Roads to Judah
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Roads to Judah is the debut studio album by the American black metal band Deafheaven. The album was released by Deathwish Inc. on April 26, 2011.[1] Roads to Judah was recorded in four days between December 2010 and January 2011.[2]
Reception
Roads to Judah was met with generally positive reviews. Shane Mehling of Decibel gave the album an eight out of ten, and praised it for pushing the boundaries of black metal. He wrote that, "This band produces long, incredibly beautiful black metal that, aside from the buried shrieks of the vocalist, doesn't have a drop of evil of noticeable malice, and that Deafheaven is, "sure as hell doing a lot more with the genre than the newest batch of gauntlet-wearing Darkthrone worshipers."[3] Graham Scala of RVA Magazine wrote that Deafheaven's songs are, "all a series of graceful transitions and dynamic shifts in timbre, rather than marathon blastbeat sessions or one effects-laden crescendo after another. This is a distinction which not only separates them from the majority of their contemporaries, but has provided the basis for a memorable and compelling release."[4] However, Alex Deller of Rock Sound gave the album a six out of ten stating that Deafheaven's blend of black metal and shoegaze wasn't "an entirely new proposition" and compared the album to the music of Liturgy.[5]
Accolades
Publication Country Accolade Rank The A.V. Club[6] US Loud's Top 15 of 2011 12 Decibel[7] US Top 40 Extreme Albums of 2011 36 MSN[8] US The Top 50 Albums of 2011 17 NPR[9] US The Best Metal Albums of 2011 6 Pitchfork[10] US Top 40 Metal Albums of 2011 22
Track listing
All songs written and recorded by Deafheaven.[2]
- "Violet" – 12:19
- "Language Games" – 6:46
- "Unrequited" – 9:31
- "Tunnel of Trees" – 9:45
Personnel
Deafheaven
- Nick Bassett – guitars
- George Clarke – vocals
- Trevor Deschryver – drums
- Kerry McCoy – guitars
- Derek Prine – bass guitar
Production[2]
- Jack Shirley – production, engineering, mixing, mastering
- Deafheaven – production
Artwork[2]
- R. Sawyer – cover art, insert art
- N. Steinhardt – package design
References
- ^ Hill, Ian (April 9, 2011). "Deafheaven's 'Violently Depressing' Sound Helps SF Act Build Momentum". KQED. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
- ^ a b c d Roads to Judah (CD gatefold). Deafheaven. Deathwish Inc. 2011. DW120.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ Mehling, Shane (June 2011). "Rock'n'Roll, Inverted". Decibel (80). Philadelphia: Red Flag Media Inc.: 78–80. ISSN 1557-2137.
- ^ Scala, Graham (April 1, 2011). "Review: Roads to Judah". RVA Magazine. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
- ^ Deller, Alex (June 2011). "Review: Roads to Judah". Rock Sound (148). London: 90. ISSN 1465-0185.
- ^ Heller, Jason (December 7, 2011). "Loud: December 7, 2011". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
- ^ Andrew, Bonazelli; Macomber, Shawn (January 2012). "Top 40 Extreme Albums of 2011". Decibel (87). Philadelphia: Red Flag Media Inc.: 52. ISSN 1557-2137.
- ^ Begrand, Adrien (December 8, 2011). "The Top 50 Albums of 2011, #20–11". MSN Music. Microsoft. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
- ^ Gotrich, Lars (November 29, 2011). "The Best Metal Albums of 2011". NPR. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
- ^ Stosuy, Brandon (November 28, 2011). "The Top 40 Metal Albums of 2011". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 2, 2011.