“Last year’s Lost won immediate acclaim for the oddly-yet-somehow-appropriately-named Dutch experimental/post-BM/doomsters, and Everything shows that the debut wasn’t a fluke. Aggressive, fragile, desolate, and beautiful, Everything most definitely isn’t indie-shoegaze trying to sneak into your record collection by virtue of signing to an extreme label. True, this will be too pretty for some; the wistful melancholy that emanates from every song is achingly beautiful, and is aided by a wash of atmospheric keyboards. But this would mean nothing if not for the intensity of the metal aspects. The hoarse, despairing howl of the vocals and the rush of distorted guitar noise: make no mistake, this is an extreme album, and the tranquil moments aren’t so much a ray of light as flickering glimmers of hope to be shattered and mourned. The nine songs are interchangeable; ‘I Am The Veil’ stands out with its CURE-like intro, but it ends up the same way as the others – epic and miserable. In short, AAFCC are doing the same as before, but better”

“While the crisply produced Everything is not a severe stylistic departure, An Autumn For Crippled Children tweaks things enough to make it differ significantly from Lost. In fact, they’ve just plain outdone themselves here, putting together a haunting record with enough buried touches to be discovered on subsequent listens…The clinching factor for many will be the lead vocals by guitarist/keyboardist MXM, which are delivered primarily in a black metal scream so highly distorted it would seem more fitting on an early XASTHUR recording. Given a chance, though, the extreme vocals complement the rest of the cacophony very well, a small dose of harshness juxtaposed with all those moments of soaring beauty. This album might have lifted my week of analyzing new releases out of the doldrums, but its visceral impact is certain to last a lot longer”

“Well written and well played”

“Debut album Lost was one that could in fact sound harsh (the black metal aspects) and beautiful (the stunning, keyboard washed melodies) at once. What Everything does is take that firm foundation and improve the songwriting; not a major departure by any means from Lost, a very good album, but a significant progression for certain. If anything, it shows that An Autumn for Crippled Children didn’t just get lucky on album number one; they knew exactly what they were doing and just got a hell of a lot better doing it. A left turn from convention perhaps, but inaccessible Everything is not…Call it ambient, black, experimental, avant-garde, scathing, and/or atmospheric and you’ll be right; Everything is all of those things. And so are numerous other albums of the ‘black’ and ‘post’ varieties. What makes the works of An Autumn for Crippled Children far surpass the average are (1) the manner in which the colors are used to paint such vivid — and typically bleak and/or melancholy — images; and (2) the qualities of the melodies written…in the end, complete immersion in Everything is a certainty, and you’d not want it any other way. Worry not, as you’ll be a better person because of it – well, a different one anyway. This is powerful stuff”

“An Autumn For Crippled Children have created one of the greatest post-black metal records I have ever heard, and I commend them for it. They are an absolutely amazing band, and I think they are some of the best at producing this style of music…I didn’t want this album to end, but that is why there is such thing as a ‘loop’ button. I could listen to this album non-stop for ages and never get tired of it. Amazing album – an absolute must-have”

“As a whole, Everything is a gorgeous album that takes the listener through many parts of the emotional spectrum. There is joy here, there is sadness, there is anger, and there is even love. But it all takes on a melancholic darkness that is hard to shake off after listening. I highly recommend getting this, especially if you’re a fan of My Bloody Valentine, Autumn’s Grey Solace, Jesu, Darkthrone, The Cure, or Cry”

“An even more impressive and lush release [than the monumental Lost debut]…If you thought that their first album was pushing the limits of creativity and delivering in almost every single aspect, wait until you get your hands on this excellent release…One of the most appealing things about this release is the fact that while the post-black metal/shoegaze influences are evident, there is also a certain rawness and aggressiveness to the vocal sections that is very rare from releases of these genres…We can’t praise An Autumn for Crippled children enough since they have managed to top one impressive release with an even better one. If you liked their first album, then you will love Everything. The band surely knows how to create a very thick melancholic atmosphere filled with excellent guitar work and emotional song structures”

“The term ‘beauty’ may strangely apply to this album, not because of incredible harmonies or because your soul will rest with the sounds of Everything. Realistic soundscapes and fitting titles (one can hear fists of downpour in broad keyboard swaths on Rain), An Autumn for Crippled Children is more dense, maybe a bit more hysterical and on-edge ALCEST, definitely less euphoric, but nonetheless satisfying. If you give Everything a chance, it may break a stereotype or two about ‘depressive’ atmospheric metal”

“There is an air of triumph and hope sewn into the dense fabric of Everything, a silver thread running through the black tapestry. Whilst for many this may appear to be a step back from the edge, the addition of an emotion this alien to a genre so reliant on the complete absence of joy is a bold and satisfying move. Individual tracks rather lose their meaning taken in isolation; Everything is a record designed to be consumed as one, the atmosphere building over the course of its 40 minutes with a subtlety and delicacy not oft associated with metal in any of its various guises”

“Depressive experimental doom/black metal band that takes its cues from bands such as ANATHEMA and ALCEST…AAFCC has a good thing going with their music, and as Everything indicates, they already seem to have everything in place for some level of success”

“Orchestral post-black metal in the way a movie soundtrack would present itself. Everything is just that: everything you could want in a band that loves to mix the delicate and fragile with grim, ugly symphonic black metal…Imagine just for a moment if EMPEROR and MOGWAI became one band, then saw that there were bands like FEN, CODE and ALCEST out there creating off what bands like ARCTURUS, OPETH and MAYHEM have been doing decades before…The beauty lies within the torment of the release as a whole. Simply wonderful”

“Mixing fierce black metal, intelligent and emotional shoegaze and soothing electronica, AAFCC have built an album that is sure to stand the test of time…Black metal has certainly come a long long way since VENOM, BURZUM, and DARKTHRONE first made their unholy marks many years ago. AAFCC are truly amazing, and they truly prove that this genre is more than just violent/Satanic lyrics, blasts and screeching vocals…The atmosphere surrounding this record is just awe-inspiring. They set a mood (pure melancholy) and never escape it. If you dig beautiful music that almost has a ‘calm before the storm’ attitude, please search for this band and buy this record. This is absolutely one of my favorite records right now”

“Just like the Eleusinian Mysteries, this band is shrouded in secrecy…Therefore, the music itself has to speak for itself. It does so eloquently! AAFCC have combined elements of black, doom, and death metal infused with a large dose of melancholy. It has a dark beauty, like moonlight flickering on facets of a black diamond”

“There is a glistening indie feel to the music which has you bridging the gap between old acts on 4AD Records and the more recent black shoegazers such as ALCEST and AMESOEURS…each song here has something noticeable and identifiable about it. The group do sound like they are caught between two musical eras and are doing an admirable job of balancing and morphing them together”

“It’s quite amusing, bewitching and disturbing in equal measures, and unlike Lost, I never felt that the album quite fell off its wheels…On the whole, though, I rather enjoyed this trip, for its fusion of unnerving dissonance and glistening, open-vein beauty. Perhaps it’s not a massive stride forward in depth or value from their debut, but it’s more consistently haunting”