Album Review: X: The Godless Void and Other Stories by ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead

X: The Godless Void and Other Stories appeared at a timely point in ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead's career. It arrived six years after the release of 2014's IX, during which time Conrad Keely returned from Cambodia to the band's home base of Austin, Texas, and also coincided with their 25th anniversary. It makes sense, then, that their tenth album finds them taking stock.

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Even by ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead's notoriously grandiose standards, X: The Godless Void and Other Stories is one hell of a proggy album title. Likewise, the accompanying cover painting--of demon-eyed lions and dragons flanking a mysterious woman wearing psychedelic armor that looks like melting flesh--is catnip for those who prefer their albums partitioned into roman-numeraled suites and their dice to come with 20 sides. But for a band so enamored with dramatic flourishes that they named their new album's opening crescendo "The Opening Crescendo," the boldest thing about X: The Godless Void and Other Stories is its relative humility and grace.

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After 25 years together, and a break of six years since their last full-length album, …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead return with their tenth studio album, X: The Godless Void and Other Stories. A dynamic and commanding effort, it showcases some of the elements the band are best known for, namely, dream-like intervals of eclectic ambience that crescendo into epic explosions of pummelling noise. Unfortunately, after 12 tracks that follow this formula, the album falls a bit short, as it relies too heavily on repetition ….

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