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An Autumn For Crippled Children - The Long Goodbye review




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Reviewer:
8.7

62 users:
7.61
Band: An Autumn For Crippled Children
Album: The Long Goodbye
Release date: February 2015


01. The Long Goodbye
02. Converging Towards The Light
03. A New Form Of Stillnes
04. Only Skin
05. When Night Leaves Again
06. She's Drawning Mountains
07. Endless Skies
08. Gleam
09. The Sleep Of Rust

Guess which made up metal genre term I'm not going to mention once?

In 2013, I first discovered An Autumn For Crippled Children via their outstanding release Try Not To Destroy Everything You Love. They went toe to toe with everyone's new, favorite, juicy blackgaze fad of the moment Deafheaven's, Sunbather. Personally I feel Try Not To Destroy Everything You Love is a much better album than Sunbather but I digress. An Autumn For Crippled Children truly have one of the more unique sounds of any metalgaze band today and their new album, The Long Goodbye, uses the same formula from their last release but with a tad bit of enhancement.

The essense of The Long Goodbye is introvertive, ethereal compositions accompanied with surprisingly infectious melodies bluntly draped around a misty, hazy chassis. The songs are equally joyful and melancholic at the same time because of the harsh vocals of black metal and powerful, distorted layered guitars adapting extremely well with heavenly sounding synthesizers/electronics and simple but driving percussion. The contrast between light and dark is quite remarkable and somehow the packaging of all the musical elements is harmonious. Thorough listenings will unveil a hybrid playstyle consisting of black metal, post metal, ambient and shoegaze. Brooding, dreamy melodies create beautiful and lush sensations while the sandy and grainy lo-fi production indulges dynamic time changes done in a kind of luminous way.

The enhancements I spoke of earlier on The Long Goodbye aren't really all that mind-blowing but minor upgrades. First, the production is better; MXM's vocals are really buried beneath the wall of noise on their previous record. This time, his vocals are more articulated, gently layered below the forceful sound that's still emotional yet coherent. Lastly, as good as Try Not To Destroy Everything You Love is, the songs are a bit chaotic. The song writing on The Long Goodbye has improved to a point where it seems there is a purposeful stride within all of the tracks; a point A to point B basic mechanic. Predictions can be made when a chorus will appear or when a bridge or tempo change is in order. This structural integrity gives all the songs consequence, an easier way to remember each song. In summary, do I like this album better then the last? I would say yes.

I firmly believe An Autumn For Crippled Children are one of the bands at the apex of the foggy, icy covered black-gazed mountain top. With The Long Goodbye, they have elevated their game to the highest level by dumbing down their approach. A simple but effective maneuver, when euphoric atmosphere and blinding aura are smoothly ingested without much ado, music of this kind has fulfilled its purpose.

And I didn't even mention the term once...


Rating breakdown
Performance: 9
Songwriting: 9
Originality: 8
Production: 9





Written on 22.02.2015 by Be gentle, I never said I was any good at this!


Comments

Comments: 29   Visited by: 420 users
22.02.2015 - 23:06
Ilham
Giant robot
Haha. Kudos on avoiding the word.
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22.02.2015 - 23:15
Rating: 9
Karlabos
Meat and Potatos
Hmm? I don't get it
You mentioned shoegaze, black metal and post metal... I don't have many terms apart from those that pop on my mind when I hear "An Autumn for Crippled Children"

Internal joke, perhaps?

Either way, it's tomorrow heh? Soon.
----
"Aah! The cat turned into a cat!"
- Reimu Hakurei
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22.02.2015 - 23:17
Rating: 9
tea[m]ster
Au Pays Natal
Written by Karlabos on 22.02.2015 at 23:15

Hmm? I don't get it
I don't have many terms apart from those that pop on my mind when I hear "An Autumn for Crippled Children"

you are missing one

think about deafheaven...specifically Sunbather...
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rekt
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22.02.2015 - 23:18
Rating: 9
Karlabos
Meat and Potatos
Written by tea[m]ster on 22.02.2015 at 23:17

Written by Karlabos on 22.02.2015 at 23:15

Hmm? I don't get it
I don't have many terms apart from those that pop on my mind when I hear "An Autumn for Crippled Children"

you are missing one

think about deafheaven...specifically Sunbather...

Oh! xD
----
"Aah! The cat turned into a cat!"
- Reimu Hakurei
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22.02.2015 - 23:24
X-Ray Rod
Skandino
Was it screamo? Emo? ...The Bird?
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Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29
Like you could kiss my ass
Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
Rod, let me love you.
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22.02.2015 - 23:27
Rating: 9
tea[m]ster
Au Pays Natal
Written by X-Ray Rod on 22.02.2015 at 23:24

Was it screamo? Emo? ...The Bird?

lmfao...I hope this doesn't take over my review - I thought I wrote a good one this time
----
rekt
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22.02.2015 - 23:54
Feng

I honestly can't think of what the term is, and I know I'll probably feel silly once I realise it. I went on their last.fm tag page for some help working it out, only to be reminded of the fantastic range of tags the anti-deafheaven brigade have given them.

"Ambient Dildocore" is definitely my favourite.
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23.02.2015 - 00:02
Rating: 9
tea[m]ster
Au Pays Natal
Written by Feng on 22.02.2015 at 23:54

"Ambient Dildocore" is definitely my favourite.

lol...that is NOT the term...
----
rekt
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23.02.2015 - 00:03
PocketMetal

Loved the last one, even reviewed it, seems like it was yesterday. Judging by the review, I have high hopes for this one as well.
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23.02.2015 - 00:04
Rating: 9
tea[m]ster
Au Pays Natal
Written by PocketMetal on 23.02.2015 at 00:03

Loved the last one, even reviewed it, seems like it was yesterday. Judging by the review, I have high hopes for this one as well.

you will not be disappointed...trust me.
----
rekt
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23.02.2015 - 00:07
Ilham
Giant robot
Yeah sorry Jay it's a really nice review there. Sorry, I just loved the little joke .
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23.02.2015 - 00:24
X-Ray Rod
Skandino
Good review nonetheless. I enjoyed their previous album a lot so by the looks of it, I'll be expecting something roughly as good.
----
Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29
Like you could kiss my ass
Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
Rod, let me love you.
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23.02.2015 - 00:35
Auntie Sahar
Drone Empress
Written by Feng on 22.02.2015 at 23:54

"Ambient Dildocore"

I laughed at that probably a lot longer than I should have
----
I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go.

~ II. VII
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23.02.2015 - 00:47
Rating: 7
flightoficarus
Stamp Tramp
I tend to really dislike blackgaze. Any chance this would sway me otherwise? Did not like Sunbatger pr really any of the 2014 candidates.
----
Daily underground metal recommendations at Metal Trenches.
Listen to the Trench Talk podcast.
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23.02.2015 - 07:24
SilentScream
Blasphemer
Wow this is awesome
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23.02.2015 - 08:57
Fallen Ghost
Craft Beer Geek
Didn't knew these guys had a new album already. I was a little bored of their previous effort, I may gotta re-listen to it. Lost and Everything is really good IMO, so I'm going to give this a shot
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23.02.2015 - 17:02
Hallford9000

Written by tea[m]ster on 23.02.2015 at 00:02

Written by Feng on 22.02.2015 at 23:54

"Ambient Dildocore" is definitely my favourite.

lol...that is NOT the term...

is it hipster black metal perhaps?
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23.02.2015 - 17:03
Rating: 7
Erik M.

Great review. Now I'm even more eager to check this out. Glad they got this album streaming in its entirety on their Bandcamp page.
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23.02.2015 - 17:04
Rating: 9
Karlabos
Meat and Potatos
Written by Hallford9000 on 23.02.2015 at 17:02

is it hipster black metal perhaps?

Noo. You spoke it
----
"Aah! The cat turned into a cat!"
- Reimu Hakurei
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23.02.2015 - 17:09
Hallford9000

Written by Karlabos on 23.02.2015 at 17:04

Written by Hallford9000 on 23.02.2015 at 17:02

is it hipster black metal perhaps?

Noo. You spoke it

oh nooo. they're gonna get me now. xD there is a facebook page called hipster black metal. I am not a hipster myself, but i tend to like a great number of bands labeled as such.
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24.02.2015 - 05:12
Susan
Smeghead
This review totally sold me. Cannot wait to listen
----
"A life all mine
Is what I choose
At the end of my days"
--The Gathering "A Life All Mine" from Souvenirs
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24.02.2015 - 06:00
Joe Zombie

Pretty good stuff. Makes me think if 'God Is an Astronaut' was a blackgaze band. Maybe that's just me.
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24.02.2015 - 16:02
Fallen Ghost
Craft Beer Geek
You're right about the vocals, much more audible now! Gotta listen a few more times before I'm giving a valid opinion I think
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24.02.2015 - 16:30
Rating: 7
flightoficarus
Stamp Tramp
It's alright...for blackgaze. I often can't sit through a whole album in this style, but they managed to give me some mild enjoyment.
----
Daily underground metal recommendations at Metal Trenches.
Listen to the Trench Talk podcast.
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25.02.2015 - 17:55
BitterCOld
The Ancient One
Intigued. will check this out.
----
get the fuck off my lawn.

Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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27.02.2015 - 05:31
Shmyt

I'm on spin #2, so far so good but not 100% sure if i love it yet
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28.02.2015 - 07:04
Rating: 8
hadriel

Didn't even know this was coming. Great review! Will be checking this out asap. Loved all of these guys' releases
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28.02.2015 - 16:45
Rating: 9
tea[m]ster
Au Pays Natal
Written by hadriel on 28.02.2015 at 07:04

Didn't even know this was coming.

Agreed, snuck up on us! I admit I haven't listened to their earlier works but I really love TNTDETYL, and this album is a bit better because of accessibility.
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rekt
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07.03.2015 - 08:23
Rating: 7
Kuroboshi

PINK METAL!

Yeah, 'tis pretty good. But honestly, I find Deafhaven more interesting.

Their last 2 albums have managed to be very diverse!
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