You would expect depressive Post-Black Metal to be unremittingly grey and swathed in agony and sadness, and so it is with An Autumn for Crippled Children’s (AAfCC) “Lost”. This territory is not unknown. The album reminded me of Forgotten Tomb, but heavier.
The first track “To Set Sails to the End of the Earth” is a gem. Enveloped in mystical darkness, the scream-accompanied rhythm stimulates the senses. It pauses for momentary reflection before returning to the agony. “Tragedy Bleed all over the Lost” is more of the same. Quietly methodical, it subtly shifts in pace. The rhythm is calming rather than depressing save a heightened section towards the end. “A Dire Faith” follows. It is a sorrowful dirge, building up and developing both a sense of majesty and of things going wrong all around. The repetitious and monotonous nature of it is part of the overall atmosphere, but it can be hard going. “In Moonlight Blood is Black” is like a compilation of what’s gone before and is nondescript. By contrast “Ghost Light” starts with some authority. The rhythm now rings out ferociously but it’s not really achieving anything. The album was starting to get dull but the track “An Autumn for Crippled Children” pulls it back with a potent mix of mid-paced delivery, evocative sadness and heightened intensity. There’s an air of finality about it. The guitars serenade and the track sways softly. The lighter rhythm of “I Beg Thee not to Spare Me” then mixes nicely with the anguished screams. The serenading guitars cut in but like much of this album, it doesn’t lead anywhere. Light leads back to dark on “Gaping Void of Silence”. It has a ponderous beat, there’s something calming about it as the guitar vacillates up and down. It’s not dissimilar to “I Beg Thee not to Spare Me” but is more reflective, melancholic and agonising. Finally, “Never Shall Be Again” returns to a high pitch to maintain the intensity. I liked the sinister guitar raining melody on us in this case. It then slows and pauses for reflection before the screams intervene. Doom descends. Not since the first track of this album has it lived up to the billing that AAfCC “weave emotionally gripping, sonically gorgeous tapestries that canvass Black Metal, doom and post-rock”. “Never Shall Be Again” has good movement. It’s simple and delicate, and builds up an impressive height and majesty.
Some grandiose claims accompany this debut album from AAfCC. When it’s good, it’s really good but as the style would suggest, it’s colourless and the moods which the band evokes can be limited. To quote the associated publicity, “glorious cascades of melancholy wash down on you” but whether you’re up for 50 minutes of gloomy depression is a matter of choice.
http://www.myspace.com/crippledchilden2009
http://www.atmf.net
