Up-and-coming Irish post-punk band Fontaines D.C. has garnered well-received acclaim with their debut studio album Dogrel in 2019. And now following up as their second studio album, the band has released A Hero’s Death just a little more than a
year after their debut. According to Wikipedia.org, A Hero’s Death signifies “a partial departure from their bubbling and anxiety-inducing post-punk sound found on their first record to the incorporation of more dream-like and psychedelic aspects,” which I was a bit pleased to hear.

Post-punk isn’t the type of rock I’m used to listening to so I didn’t know what to expect, but I do enjoy psychedelia and was more familiar with that genre, and I can say that I did see those aspects in this album. My overall thought on A Hero’s Death was that it was a pleasant listen. Admittedly, there were a few songs I didn’t like all too well and I did find some parts of some tracks to be repetitive, but I don’t think it hindered my experience too much. I really liked the instrumentals, especially the strings in a lot of the tracks. The album felt like it was interchanging between slow and melancholic tunes to faster-tempo beats, and it’s got an air of rawness throughout it all.

There was a kind of somber positivity that this album gave off, particularly in the last few songs. The vocals were also great; the singer having embraced the Dublin accent ,proudly representing   the “D.C.” in their name which stands for “Dublin City.” I thought it gave them a unique sound and I found the accent very fitting with the genre. All in all, A Hero’s Death deemed worthy of a second listen to me. Even if you’re not too familiar with post-punk rock, this band could give you the genre a chance. So if you’re interested in indie rock bands and chill, alternative tunes, you should check this album out.