Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 10 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 10
  2. Negative: 0 out of 10
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  1. Magnet
    Aug 12, 2014
    70
    Throughout, minimally invasive production from Vladislav Delay creates a fuller sense of emptiness, resulting in one big, glorious downer. [No. 112, p.61]
  2. Aug 12, 2014
    100
    Brace yourself. This album is more clinging than quicksand, it is uncompromising, transcendent voodoo. [Sep 2014, p.92]
  3. Aug 12, 2014
    90
    Simply put, When The Cellar Children See The Light Of Day is one of the best albums of the year.
  4. Aug 12, 2014
    72
    Wagner’s songs remain skeletal--still just bone and flaking flesh--but the sound is more polished, crisper and starker and at times even slick.
  5. Aug 25, 2014
    60
    It’s hard to strike a balance in music between the sound of isolation and the connection to an audience. Mirel Wagner finds that tether more often than not on this album, but sometimes it’s so dark that that tie is hard to see.
  6. Aug 25, 2014
    80
    The likes of Mark Lanegan and Nick Cave have a new rival in the practising of dark musical arts.
  7. Aug 14, 2014
    80
    When The Cellar Children See the Light of Day is an excellent record, and one which reinforces the role artists like Mirel Wagner and her like can still have in a modern music setting.
  8. 80
    When the Cellar Children See the Light of Day is in many ways an astounding album; unflinching in its tales of abuse, murder and death it marks Mirel Wagner out not just as a musician of immense talent, but also as a story teller and poet who’s able to weave gripping tales from bleak reality.
  9. Aug 12, 2014
    60
    This is Wagner's second album, and that was the backstory of her 2012 self-titled debut. This follow-up is no less enigmatic.
  10. Uncut
    Aug 12, 2014
    80
    Wagner is adept at evoking children's half-remembered nightmares. [Sep 2014, p.81]
User Score
7.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 6 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 6
  3. Negative: 1 out of 6
  1. Aug 15, 2014
    10
    Somewhere between Billie Holliday and Tracy Chapman with a glimpse of Mississippi delta comes enigmatically from mysterious Finnish-EthiopianSomewhere between Billie Holliday and Tracy Chapman with a glimpse of Mississippi delta comes enigmatically from mysterious Finnish-Ethiopian artist. Music is simple and pure, what hold album together are the lyrics. Mirel is a wonderful story-teller while stories themselves are terrifying. "In My Father's House" is the number one story here. Full Review »