About Deafheaven
Deafheaven is an American black metal band formed in 2010. Originally based in San Francisco, the group began as a two-piece with singer George Clarke and guitarist Kerry McCoy, who recorded and self-released a demo album together. Following its release, Deafheaven recruited three new members and began to tour. Before the end of 2010, the band signed to Deathwish Inc. and later released their debut album Roads to Judah, in April 2011. They popularized a unique style blending black metal, shoegaze, and post-rock, among other influences, later called "blackgaze" by reviewers.
Deafheaven's second album, Sunbather, was released in 2013 to wide critical acclaim, becoming one of the best reviewed albums of the year in the US. In 2015 the band followed up with New Bermuda and in 2018 with Ordinary Corrupt Human Love. Their 2021 album, Infinite Granite, drastically reduced the presence of screamed vocals. In 2025, they released Lonely People with Power, which featured a heavier and more aggressive sound.
Deafheaven formed in February 2010 in San Francisco, California with vocalist George Clarke and guitarist Kerry McCoy, who previously performed in the grindcore band Rise of Caligula together. Clarke is not sure how he arrived on the name Deafheaven, though he is aware of its appearance in William Shakespeare's Sonnet 29. The two words 'deaf' and 'heaven' were combined as a homage to Slowdive.
Clarke and McCoy recorded an untitled demo album in April 2010 at Atomic Garden Studios with Jack Shirley for about US$500, which the band could not afford at the time. Because the duo did not own an electric guitar or amp at the time, the demo was written on an acoustic guitar and recorded with equipment borrowed from the studio. The untitled demo, which was released digitally and on cassette tape in limited quantities, featured four songs that combined traditional black metal and post-rock. Originally, Deafheaven did not intend to release the material, but they later sent it out to a few of their favorite blogs. After the demo had been positively received, Clarke and McCoy recruited three additional musicians—bassist Derek Prine, guitarist Nick Bassett of the shoegaze band Whirr ) and drummer Trevor Deschryver, who responded to an ad on Craigslist—to form a five-piece group, and started playing their first shows in July 2010.
Deafheaven announced they had signed to Deathwish Inc. in December 2010—a label that was founded by Converge's vocalist Jacob Bannon. Deathwish contacted Deafheaven, and originally only wanted to give their demo a wide physical release. By this point, the group already had some new material written and asked if Deathwish could release both the demo and the new material. The first release that Deafheaven released through Deathwish was a 7" vinyl single that featured "Libertine Dissolves" and "Daedalus", two songs that were taken from the group's demo. The single was pressed in a limited quantity and sent out as a gift to random people that made a purchase from Deathwish's webstore.
Their debut album, Roads to Judah, was released on April 26, 2011 through Deathwish. The title of the album is a reference to the N Judah light rail that provides transportation in Deafheaven's hometown, and lyrically the album is about Clarke's "year of substance abuse and debauchery." Roads to Judah received positive reviews from Decibel and RVA Magazine, and was placed on several year-end lists including NPR, Pitchfork and The A.V. Club. MSN Music also named Deafheaven one of the best new artists of 2011.
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