“Just a box of broken toys stained from the rat poison.”
Alternative/electronic pioneer and underdog Cory Swope has constantly graced us with his musical prowess for the better part of fifteen years. Whether it’s with his cybergrind project ZOMBIESHARK!, mathcore project Turtle Tea Party, or through other ventures, Swope incessantly releases some of the highest quality music in each respective genre. Autumn In Despair looks to be another string in his musical bow, and though much lesser known, this blackgaze project is every bit as beautiful as it is devastating.
Having already released two bodies of work before When You Get There, I went into this expecting one thing: it would be an emotionally fraught listen. After all, blackgaze is not an easy genre to digest, and Swope’s penchant for deeply introspective lyricism on top of this makes the impact hit all the harder. This was already proven through past releases Home for the Holidays and Summer Vacation, where Swope completely poured his heart out lyrically and vocally. This is especially true for When You Get There, which, at seven tracks and thirty-four minutes in length, is deeply harrowing. This is an album that you need to listen to in full, and in the dark. You need to sit with it. You need time to reflect, both on the album and your own life.
When You Get There is noticeably calmer compared to Autumn In Despair’s previous works. There are even moments of beautiful, soothing, clean vocals, like in the track “Ground.” Despite the more serene tone, there’s still plenty of chaos to unpack, as the shortest song on the album (aside from the interludes) stretches to about five minutes. This length offers ample room for exploration, though Swope doesn’t always fully capitalise on it. This is evident in tracks like “Distilled” and “Departure,” which highlight a softer approach, a choice that’s both surprising and welcome.
That’s not to say there aren’t heavy bits throughout here either. One of the most interesting and digestible moments on this album is the track “Lineage” which eases in using gentle guitars, before exploding into a monstrous and groovy riff. This riff, along with the drums and vocals, continues to evolve and change perfectly as the track progresses. This track is where you feel the blackened side of the project truly come into its own, which is greatly valued. While Swope meshes both sounds wonderfully throughout the album, as said before, it can be a lot to take in. “Lineage” feels like a breather from the rest of the album, being the most straightforward in approach, whilst still exploring different elements. For those who’ve not heard of this project already, I’d suggest that “Lineage” is a perfect entrypoint for the aforementioned reasons.
I’d be remiss to not call out the wonderful production across this release as well. While on the outside it seems very raw and abrasive, that production is what’s needed to have a lot of these different elements stick their landing. It’s very big and airy, giving you this extremely haunting feeling while you listen. It also makes the album mesh and blend perfectly throughout, which is hard to find in a world filled with albums made as playlists instead of a body of work. It also makes Swope’s vocals sound so soul-stirring, which matches the lyrics perfectly. While they’re admittedly hard to make out, as most black metal vocals tend to be, Swopes lyricism is so beautifully evocative. In the album’s magnum opus, “Amber”, Swope lets out “buried by the shadow of an amber haze. Wrapped up in its arms, I wait to be devoured once again”, a stunningly haunting moment which truly showcases why Swope is unmatched, both as a songwriter and musician, and will continue to be.
While not for the average listener, When You Get There is still a massive achievement for Autumn In Despair. If you’re familiar with the blackgaze genre, a heavy music fan wanting to dive in, or someone just wanting a devastating music experience, there is something for you buried in here. This is the crowning moment for the project, and it will be very interesting to see how it can progress from here. Will Swope lean back into the more abrasive side of the genre, or continue to teeter on the edge, allowing the sound to be accessible? One thing we’re certain of is that, however Autumn in Despair progresses from here, it’ll be great.
8/10
When You Get There is out now, with CDs, tapes, and merch being available on Bandcamp