision realised. It is a highly ambitious album that deftly combines the harsh with true euphoric beauty. These two competing entities twist around each other in the vibrant quest for dominance. It is an astonishingly vivid dance, the opposing sounds folding in and out of each other, creating a quivering movement of continual aural motion. There is a sense that the sound is contracting and expanding simultaneously, a furious flurry of experimentation that is rich in brutal provocation but also empowered by melodic splendour. An astonishing listen that is staggeringly ambitious but also smart enough to know when it should rein it in. Just splendid.

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