"Black Brick" is a song by the American post-black metal band
Deafheaven
Deafheaven is an American black metal band formed in 2010. Originally based in San Francisco, the group began as a two-piece with singer George Clarke and guitarist Kerry McCoy (musician), Kerry McCoy, who recorded and self-released Demo (Deafh ...
. It is an outtake from the band's ''
Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
''Ordinary Corrupt Human Love'' is the fourth studio album by American band Deafheaven, released on July 13, 2018 through Anti-. The title of the album was inspired by Graham Greene's 1951 novel ''The End of the Affair''.
Release and promotion
On ...
'' sessions and was released as a stand-alone single.
Release
''Black Brick'' was released for streaming and as a digital download on February 27, 2019 through
Anti-
Anti- is an American record label founded in 1999 as a sister label to Epitaph Records.
Founded by Andy Kaulkin, Anti- first gained attention by releasing Tom Waits's Grammy Award–winning '' Mule Variations'' in 1999. Other veteran recordin ...
records.
The track did not receive any marketing or promotion; its surprise release coincided with the start of Deafheaven's March–April 2019 US tour with
Baroness
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knight ...
.
Critical reception
Music critics praised the track for being one of Deafheaven's heaviest songs to date
with many critics noting that it differed greatly from the other songs from the ''Ordinary Corrupt Human Love'' sessions.
Other critics noted elements of
thrash metal
Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...
and compared it to the darker and heavier material on their 2015 album ''
New Bermuda''.
In his write-up for "Black Brick"'s release, Andrew Sacher of ''
BrooklynVegan
''BrooklynVegan'' is an American online music magazine founded in 2004 by David Levine. The company is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, and originally focused on vegan food and the music community in and around New York City, before broadeni ...
'' wrote: "It's darker and more evil than Deafheaven almost ever sound, with mile-a-minute thrash riffs, metalcore chugs, and other devil horn-worthy sounds worked in to their usual post-black metal approach. It's the first song they released since
being nominated for a Grammy (but losing to
High on Fire
High on Fire is an American heavy metal band from Oakland, California, that was formed in 1998. Matt Pike, the band's frontman and founder, also plays guitar for Sleep. High on Fire won the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance with thei ...
), and if you thought Grammy exposure would make them want to go in an even softer direction, you thought wrong."
''
Revolver
A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...
'' said of the song: "Not only has the single dropped seemingly out of the blue, but it's also Deafheaven's heaviest offering yet, a fully necro blast of sepulchral grimness. The seven-and-a-half-minute cut is a B-side from ''Ordinary Corrupt Human Love'', and one can only wonder how different the album would have felt as a whole with its inclusion."
In their review of Deafheaven's performance on their tour with Baroness, the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
August Brown wrote: "The new, writhing single 'Black Brick' pulls more from classic thrash, and its sudden peals of violence put everything else around it in sharper focus. Texture and drama are baked into these songs, and sequencing them well clearly matters a lot to this band."
References
External links
Black Brickon
Bandcamp
Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...
{{Authority control
2019 singles
2019 songs
Deafheaven songs