AN AUTUMN FOR CRIPPLED CHILDREN - Eternal
Dutch trio An Autumn For Crippled Children has been around since 2008, busily releasing albums, making Eternal their already sixth longplayer. The mysteriously named band is categorised as a post black metal band, but that can mean anything and everything these days. In the case of AAFCC, we get a strange blend that hasn’t that much to do with black metal anymore. Ok, so the shrieking vocals may recall some elements of that genre, but they could as well be categorised as early screamo. The high pitched guitar may also have some common traits with black metal, but in combination with the dense synthesizer carpets, the band is conjuring a very definite shoegaze atmosphere, in a way that some have labelled their music blackgaze.
The cool thing about AAFCC is the fact that they are not only form, but definitely and foremost content. Their songs more or less average four minutes and a few second, and come in the guise of regular songs without that kind of self-indulgence that allows the songs to become never ending epics. So one might criticise that Eternal is in the end just a collection of songs, but the fact that the quality stays on a same high level throughout doesn’t make this point count. In fact, especially towards the end of the album, some tracks like You Have Been In The Shadows For So Long and even more so Swallowed By Night’s Despair, come with such a busy bass guitar that there is even a post punk flair. Although I am really not a fan of that genre, I have to admit that this weird hybrid of black metal, shoegaze and post punk transforms the music on Eternal into something rather unique.
No other genre is as boundless as post black metal, and in the case of An Autumn For Crippled Children, we have a talented band that manages to build a niche of their own. Gloomy metal fans with a knack for innovation will definitely welcome Eternal.