An Autumn For Crippled Children – Eternal

The Dutch three piece return with their sixth full length offering ‘Eternal’, just released digitally but more interestingly, a planned limited edition vinyl release is set for later in the year

The band fall into the murky subgenre of post Black Metal meets Shoegaze but have an uncanny knack of being able to set themselves aside from their contemporaries by throwing in subtle melodic passages and incredibly catchy riffs, that many other projects in this field are simply unable to replicate. Opening track, ‘Eternal Youth’ is a good example of everything that the band are attempting to achieve with this album, an almost dream like and uplifting background wall of guitar and synth, pushing forward the deliberately undecipherable vocal to wreak havoc with your emotions. So often I come across albums by bands that have all the elements individually but for whatever reason are falling short by not getting it all together to form the finished article. AAFCC on this album, and indeed previous releases , come across as masters of weaving the perfect blend of depressive imagery and feeling, decay and hopelessness, ultimately producing a wonderful  web of soaring and thought provoking music. A trick that maybe someone like Alcest are able to achieve but to be honest, I can not think of many others

‘Eternal’ has plenty of strings to its bow, from the quite fast paced ‘On Fire’, a track that is so easy to just close your eyes and drift away to, right through to the almost hypnotic ‘Farewell’, and the oh so tormented ‘Days Of Sleep’, there really is plenty to get your teeth into. Unlikely to be a huge commercial success, and all the better for it, this is as good as it gets, the simply stunning  ‘Cloud Mood’ being my personal pick of a very good bunch. If you can take the leap of faith and become immersed in this album, you will not be disappointed, from beginning to end, a faultless collection of sadness and despair

Music from black hearts for lost souls

Track Listing:

Eternal Youth

I Will Never Let You Die

On Fire

Farewell

This Small Space You Occupied Is So Empty Now

You Have Been In The Shadows For So Long

Days Of Sleep

Swallowed By Night’s Despair

Cloud Mood

Matters Of The Heart

An Autumn For Crippled Children are:

MCHL – Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards

TD – Bass, Keyboards

CHR – Drums

Eternal is available for download now via the band and Wickerman Records

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