I really like the new Dead Child album. It reminds me a little of Cirith Ungol, and that makes me really happy, because we're probably never going to see the likes of Cirith Ungol again. (Anybody who says it doesn't also recall QOTSA a little is kidding themselves, but that's OK.)

I predict that there will be a lot of nonsense talked about this album, though when I ran a search using the Hype Machine I was surprised to find some nonsense running exactly counter to what I'd expected. (It's not my style to call anybody out by name, but a word to the wise: what Dead Child plays isn't thrash metal by even the loosest definition of the term.) Be that as it may, though, what I'm expecting when the album does its blog rounds is that people will want to talk about Dead Child's pedigree - how they're dudes from Louisville, and how Pajo especially is indie aristocracy, and how therefore there's something necessarily meta about such dudes making straight-ahead metal. The word "hipster" will probably be used a lot, because people feel intelligent when they use the word "hipster."

What I want to say to anybody who wants to evaluate the rather excellent Dead Child album on anything other than its considerable riffy merits is this: stop posing. Seriously, stop it. Demanding authenticity from artists is a fool's errand to begin with, but newjacks demanding authenticity from their metal bands because it makes them feel more clued-in is just shameful. Nobody cares that you know who Pajo is. He is making kick-ass metal now. If you don't think so, you need to check your credentials.

I could be wrong about the reception awaiting Dead Child, in which case I am just an old man sitting on the couch yelling at a TV that isn't even turned on yet, but I'll take my chances here. Dead Child, you wrongheaded imaginary interlocutors. Dead Child! I thank you for your attention.