Between the Buried and Me at Phoenix Concert Theatre

Friday, February 28, 2014. Photographs by Dale Benvenuto

Metal and I don’t mingle too much.  More like infrequent acquaintances, and I have to my admit my delving into the scene is largely driven by friends’ recommendations or critic reviews.

San Francisco’s Deafheaven released their sophomore album, Sunbather, mid 2013 and ended up on top of Metacritic’s best overall reviewed album of the year.  The bathed-in-pink cover doesn’t really prepare you for what’s inside; an hour of thick guitar drones over furiously fast drums and the primal screaming of George Clarke.

Given their prominence on year-end lists, Deafheaven are in the midst of seizing their moment.  Currently touring with headliners Between The Buried And Me along with Intronaut and the Kindred, the tour pulled into Toronto’s Phoenix Theatre to a sold out crowd.

A ridiculously long lineup snaked down Sherbourne Street preventing me from catching most of Intronaut’s set, which was regrettable as the two songs I did catch were impressively heavy.

Overheard behind me was a conversation breaking down tonight’s crowd; the kids are up front for the headliner and the old guys are at back for Deafheaven.  Headliner status probably could have been swapped.

The five-piece began with “Dream House”, 10 minutes of adrenaline in the form of rushing guitars and Clarke’s screams more in your face in the live setting.  The drums seemed to be buried in the mix through most of the set.

Clarke’s stage presence reminded me of Marilyn Manson minus the theatrics, makeup and imagery.  He very much wanted to take control and conduct the packed throng in front of him, whether it be the security pit in the crowd’s face or the military-like salutes on top of a monitor, all the while trying to shake the strip of hair off the top of his head.

Aside from a couple of moments where everybody seemed ready to go off the rails, the band delivered a blistering tight set, interspersed with somber Mogwai-like interludes.  To be honest, I thought the band was wasted with this audience although they did inspire a lot of crowd surfing.  Many around me were put off by the quieter moments, although I found they added to the intrigue of the band.

They ended their set with an epic “Unrequited” off their debut, Roads to Judah, which finally had the band sound like the peel-the-paint-off fury they threaten to be and everyone agreed was every bit worth all the hype.