Wash the Sins Not Only the Face
by Esben and the Witch
  • Record Label: Matador
  • Release Date: Jan 22, 2013
Metascore
66

Generally favorable reviews - based on 22 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 22
  3. Negative: 0 out of 22
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  1. AllMusic
    Jan 25, 2013
    80
    The opposite of a sophomore slump, Wash the Sins Not Only the Face is sleek and spectral, and finds Esben and the Witch casting their spell even more successfully.
  2. Mojo
    Jan 18, 2013
    80
    Taken as a whole, it's an arresting step towards the light. [Feb 2013, p.90]
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  3. New Musical Express (NME)
    Jan 22, 2013
    70
    Call it highbrow, call it highfalutin, but with Wash The Sins, Esben are carving hulking tablets of stone boasting that intellect is nothing to be scared of.
  5. Under The Radar
    Jan 11, 2013
    75
    Where Violet Cries lacked a focal point, Wash The Sins is full of purpose. [Jan-Feb 2013, p.86]
  6. The Line of Best Fit
    Feb 11, 2013
    85
    This is a marked improvement on the density of their first effort, and sounds like a band who have grown very sure of themselves in the best way possible.
  7. Paste Magazine
    Jan 22, 2013
    71
    Although appealing in a fantasy-genre glutton way, the album feels a little one-dimensional.
  8. Clash Music
    Jan 14, 2013
    80
    Everything about this album is bigger than what has gone before and reveals an energised band with a real belief in what they're doing. Quite right too.
  9. DIY Magazine
    Jan 22, 2013
    70
    Esben And The Witch's second LP is a thrilling, goosebump-raising collection of songs that will be in heavy rotation for the rest of the year (and beyond).
  10. The Quietus
    Jan 25, 2013
    70
    Ultimately it's the breaking of a cycle that leads to change and, on this record of both progression and recollection, Esben And The Witch suggest that they haven't yet quite achieved that.
  11. BBC Music
    Jan 11, 2013
    80
    Yet at every turn, this new album eschews clichés--any strident shrieking, chanting and cod imagery--for something sleek, fluid and effortlessly modern.
  12. Beats Per Minute
    Jan 25, 2013
    69
    They haven't quite found it yet, but Esben and the Witch have the potential for an arresting and momentous album in them.
  13. The Fly (UK)
    Jan 11, 2013
    90
    An album of chilly, detached beauty.

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