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.[3] Roads to Judah was recorded in four days between December 2010 and January 2011.[4]

Roads to Judah
Studio album by Deafheaven
Released	April 26, 2011
Recorded	December 2010 – January 2011
Studio	Atomic Garden Studio, East Palo Alto, California
Genre	Blackgaze[1] post-metal
Length	38:21
Label	Deathwish (DW120)
Producer	Jack Shirley, Deafheaven
Deafheaven chronology
Demo (2010) Roads to Judah (2011) Live at The Blacktop (2011)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Metal Storm	9.3/10 [2]

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."[5] 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."[6] 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.[7]

Accolades

Publication	Country	Accolade	Rank
The A.V. Club[8]	US	Loud's Top 15 of 2011	12
Decibel[9]	US	Top 40 Extreme Albums of 2011	36
MSN[10]	US	The Top 50 Albums of 2011	17
NPR[11]	US	The Best Metal Albums of 2011	6
Pitchfork[12]	US	Top 40 Metal Albums of 2011	22

Track listing

All songs written and recorded by Deafheaven.[4]

No.	Title	Length
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.[4]

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. http://www.metalinjection.net/reviews/album-review-deafheaven-sunbather
2. http://www.metalstorm.net/pub/review.php?review_id=9271
3. 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.
4. Roads to Judah (CD gatefold). Deafheaven. Deathwish Inc. 2011. DW120.CS1 maint: others (link)
5. Mehling, Shane (June 2011). "Rock'n'Roll, Inverted". Decibel. Philadelphia: Red Flag Media Inc. (80): 78–80. ISSN 1557-2137.
6. Scala, Graham (April 1, 2011). "Review: Roads to Judah". RVA Magazine. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
7. Deller, Alex (June 2011). "Review: Roads to Judah". Rock Sound. London (148): 90. ISSN 1465-0185.
8. Heller, Jason (December 7, 2011). "Loud: December 7, 2011". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
9. Andrew, Bonazelli; Macomber, Shawn (January 2012). "Top 40 Extreme Albums of 2011". Decibel. Philadelphia: Red Flag Media Inc. (87): 52. ISSN 1557-2137.
10. 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.
11. Gotrich, Lars (November 29, 2011). "The Best Metal Albums of 2011". NPR. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
12. Stosuy, Brandon (November 28, 2011). "The Top 40 Metal Albums of 2011". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 2, 2011.