Live Review: Deafheaven

California's Deafheaven are a band that could only happen now. They are a fierce combination of black metal, shoegaze and post-rock that could only come out of a hyper-awareness of postmodern sounds. The polarisation of public opinion surrounding the band is strong, and the bile aimed at them is a result of grotesque projection, insecurity and misguided territoriality. That they got booked to play at the Sydney Opera House means something. It's a defiant middle finger (covered in black nail polish) to the idea that metal needs to be locked away somewhere in a garage or bleeding from the earbuds of some mopey kid at the back of the bus for it to be "pure". Despite the petty grief they endure, all that useless noise is blown away as soon as they play. They perform a perfectly savage rendition of New Bermuda in its entirety and cross metal off the list for the Opera House, the final frontier for a place designed for austerity and refinement.

They take the stage quietly. George Clarke sways and crouches like a big cat. The frantic melodrama of Brought To The Water opens the floodgates. It's a great song, full of strong ideas and motifs all stitched neatly together while maintaining power and tempo. Luna gets a big response, and as the onslaught gives way to Explosions In The Sky post-rock around the seven-minute mark the room loosens up. People begin standing, head nodding becomes headbanging, and the band start to feed on the energy.

Baby Blue is where some people (metal purists) step off. They lean right into the lush dream-pop expanse for the first few minutes, releasing the tension the space had built up. Kerry McCoy, lead guitarist, seems to lag here and there, and maybe the vocals could have been upped, but that's just nit-picking.

The encore is Sunbather and Dream House, a mic-dropping two-punch combo that closes out a blistering show. Intensity, technicality and emotional heft are all accomplished. Having black metal dragged out into the light (sans corpse paint, thank God) is not a bad thing. Having a group like Deafheaven do it in style like this is even better.