YMMV / Deafheaven

• Awesome Music: Some people will find it to be this, anyway. There is a reason why Sunbather is considered one of the best albums of 2013. If you enjoy Deafheaven, you'll probably enjoy almost everything they've released at the bare minimum. If you don't, well...
• Critical Dissonance: They're generally highly respected by the music press, but are extremely divisive within the metal community.
• Gateway Series: They have served as this for Black Metal for some people.
• Hype Backlash: Applies to Sunbather as well; as it's hyped as being the band's best album and was the best reviewed album in 2013 of any genre, many people were disappointed upon listening to it.
• It's Popular, Now It Sucks!: Since it's commercially successful black metal, it was bound to get this reaction from some corners. Just the sheer mention of them on a black metal forum will result in a person either getting swarmed by trolls or labeled a 'poser' just for listening to them.
• It's the Same, Now It Sucks!: Some people had this reaction to New Bermuda.
• Memetic Mutation: Editing the album cover for Sunbather to say nonsensical things instead of the album title.
• More Popular Spin-Off: Deafheaven is more successful than George Clarke and Kerry McCoy's previous band, Rise of Caligula.
• Narm: A lot of their lyrics can be perceived as being overly verbose and melodramatic. Special mention goes to "Brought to the Water", which closes with George Clarke dramatically screaming the lines "My world closes its eyes to sex and laughter."
• Periphery Demographic:
  • They're well liked among fans of post-rock for obvious reasons, and can serve as a gateway to black metal for fans of that genre.
  • They have a pretty strong following in the DIY punk and screamo communities as well, again because of the noticeable screamo influence in their sound and aesthetic, especially on Sunbather.
  • They're also popular on 4chan's /mu/ board, with Sunbather frequently being categorized with other "/mu/core" albums like In the Aeroplane Over the Sea and OK Computer by the board's users.
• Signature Song: "Dream House", "Brought to the Water" or "Honeycomb" To a lesser extent, "From the Kettle Onto the Coil" and "Black Brick".
• Suspiciously Similar Song: The main riff to "Black Brick" sounds a lot like "Demonium" by Immortal. Just listen for yourself.
• Sweet Dreams Fuel: "Irresistable" and the Subdued Section of "The Pecan Tree." Actually, if a person isn't bothered by the Metal Screams, a rather large portion of their music could qualify as this.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: The primary reason some other people dislike them.
• Tough Act to Follow: New Bermuda, while a strong and dark album, is generally considered a bit inferior next to Sunbather.
• Win Back the Crowd: The single for the new album New Bermuda seems to garner some positive attention from the metal community to say the least.
  • It seemed to be a huge inverse for fans and non-fans: Non-fans consider New Bermuda to be a fantastic new release and actually enjoy the band...but old fans see the album as just being Sunbather again.
  • Surprisingly now everyone seems to agree Ordinary Corrupt Human Love is this for both fans and black metal heads.