I can remember Deafheaven in Decibel Magazine way back when their debut Roads To Judah came out in 2011. It was solid, but at the time I had other musical preoccupations so dropped it. Then Sunbather came out and everyone lost their goddamn minds. And with good reason: that cover, the wall of sound that would sprout a literal army of imitators, none of whom could touch the band and only weaken the subgenre to the point where we’re all kind of sick of it. Since then the band have been both expanding and contracting their sound, drilling into their blueprint, blowing it up, and then reassembling it again, all to varying results. But those results were necessary, because after too many listens to count Lonely People With Power might be the band’s best, most honest album in their career. It’s certainly one of the best metal album in 2025, so time to do that thing when I figure out why I think that way.

Before going into the songs, bear with me for a moment as I work my way through why Lonely People With Power sits where it does in the band’s discography. You have Roads to Judah, a solid debut that does a lot of good things a lot of other bands do. The band explores, fine tunes their approach and whoa: you get Sunbather. That pink cover. Minds blown (Note: I do love it but it’s an EXHAUSTING album to listen to front to back). Wall of sound. The band was smart enough not to do the same thing twice (leaving that to every other band trying to ride their coattails), and so they refine again, driving thrash and death metal riffs into the attack, and out comes New Bermuda, until now my favorite Deafheaven release.

What else can you add to the sound? Clean vocals, and a sense of – bear with me – musical exploration I associate with Queen bringing us to Ordinary Corrupt Human Love, which while solid tries to encompass too many things at once without a strong sense of identity. The band retreats, reconsiders…and draws everything back in, focusing on the dreamy, clean vocals part, giving us Infinite Granite, a complete left-hand turn from the fury of their earlier work. It’s an album I struggle with in much the same way I do with Opeth’s Damnation: another fine album that sacrifices what I love about the band in order to hone and refine one specific, particular element. But if Opeth couldn’t get to Ghost Reveries without Damnation, nor could we get to Lonely People With Power without Infinite Granite.

Took two paragraphs, but I got there. Thanks for bearing with me.

After the opening ambient intro “Incidental I” (there are three incidental pieces which divide LPWP into phases) we immediately launch into “Doberman” which not only clearly announces that distortion and extremity are back on the table, but that primary writer and guitarist Kerry McCoy isn’t bereft of melodic hooks to draw you in. It’s also the clearest vocal delivery we’ve ever gotten on a Deafheaven album – always a complaint with me. After being as nakedly exposed as he was on Infinite Granite, it sounds like George Clarke is finally comfortable being up in the mix, and with Justin Meldal-Johnsen behind the boards for a second time the pair capture his best performance on record.

As for the song itself, it’s a refinement of the major-key blackgaze from Sunbather with a killer chugging metal attack in its second half that beautifully evaporates into the dreamy pop of Infinite Granite, leading into the very New Bermuda-ish “Magnolia”. The opening of “The Garden Route” lulls you into a false sense of security, thinking this is when Deafheaven shift into their dream pop mode. And musically they do, but Clarke’s screeching black metal rasp cuts like a serrated razor into the shimmering shoegaze, making this an early favorite track. Both “Heathen” and mini-epic “Amethyst” show a great facility with blending clean, pop song structures with killer metal hooks and catchy melodies before leading into “Incidental II” featuring Jae Matthews from noise/electronic group Boy Harsher.

Of the next pair of tracks, “Revelatory” is another favorite, the band driving toward a pure black metal attack that could have come from Ihsahn. At least that’s what that opening riff says to me. It might be one of their heaviest songs to date, and I love the way it segues into the equally heavy but much more pop-influenced “Body Behavior” and here I have to shout out drummer Daniel Tracy who shows how deft he is at moving from blast beats to joyous rock in an instant. McCoy’s U2 guitar licks mesh wonderfully, and the song has a gothy bounce that makes no sense when I read those words back, but that’s what I hear.

After the final “Incidental” piece with Paul Banks from Interpol (speaking of gothy bounce, I have to get to how great Turn On The Bright Lights is) the album hits a third highlight. “Winona” takes the ambient lead from “Incidental III” and slowly builds it to a crushing crescendo two minutes in before the song proper kicks in. The halfway point gets positively majestic in its riffage, and I can see why they chose it for their short film. Similar to “Doberman” it sounds like the perfect encapsulation of what a Deafheaven song is, and what it could be.

It would be the perfect ending to Lonely People With Power, except that honor goes to “The Marvelous Orange Tree” which really emphasizes the shoegaze elements in a way that, even without the distortion and screaming, Infinite Granite couldn’t. Another incredible highlight on an album full of them, it leaves Deafheaven with a huge problem:

How the hell do you follow this one up?