Deafheaven’s beloved Sunbather album has been remastered and re-released this month to celebrate its 10th (!) anniversary. This is quite a nostalgic release for me: Alongside the droney bliss of Sunn O))), this was the album (and artist) that turned me on to metal in general. As an angsty teen who basically only listened to Depeche Mode, metal might have stayed out of my listening territory if Sunbather hadn’t been recommended to me repeatedly by multiple music heads. And for good reason. It’s lovely how Deafheaven makes existential screaming sound sonorous, soaring, and strangely optimistic. Not to mention that their poetry is pretty if you dig into it.
Did Sunbather need a remastering? Maybe not. But well-attuned ears may notice a live quality to the new release. Compared to the original studio album, this edition sounds more akin to my experience seeing Deafheaven perform Sunbather in Minneapolis in 2017 and at San Francisco’s McLaren Park in 2022. There’s more space between the instruments and depth to the sound, which, for a dense noise palette, cultivates an enveloping sonic experience rather than a muddied one. Deafheaven manages to balance each musical component with almost symphonic attention to detail—a pleasing juxtaposition sprung from screaming about the beauty of love, the groundedness just from being alive, sailing upon hopeful, melodic guitar lines.
