Autumn Tears have been around for a quarter of a century now and in that time they’ve been claimed by many genres; but the fact that currently Google lists them (mystifyingly) as ‘goth/industrial’ while they – a band with no guitars and few electric instruments of any kind – also have an entry Metal Archives, says more about the audience(s) they appeal to than what their music actually sounds like.
The Air Below The Water is the band’s seventh album; not a lot to show for 25 years perhaps, but more importantly, it comes only a year after Colors Hidden Within The Gray, suggesting – as does its length (eighteen songs over ninety minutes and featuring over forty performers!) that this is a revitalized Autumn Tears. Multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Ted Tringo remains at the heart of the band, but now he is surrounded by more musicians and singers than ever before, plus a vast array of guests, including violinist Maria Grigoryeva, Darren Clarke of Trovatore and Agnete Mangnes Kirkevaag from the great Madder Mortem.
Fittingly, it’s therefore probably their most diverse album to date, but what does that mean? Well, not that it covers a range of styles as such. The lyric-less intro ‘The Calling’ opens the album very much as it means to go on; beautiful female voices, violins and orchestral backing, swathed in echo and atmosphere. Solemn and strangely archaic, it’s neither folk nor classical music and is about as far as it’s possible to get from either industrial or metal.
At the same time, it’s not an unfamiliar sound; yes, there are some echoes of Dead Can Dance, or the more refined end of gothic metal like Empyrium; but on the whole it’s more reminiscent of the kind of music that’s been heard on epic film and TV soundtracks from Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard’s Gladiator score onwards. Beautifully composed, immaculately performed and recorded; what’s not to like? Well, only that taken as a whole it’s arguably too much of a good thing; on the one hand its epic, yearning melancholy is very beautiful, but it can be – as on the title track where the vocals are just a bit too forceful – a little overpowering. But, taken as a collection of songs, the quality is extremely high and if you like one, you’ll probably like them all.
Within its epic framework there is a little diversity; ‘Convalescence’, one of the few songs with more standard (ie non-operatic) vocals, is strangely reminiscent of some of Queen’s more limpid mid-70s ballads (along with, less surprisingly, the theme songs from the Lord of the Rings trilogy). ‘In The Glade’ stands out from its ostensibly similar surroundings (it features one of the album’s lushest arrangements) because some child-like/Kate Bush-like vocals, which are refreshingly low-key among the more operatic ones.
The lilting, piano-led ‘A Loss For Words’ features hushed vocals and some lovely flute; ‘The Sleeping Storm’ modulates unexpectedly but very effectively into an almost jaunty and then a very dramatic mood. But, despite all these, it’s not really an album of highlights; it’s an immersive journey through beautifully grave and sometimes desolate atmospheres; embracing, poetic and, at the same time, both epic and delicate. Quite an achievement in fact – especially given the relatively short time it took the band to make.
A revitalised Autumn Tears then; and a monolithic and beautiful album to carry them triumphantly into a new decade. But perhaps one for fans rather than newcomers; it’s a rich, overpowering album and listened to in its entirety it may leave you wanting to scour your ears with something harsh afterwards (grindcore perhaps) – but maybe that’s why they are so beloved by the metal community.
