The Mountain Goats - All Eternals Deck

• Not gatefold
• No lyrics
• Multiple colors available

• Album Rating: 4/5 (Great)
• Audio Quality: 5/5 (Perfect)
• Packaging: 3/5 (Average)

I'm fairly new to The Mountain Goats, but after listening to their latest release, All Eternals Deck, I feel like I've known them forever. I'm not as familiar with singer/songwriter John Darnielle's earlier works, but I'm steadily working my way backwards in The Mountain Goat's overwhelmingly extensive catalog.

Although it is not my favorite of what I have heard from The Mountain Goats thus far, it does include some of my favorite songs, including "Estate Sale Sign", and "Age Of Kings". These two tracks greatly exemplify the diversity that is John Darnielle's writing style. The former is a solid, fast paced diddy that has you head banging as much as only the best acoustic-folk songs could. Darnielle's vocals are passionate, off-putting, and increasingly endearing all at the same time. This song leads into "Age Of Kings", the polar opposite of its predecessor. It is warm, much slower paced, and a downright beautiful song. Strings accompany Darnielle's voice as well as an acoustic guitar, accentuating the grace of Darnielle's songwriting.

All Eternals Deck is pressed on 180 gram vinyl and sounds fantastic. It was pressed on three different colors: 3,000 on black, 880 on clear, and 120 on blue. These are distributed randomly and I was lucky enough to get a clear version.

The packaging itself is average, but good quality. No gatefold sleeve or lyrics, but it did come with some interesting liner notes detailing the history of a fictional set of tarot cards for which the album is named.

Buy the vinyl here (Amazon): All Eternals Deck