Images: Deafheaven, Destruction Unit, Demon Lung March 29, 2014 at the Las Vegas Country Saloon

Deafheaven rolled through the Las Vegas Country Saloon on March 29, and though attendance was sparse for the post-metal band (I counted about 50 people total), it was an amazing night. And loud. Very loud.

Locals Demon Lung kicked things off, doing their best to excite a crowd that was at best ten people, who were all sitting down. They described themselves as a “horror themed” metal band, with songs based on the films “Warlock” and “Hellraiser” in their repertoire. They weren’t an obvious opener for Deafheaven, with a sound closer to something like Kyuss than the black-metal-meets-shoegaze style of the headliners. But vocalist Shanda Fredrick has a cool, haunting voice, and despite the low turnout, the band put on a great show.

Destruction Unit took the stage next, bringing their noisy, fuzz-filled punk to Las Vegas for the very first time. It seemed like they only played two decipherable songs from their latest effort, Deep Trip, amidst long interludes of feedback and noise…very loud noise. Some attendees immediately covered their ears and moved toward the back of the venue to minimize the volume, but the remainder of the crowd stayed up front and enjoyed the show as band members swung their guitars and experimented with a number of effects pedals to produce a unique sound. Destruction Unit ended their set with a wildly entertaining wall of noise that was pulled off perfectly, mostly due to the band’s great stage presence.

My introduction to Deafheaven was seeing them play to an even smaller crowd at Yayo Taco sometime in 2011. I remember leaving the show blown away at their detailed musicianship, and this show was no different. The band focused most of its attention on last year’s Sunbather and they managed to answer the question that was on everybody’s mind that night: “Can they pull off these live?” Though the black metal genre is known for being performed rawly and even sloppily at times, Deafheaven hit every note precisely and the outcome is a unique, defined sound. Guitars sounded just as beautiful and lush as ever and melodic interludes by guitarist Kerry McCoy brought that side of Deafheaven to the forefront in a live setting. Songs like Sunbather’s title track sounded powerful live, and though vocalist George Clarke was hard to hear at times, his charisma more than made up for it. The highlight of the band’s set was “Dream House,” a nine-minute opus that showcases, arguably, the most prevalent element of the Deafheaven sound: melody amidst chaos.

I left the venue with my ears ringing. That’s the sign of a good show, right?

-Ian Caramanzana

Photos by Emily Matview | https://www.flickr.com/photos/holdfastnow/