Like a Smashing Pumpkins that never disgraced themselves, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead are still bringing that full-on fantasy orchestral rock to which we all imagine epic D&D campaigns or simply pump our fists. Their two most successful albums remain 1999’s Madonna and 2002’s Source Tags & Codes. Did Source Tags DESERVE that perfect Pitchfork 10? Who knows? Did it FEEL like it did at the time? Hell yes. More than 20 years later, Trail of Dead are still messing around with prog, punk chords, grave singing, and their band’s mystical mythos. Hearing their brand-new record, X: The Godless Void & Other Stories, in this midsize but intimate setting sounds flippin’ EPIC. by Suzette Smith