Roads to Judah

Roads to Judah is the debut studio album by the American blackgaze band Deafheaven. The album was released by Deathwish Inc. on April 26, 2011.[6] Roads to Judah was recorded in four days between December 2010 and January 2011.[7]

Roads to Judah
Studio album by
Deafheaven
ReleasedApril 26, 2011 (2011-04-26)
RecordedDecember 2010 – January 2011
StudioAtomic Garden Studio, East Palo Alto, California
Genre
Length38:21
LabelDeathwish (DW120)
ProducerJack Shirley, Deafheaven
Deafheaven chronology
Demo
(2010)		 Roads to Judah
(2011)		 Deafheaven / Bosse-de-Nage
(2012)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Decibel8/10[3]
Metal Storm9.3/10[4]
Rock Sound6/10[5]
RVAPositive[2]

About

The album title is a reference to N Judah, one of the busiest lines in the San Francisco transit system.[8] Lyrically, the album is about Clarke's substance abuse.[9]

Reception

Roads to Judah was met with generally positive reviews. Shane Mehling of Decibel gave the album an eight out of ten, and praised it for pushing the boundaries of black metal. He wrote that, "This band produces long, incredibly beautiful black metal that, aside from the buried shrieks of the vocalist, doesn't have a drop of evil or noticeable malice" and that Deafheaven is "sure as hell doing a lot more with the genre than the newest batch of gauntlet-wearing Darkthrone worshipers."[3] Graham Scala of RVA Magazine wrote that Deafheaven's songs are, "all a series of graceful transitions and dynamic shifts in timbre, rather than marathon blastbeat sessions or one effects-laden crescendo after another. This is a distinction which not only separates them from the majority of their contemporaries, but has provided the basis for a memorable and compelling release."[2] However, Alex Deller of Rock Sound gave the album a six out of ten stating that Deafheaven's blend of black metal and shoegaze was not "an entirely new proposition" and compared the album to the music of Liturgy.[5]

Accolades
Publication Country Accolade Rank
The A.V. Club[10] US Loud's Top 15 of 2011 12
Decibel[11] US Top 40 Extreme Albums of 2011 36
MSN[12] US The Top 50 Albums of 2011 17
NPR[13] US The Best Metal Albums of 2011 6
Pitchfork[14] US Top 40 Metal Albums of 2011 22

Track listing

All songs written and recorded by Deafheaven.[7]

No.TitleLength
1."Violet"12:19
2."Language Games"6:46
3."Unrequited"9:31
4."Tunnel of Trees"9:45
Total length:38:21

Personnel

Adapted from the album liner notes.[7]

Deafheaven

  • Nick Bassett – guitars
  • George Clarke – vocals
  • Trevor Deschryver – drums
  • Kerry McCoy – guitars
  • Derek Prine – bass

Production

  • Jack Shirley – production, engineering, mixing, mastering
  • Deafheaven – production

Artwork

  • R. Sawyer – cover art, insert art
  • N. Steinhardt – package design

References
  1. Ulrey, Jeremy (June 3, 2013). "Album Review: DEAFHEAVEN Sunbather". Metal Injection.
  2. Scala, Graham (April 1, 2011). "Review: Roads to Judah". RVA Magazine. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  3. Mehling, Shane (June 2011). "Rock'n'Roll, Inverted". Decibel. Philadelphia: Red Flag Media Inc. (80): 78–80. ISSN 1557-2137.
  4. Killjoy, Troy (June 15, 2011). "Deafheaven - Road To Judah review". Metal Storm.
  5. Deller, Alex (June 2011). "Review: Roads to Judah". Rock Sound. London (148): 90. ISSN 1465-0185.
  6. Hill, Ian (April 9, 2011). "Deafheaven's 'Violently Depressing' Sound Helps SF Act Build Momentum". KQED. Archived from the original on September 28, 2012. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
  7. Roads to Judah (CD gatefold). Deafheaven. Deathwish Inc. 2011. DW120.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  8. Chichester, Sammi (May 25, 2011). "Deafheaven: Roads to Judah". Mind Equals Blown. Archived from the original on November 20, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  9. Macomber, Shawn (July 2011). "Deafheaven: By Demons (and Shoegaze) Be Driven". Decibel. Philadelphia: Red Flag Media Inc. (81): 26. ISSN 1557-2137.
  10. Heller, Jason (December 7, 2011). "Loud: December 7, 2011". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
  11. Andrew, Bonazelli; Macomber, Shawn (January 2012). "Top 40 Extreme Albums of 2011". Decibel. Philadelphia: Red Flag Media Inc. (87): 52. ISSN 1557-2137.
  12. Begrand, Adrien (December 8, 2011). "The Top 50 Albums of 2011, #20–11". MSN Music. Microsoft. Archived from the original on June 5, 2012. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
  13. Gotrich, Lars (November 29, 2011). "The Best Metal Albums of 2011". NPR. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  14. Stosuy, Brandon (November 28, 2011). "The Top 40 Metal Albums of 2011". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on November 30, 2011. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
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