It’s only three years since AAFCC released their debut album Lost, and they’ve maintained an impressive album-a-year release rate since, allowing fans to chart their progression with ease. And they certainly have progressed; while the group blended BM, doom and post-BM/post-rock from the start, it’s notable how far they’ve come from the almost Xasthur-like murkiness of their early work.
Their doomier side has also receded now, along with their more cavernous black metal leanings. Far from being a hostile or impenetrable work, Try Not… is a shimmering and vibrant affair, clear in both sound and intent. Often heavy on keyboards and melodic in a playful and dreamy way, it nods at synth pop while maintaining enough screamed vocals to easily balance the whole thing out.
Emotionally potent thanks to the constant undercurrent of nostalgia and melancholy, it offers a similar vibe to Amesoeurs (and to a lesser extent that band’s successor, Alcest), while featuring a Russian Circles-esque cinematic quality. An enthralling combination.
