by Jeff Yerger (@jyergs)
I finally had the perfect Halloween. On October 31, 2018, I found myself in the middle of White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, NJ, surrounded by skeletons, superheroes, and the odd Pikachu, all waiting enthusiastically for the inevitable dimming of the lights and for post-metal heroes Deafheaven to take the stage in support of Ordinary Corrupt Human Love, their transcendent fourth album.
After opening with a cover of the Misfits’ “Hybrid Moments” (you know, because Halloween), the band blitzed through setlist mostly comprising of their last three records. The show was as powerful and emotionally cathartic as you would expect, but long-time fans might’ve been disappointed by the lack of any reaching into the back catalogue.
Those fans will find a bit more solace in 10 Years Gone, the new live-in-studio album from Deafheaven which celebrates the band’s 10th anniversary. The eight song set is comprised of tracks from throughout their career, including three from the band’s critically acclaimed 2013 breakout Sunbather (four if you count Sunbather-era stand-alone single “From the Kettle Onto the Coil”). There is no crowd bleeding into the mics or stage banter in between songs. Instead, the performances on 10 Years Gone are raw and powerful. While I personally would’ve liked to hear more from OCHL and New Bermuda, I can’t argue with how great and confident early songs “Language Games” and “Daedalus” (one of the first songs the band ever recorded) sound here. Each band member is completely locked in on this recording, which sounds like it was done in one take like any normal live show would be.
10 Years Gone paints the band simply as they are, which is to say a post-metal, genre-bending behemoth in the middle of one the best three-album runs any band in any genre has ever created. It is a document of how far Deafheaven has come since 2010, as well as the heights they reach when they plug in. It’s a shame they weren’t able to see this project fully realized on a tour, and I really hope they revisit it once it’s safe to do so. In the meantime, we have 10 Years Gone and the hope that some day in the not-to-distant future we will be able to gather en masse, covered in sweat, ready to reach those heights along with them.