Superheaven - Superheaven (Album Review)

Photo: Vincent Guglielmo

It seems that Superheaven chose the best possible moment to get back into the studio. In the decade between the release of ‘Ours is Chrome’ and this self-titled effort, there blend of hardcore and shoegaze has become big business. They were doing it before it was cool, and now they’ve returned to show everyone how it’s done. Superheaven’s third album is loud, textured and nuanced but, above all, it’s huge-sounding.

Opener Humans For Toys crashes in with a choppy, metallic riff before cruising coolly along, but its bursts of heaviness mean you are never allowed to feel too comfortable for too long. Numb To What Is Real, meanwhile, is a slice of spine-tingling, shoegaze-flecked alt-rock with some absolutely gigantic melodies.

Fuzzy follow-up Cruel Times feels like a time capsule of gritty early-mid 2010s rock that’s been newly excavated from the ground. 

Despite the tight cohesion with which they operate, though, there’s still light and shade here. Conflicted Mood has a softer touch, its guitars dreamily floating from background to foreground and back again, while Stare At The Void’s initially reedy chug is beautifully contrasted with its towering chorus. 

Elsewhere, Long Gone favours a similar thin-to-thick dynamic, but there’s something indelible about its chunky, subtly grungy riffs. Hot Head finds Superheaven at their fastest and noisiest.      Frankly, there are plenty of bands out there who wish they could make a record like this. ‘Superheaven’ was worth the wait and then some. Fingers crossed, the next one will arrive sometime before 2035.

More Reviews from Emma Wilkes

Deafheaven - Lonely People With Power

L.S. Dunes - Violet

Amyl and the Sniffers - Cartoon Darkness

Enumclaw - Home in Another Life

Illuminati Hotties - Power

Soft Play - Heavy Jelly

Hot Water Music - Vows

Sum 41 - Heaven :x: Hell

Laura Jane Grace - Hole In My Head

Sleater-Kinney - Little Rope

Code Orange - The Above

Royal Blood - Back To The Water Below

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