Review by Nathan GDL on November 19, 2021.

With the sudden and overwhelming rise of Deafheaven and the laughingstock of bands like Ghost Bath coming as the forefront of the modern blackgaze trend, it's hard to actually find bands post Sunbather that sound completely original and innovative. Although An Autumn For Crippled Children's Try Not To Destroy Everything You Love is a year older than Sunbather, it gets compared to it unjustly, mainly due to them both being post black metal leaning and both sharing pink album art.

As the album opens with the legendary 'Autumn Again', the track does not fail to surpass everything that has been done thus far in the genre. If there's one thing that AAFCC is perfect at, it's setting up the album, as the first song on every album tends to be my favorite, and the most bombastic. The synths that pop in like rays of the sun are perhaps the trademark sound to AAFCC, and it works so wonderfully as they use the synths throughout the album in the tightest of spots and the most luscious of places. The drumming on this LP, and perhaps, with every release after it, is an interesting take on the genre's normal pattern. The drums are extremely perky and spastic but in the best way possible. The fills on this album would never work outside of what they do here, especially on faster tracks such as 'Autumn Again' and 'Closer'.

The band works together with the closest metal equivalent to the legendary "Loveless" album by shoegazing pioneers My Bloody Valentine. The album, especially on tracks like 'Never Complete' and 'Hearts Of Light', have the warm and summer like atmosphere that suffocates the listener with its wall of beautiful noise. Around the 2:00 mark in 'Never Complete', the wall of suffocating beauty only grows as a long and drawn-out bass line bends over and surrounds the listener in a blanket of summery nostalgia. The guitars shimmer on tracks like 'The Woods Are On Fire', 'Avoiding Winter' and 'Starlit Spirits', where the tone is so full and rich that it literally feels like an orange ocean sunset illuminating some beachfront town with a warm, golden blaze. AAFCC is a mid-paced band as well, with tempos not exceeding the BPM of other blast beat crazy blackgaze bands, which only adds to the overwhelmingly luscious atmosphere this LP contains. Such an atmosphere only adds to the aesthetic of the band, as earlier releases such as Lost and Everything tend to stick to the more depressive and melancholic side of things.

With the soft pianos of 'Sepia Mountains For Her Lament' to the overwhelming suffocation of 'Never Complete', I could not give this album anything less than it deserves. One of my top three albums of all time.

Rating: 10 out of 10