By the time you read this you will have no doubt seen this record feature in practically every “Best Of 2013” album list doing the rounds.

And with good reason it turns out.

Most people I know have written deafheaven  off due to the ‘Hipster’ ‘Trendy’ and other various derogative terms, and to be honest so did I when I first encountered them supporting Russian Circles in 2012 (how did that bill come about!) as at the time they appeared to be a group of individuals who learned how to play black metal but not a reason to play it.

Well they have now found a reason as Sunbather is their second album and is a real step up in quality and direction.

They have taken the black metal template and infused it with a massive post-ROCK (not metal) vibe giving it a very happy feel, this is probably as close to a summer party record as black metal can get.

This would all be meaningless if they couldn’t write engaging material and Sunbather has this in spades as each track shifts between outright fury and nuanced melodic emotional passages creating quite a journey ably demonstrated by personal highlights “Sunbather”, “Vertigo” and “The Pelican Tree”.

Do yourself a favour, click play.