Deafheaven at The Echoplex — Photo by Andrew Gomez

Since the release of their sophomore album Sunbather, Deafheaven have been quite the hot ticket having gained music fans from both metal and indie genres. This past week, Deafheaven closed out two sold-out shows at The Echoplex with support from Los Angeles shredders, HEALTH. It was a harsh feast for the ears with these two incredible performers.

Night two of the doubleheader kicked off with HEALTH performing a selection of tracks from their latest album Death Magic and throwbacks from Get Color, as well as their self-titled debut. One of the most intriguing aspects of any HEALTH show is witnessing John Famiglietti’s raw power. His stage presence is unmatched and Friday night he was on fire. Famiglietti was relentlessly creating beautiful noise on his multi-effect pedalboards while simultaneously mastering the art of “the hairflip.” The euphoric experience of a HEALTH show isn’t complete without Jake Duzsik’s dreamy vocals between heavy synths and chaotic percussion from drummer Benjamin Jared Miller. HEALTH covered all the fan favorites from Death Magic like “Stonefist,” “New Coke” and “L.A. Looks” where you could hear more of Duzsik’s vocals giving the show a more underground club vibe. HEALTH’s version of Crystal Castles‘ “Crimewave” made its presence known midway through the set and came to an end with deep cuts “We Are Water” and “Perfect Skin.”

HEALTH at The Echoplex — Photo by Andrew Gomez

Moments before five-piece San Francisco based metal band Deafheaven took the stage, Vocalist George Clarke came forth to the first row of the audience and thanked the fans for coming out before exploding into chaos. As the evening’s highly anticipated headliner, Deafheaven finally took the stage and kicked things off with “Brought to the Water.” Clarke stood over us wailing through is mic and using brute force to stomp his boots and dance with his microphone during more gentle moments. There were powerful portions of Deafheaven’s set during songs like “Come Back” where we were compelled by Clarke’s energy throughout the breakdowns and long screeches. They always seem to be perfectly timed between gentle riffs where we would escape the trance and reconnect with the band and everyone around us after a cathartic release. Deafheaven’s set was moving. They covered a mixture of their latest album New Bermuda, as well as their breakthrough record Sunbather.

Photography: Andrew Gomez