A Hero's Death
by Fontaines D.C.
  • Record Label: Partisan
  • Release Date: Jul 31, 2020
User Score
8.1

Universal acclaim- based on 55 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 46 out of 55
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 55
  3. Negative: 3 out of 55
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  1. Craigdimas
    Aug 4, 2020
    0
    ‘Big’ announced a band with fire and attitude and Dogrel was mostly a blast, though the flat vocals on slower tracks grated after a while. Thus, however, is a total disaster. A succession of mid-pace dirges which horribly expose the timeless, nasal vocals. There’s no energy, no passion - the punk energy is gone and there’s nothing much in its place. Grian Chatten sounds like a bad karaoke‘Big’ announced a band with fire and attitude and Dogrel was mostly a blast, though the flat vocals on slower tracks grated after a while. Thus, however, is a total disaster. A succession of mid-pace dirges which horribly expose the timeless, nasal vocals. There’s no energy, no passion - the punk energy is gone and there’s nothing much in its place. Grian Chatten sounds like a bad karaoke singer in a bar, and the band seem to have lost sight of what made them interesting in the first place. Some of the lyrical content of Dogrel was great - ‘Dublin in the rain is mine...’. Here Grian doesn’t even bother to write lyrics for ‘Televised Mind’ (drones ‘televised mind’ about 40 times) and ‘Hero’s Death’.
    Maybe they were bored during lockdown and put this out as a joke. It’s not funny.    … Expand
  2. Critixist
    Jul 31, 2020
    3
    A 3 rating is high for this, out of tune, badly produced, songs chucked together with children's poetry, insult to bands of history... If you want to hear something out of tune at least with some form of melody and composition go back to Hope of the States. Nothing new, nothing good
  3. TheGoobles
    Apr 21, 2022
    1
    A disappointing follow up to a great debut album. It all feels pretentious and drab.

Awards & Rankings

51
#51 Best Album of 2020
91
#91 Most Discussed Album of 2020

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
84

Universal acclaim - based on 23 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. The Quietus
    Aug 4, 2020
    80
    Though falling short of revelatory, a few rotations of A Hero’s Death brings some good news. Outgrowing Joy Division and overblown inverted paddywhackery, it’s a largely nuanced and, most blessedly of all, believable affair.
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  2. The Observer (UK)
    Aug 3, 2020
    80
    Many of Fontaines’ key traits remain: the ability of this young Dublin outfit to retread familiar post-punk ground but with a tensile urgency all their own; and the sardonic Irish tones of Grian Chatten, whose affected blankness speaks volumes.
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  3. No Ripcord
    Aug 3, 2020
    70
    A Hero's Death is not about growth: it's a band assessing where they stand as rising up-and-comers and having the impulse to express themselves differently. Maybe their sulking comes with a bit of affectation, but at least it's a convincing portrait of keeping true to themselves—soaking in everything that surrounds them.
    Read full review
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