Deafheaven’s album Roads to Judah was a pretty impressive album but still too much leaning on the likes of Wolves in the Throne Room. However the quality was as good as the Cascadian band. With Sunbather their originality came up with the perfect amalgam of Shoegaze, Postrock and lightning fast Black Metal rhythms. The guitar sound still stays pretty light (hence the title) so you can’t really call it Black Metal. It doesn’t matter, the 63 minute album sticks in your head for the complete length. Let’s see how they will perform in the Ekko on Rumor 74; an unusual live night in Utrecht where three bands are spread out over the city.

Before the San Francisco’s enter the stage an ambient buzz is filling the air towards a broody climax. Slowly it’s getting packed with Indie guys, Black Metals, Hipsters and all sorts of music lovers that caught the impact of Sunbather.  When the drumsticks are clapping the real voyage starts with ‘Dreamhouse’. It takes some time before the strange quintet found its way on the stage. The sound, timing and vocals need to comfort for a while. When everything is fixed the trance inducing state is found. Songs like ‘Sunbather’ and the perfect song ‘Vertigo’ (the solo just before the Black Metal riff is amazing) are bringing the show to a climax.
 

It’s cool to see when a band has a different stage act as normal rock or metal bands. Take Harry Potter on guitar who is smiling the whole set when he puts out the greatest melodies, add up a singer in black who is wearing Michael Jackson hand shoes (with cut-off fingertips of course), handles the microphone stand in style and we already have a band that mixes arrogance with nerdy edges. Add up an insane drummer boy together with the other guitar player standing mean in his Morbid Angel shirt. In fact the staccato looking bass player is the most normal guy of the quintet. The mixture of musicians works for some reason just as variation of styles in the ‘The Pecan Tree’; the last song of Sunbather.
 

Just before the vocalist says thank you, the band is leaving the music for the listener’s imagination for one moment more; after less than an hour the show ends abruptly. No encore! Nothing left to wait for on this halloween evening! Deafheaven simply left you hungry for the next time or wanted you to spin the album once again.