#monuments collapse

[respicefinem777]

Pathos

Monuments Collapse - Split with Monuments Collapse and Breag Naofa

[peowpeowave]

Anopheli — A Hunger Rarely Sated (2014)

[bis-aufs-messer]

Breag Naofa - VII

[mutemonologue]

[cavistapes]

[Live Video - Full Set] Monuments Collapse - Bottom of the Hill 07.15.2013

[dfhvn]

Deafheaven, Marriages & Monuments Collapse July 15, 2013 - San Francisco - Bottom of the Hill

Better than: What most of your friends were doing on the grayest, coolest Monday night of the summer so far.

It's only fitting that we should find San Francisco return to its frigid summer form to welcome back its native sons Deafheaven, fresh from a month-long tour across the scorching climes of the rest of the United States. In supporting its latest new album, Sunbather, the band had its work cut out for it. Too abrasive for the post rock crowd but too limp-wristed for the black metal crowd, Deafheaven defiantly pillaged from both genres and was met with a string of sold-out shows and general acclaim, a handful of Internet trolls notwithstanding.

All of which makes this hometown show seem likely to play out as a victory lap. The band's almost obnoxiously diverse approach is well-suited for the young, omnivorous scene that birthed it. What's more, the band members are avowed partiers, openly sharing their love for every indulgence from cough syrup to strip club buffets through social media. Cagey they are not, but at the same time they've been open about their appreciation for a short-attention span youth culture embracing a band that traffics in 10-plus-minute heavy metal epics with no repeating parts. They've also expressed sincere optimism that the band's current lineup spells the end of its revolving door, meaning that vocalist George Clarke and guitarist Kerry McCoy may no longer have ringers, but a full-fledged band.

Next up were Marriages.Whereas their parent band Red Sparowes suffered from a kind of homogeneity that never sacrificed sprawl for assertiveness, Marriages seem dedicated to the thesis of the power trio. A pounding rhythm section builds on simple angular guitar figures, creating a dense nest for Emma Ruth Rundle's PJ Harvey-esque vocal swagger. This kind of cathartic modern rock was apparently only a point of departure, as Rundle and bassist Greg Burns stomped on their myriad pedals and went positively sci-fi atop Chris Common's propulsive drums. Good stuff.

The members of  Deafheaven set up their gear and leave the stage abruptly, though McCoy leaves his guitar looping a hypnotic, organ-like minor chord. Clarke, dressed like a black-gloved assassin, hits the stage with the rest of the band, hamming it up, gesturing for the crowd to come hither, and striking comically sexual poses reminiscent of your drunk friend pretending to be Robert Plant in the '70s. 

DeafheavenThen something weird happens: the music starts and Clarke's pose stops being funny; it ends up becoming one of the most weirdly compelling cases for the notion of the "frontperson" in recent memory. As if transfigured by the sweeping sonic landscapes conjured by his bandmates, Clarke puts on an utterly unselfconscious piece of performance art, channeling the transformative power of Deafheaven's music through physicality as clearly as his screams, if not more so.

The band members are tighter than a rusted lug nut. God help these guys, but as they charge through a suite of their most recent material into an utterly rousing chunk of their debut, Roads to Judah, one can only hope this lineup sticks. They punish and caress effortlessly, though clearly none are virtuosos. Indeed, there's something terribly punk about this band, in that the members' ambition and ability to execute are often evenly matched. The music itself seems to actually make them grow. Crescendo after crescendo, it's clear that Deafheaven's only commitment is to ensuring that its tension explodes as often as possible. Tonight, it was further evident that, for all the care this band so evidently exhibits in the studio, its power is most thrilling live. - by Alee Karim

[allanwaffleswan]

Here's a small blog post about the Monuments Collapse/Marriages/Deafheaven show last night (photos uploaded in order of the bands). 

You can see all of the photos from the show here.

Monuments Collapse:

I don't think a band name has ever so perfectly summed what the band sounds like. 

Marriages: 

Marriages. Oh Marriages. There is this sense of unity that you feel on stage when these folks are playing that is hard to explain. Everything flowed so seamlessly into itself; it was like drifting in a river of stuff and things. It just makes you feel good to see them live. This band deserves the world.

deafheaven: 

There isn't much I can say about deafheaven that hasn't already been said in the past few months following the release of Sunbather. This was the last night of their tour with Marriages and it brought them right back home to San Francisco. Maybe that had something to do with it. Coming home after a long journey. I assume these guys bring it every night, but I have quite honestly never seen anything like it. A band so willing let the weight fall one person and one person so willing to let the weight fall on the audience. I don't know what that means, but it didn't sound that good in my head either. Yeah...