An Autumn for Crippled Children - Lost Review

An Autumn for Crippled Children - Lost
Full-length, ATMF, January 2010

The whole post-black metal thing has really had quite an explosion over the past few years. Not completely sure who is to blame for starting the trend, but there is no question that a huge amount of bands have taken to this style and pushed it all over the place. Enter An Autumn For Crippled Children; a post black metal band that combines elements of depressive black metal, doom and post-rock. While this is nothing new in the whole post black metal explosion, some bands manage to do it considerably well.

On their debut full-length 'Lost', AAfCC really wallow in the depths of depressive black metal, with an almost funeral doom framework amongst the whole thing. Extremely slow, (although there are a few blast sections incorporated here and there) melodic, fuzzed out guitars, humming atmospheric synths, pulsating drums and howled vocals. There is a very melancholy vibe throughout the whole album, especially during the slower parts, where the melodic guitar leads and synth take up a good portion of the sonic field. During the faster parts-well, in general-the drums are pushed way back into the mix, not sure if they use a drum machine or not, but it would have been nice to hear the drums a bit more in the production. There are also a few moments in the album where the band seep into Alcest-like territory, with the more upbeat and bouncy riffs/melodies performed in a very shoe-gaze like fashion.

The production is very cloudy and fuzzy, which is not abnormal for this kind of music. It also comes across very cold sounding, since a good deal of the of the tonal range is very treble-y and loaded with high-end. Once again, nothing new for any wave of black metal. The biggest comparison I keep coming back to listening to this is Xasthur, while not entirely like his work, its the reference that keeps coming back to my mind each time I listen.

Not a bad release, a bit too same-y throughout the entire album, but not bad. I think if they add more elements to what they are doing and maybe clean up the production a bit, they might have something really special to offer in the future. A decent debut album though, definitely recommended for fans of the whole post-black metal trend happening nowadays.

Reviewed by E. - 6/10