Agalloch C/D ?

i hyped the last album on this thread:

If You Only Buy One New Metal Album This Year...

but, yeah, no actual thread. they are great. i agree.

I remember that thread but couldn't find it. You a fan of their earlier stuff, Scott?

i am. but i really think the last album just tied everything together so brilliantly. in terms of songs. the album as a whole is kinda perfect.

Yup to all that, it's very good stuff. Don't they have a new song up on their Myspace site?

I hadn't heard about that. I'll go check it.

Great band. They should tour Europe, there is a loyal Agalloch fanbase here. Some people I know flew from Madrid to Copenhagen to see them play (with Novembers Doom and Saturnus).

That would be great. Would love to see them.

what i've heard, i've loved.

(and personally i don't hear much "metal" in there, but THAT'S JUST AN OPINION.)

BECAUSE YOU DON'T WANT TO ;)

"Pale Folklore": wildly dud.
The band's hatred (back then) of being compared with Opeth: classic.
Guess I should hear their newer stuff though.

Classic for sure. I like everything I've heard (though I've missed out on all the EPs...), but like Scott, I think "Ashes Against the Grain" is the best thing they've done so far.

I played "Not Unlike the Waves" this morning on my radio show, actually, along with a bunch of other songs that I felt were reminiscent of the decidedly "autumnal" weather we've been having around here lately.

I can't wait to hear their upcoming EP, which evidently is going to be a "neofolk" album.

"Pale Folklore": wildly dud.

BECAUSE YOU DON'T WANT TO ;)

actually: i listened to "ashes against the grain" again this morning and i'm talking bollocks -- to an extent. i do hear metal in there; i don't, however, feel very much of it. it's interesting: they're taking components of it (the vocals, the riffs) but executing it in a much more measured and controlled style.

this is no bad thing, of course. it's ... i dunno, polite riffage.

Scott's review of Against the Ashes in Decibel magazine was my favourite music writing from last year.

'falling snow' and 'not unlike the waves' are both stunning songs. these guys are the most soothing dark metal experience i've had the pleasure of hearing in ages. been playing 'ashes against the grain' very regularly these past few weeks, and will give 'the mantle' another shot soon. seems i approached that one initially in the wrong light.

anybody heard anything about a new one? in withdrawal post-ashes

Yup, full new EP, The White EP. In fact I'm looking at my copy right now.

Seattle - 3/21
Portland - 3/22
Germany the following week.

After that, no shows til 2009.

BTW, Aesop from Ludicra is the new drummer. They are SO much better now. You won't believe it.

thx dudes

Gah. My copy of the White EP supposedly shipped last Tuesday, but it hasn't arrived yet. The wait is killing me.

Also killing me is the fact that I'm way too broke to make it to Portland to see the show on the 22nd.

I'm gonna wait for vinyl. I think the cd is sold out now anyway.

i relistened to The White again tonight and the songs 'Birch White' and 'Sowilo Rune' just really hit the right spot for some reason. Something about Sowilo Rune's Bruce Hornsby/EZ-listening sounding piano and the whispering at about 1:30 gives me a sense of moody nostalgia that I can't put a finger on.

I am going to be watching these guys really closely from now on. Anyone heard when the next LP is due?

Nope. Next year hopefully. Wish I had picked up the white ep, I was skint at the time and now its silly ebay prices I cant afford.

I tried hard to love them. May even have, for a minute there. At the end of the day though that has got to be the most boring guitar tone in mood-metal.

Aww I love the guitar sound.

Totally it's all puffy edges with a crunchy center.

I'll pass on puffy edges in my depressive doom metal thanks

uh, don't GIS "puffy" at work with safesearch off.

i guess i should have searched for "diddy"??

lol i am a sucker for fuzzy melancholy in my depressive black metal

hoos otm

The next album will be their best because it will have Aesop on it.

When will a new album be out?

Cant find any info

lol i am a sucker for fuzzy melancholy in my depressive black metal

good when it's early Katatonia or Turn Loose the Swans

bad when it's phoned-in like Ashes Against the Grain

there is no next album news, Nate is taking the daring & innovative step of ref'ing my day job

(sounded pissier than I meant it, all love Nate)

Haha, no worries John. I'm not even sure which job you're referring to.

:)

I just happen to be their friend and booking agent (and I booked their first ever show many years back--with YOB and Witch Mountain) so I can tell you that this record hasn't even been recorded yet, they are no longer with a label, and will do whatever the fuck they want on their own schedule.

Ashes against the Grain is pretty great. I have nothing more intelligent to say than that.

My first reaction to this band was really similar to J0hn's, but eventually I decided that the super-meticulous production was sort of the point.

i like these guys alot. drove down to seattle to see them last march at chop suey. that venue is almost the perfect size to see a band in.although i doubt you make much cash when you play there.

JOhn D:: give a listen to their cover of "kneel to the cross" by sol invictus .

J0hn fwiw Aesop was in ref to Aesop Dekker, Agalloch's drummer.

Sorry i didn't realize that was unclear. Yes, Aesop Dekker--the little giant from Ludicra and Hickey and the Cosmic Hearse blog.

I fucking love that guy.

Oh he runs the Cosmic Hearse? Awesome.

"chop suey. that venue is almost the perfect size to see a band in.although i doubt you make much cash when you play there."

I guess that depends on who your booking agent is. ;) Agalloch and the Hidden Hand have done just fine there.

give a listen to their cover of "kneel to the cross" by sol invictus .

― drone/a/sore, Saturday, November 15, 2008 6:25 AM (2 days ago)

^Yes.

Did we already talk about The Demonstration Archive? It's really good.

I'm surprised at how polished it is, I was expecting a much rawer demo sound but I guess they sprang forth fully formed?

You know what though, I listened to it once nearly an hour ago and I still have the main riff going round my head.

http://www.npr.org/2014/05/04/308273140/first-listen-agalloch-the-serpent-the-sphere?ft=1&f=1039

This is so great.

woo

Good album. "Dark Matter Gods" absolutely slays.

Maybe a bit overlong on first listen? Tracks blend together in my mind a bit.

It's terrific. The best thing they've done since Ashes (and I love that stuff too)

This is still a band that in theory ticks a lot of boxes of stuff I like, but ends up not doing anything for me.

I like em but seeing them live made me like em less. sucks when that happens.

just underwhelming or

my cd arrived today

just underwhelming or

yeah, very underwhelming. made me less interested in throwing on their stuff even though recordings are a different thing, etc, etc

They don't particularly tick any of my boxes, but I enjoy them anyway. Post-rock with diluted black metal elements is not the most exciting prospect. When I sit down and listen, though, I usually find some hook or melody to like.

Still not really feeling the new one, too murky or something. I think I like my experimental metal with slick crisp production, haha.

I realised that last year's Gris album just kind of made any future Agalloch records unnecessary. Which is of course terribly unfair, but there you go.

The only problem with "Dark Matter Gods" is that it's too friggin long. They should have trimmed it by about two minutes, taken out a few of the middle epicycles.

Way to ruin it for me, Siegbran - I just came back from the rekkid store with it tonight & haven't put it on yet, but on the train home I was just obssessed with thoughts of "this better be at least close to the Gris cd" ...

i was youtubin' that gris album yesterday, it's good

Pitchfork gonna review this thing or what? What's the holdup?

lol

fighting over the BNM tag, iirc

Spin gave it a good review. http://www.spin.com/reviews/agalloch-the-serpent-and-the-sphere/

I'm glad to see some positive notices. A week ago the consensus seemed to be developing against this album. Personally, I'm at the point of liking it better than Marrow.

i'm not looking for the p4k review to affirm my opinion or guide me to stuff, i have my own motivations for wanting it to come out, not that they matter one bit here. and i was surprised it didn't run till 4 days after release date, that's all.

regardless, here it is: http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19269-agalloch-the-serpent-the-sphere/

Only negativity i saw was by a few posters on ilm

hey jon it didnt get BNM

I'm thinking of the Last Rites review, the Angry Metal Guy review, most of the Metal Archives thread.

Once again, they sounded great & totally slayed it in Chicago tonight. "...And the Great Cold Death of the Earth" was a great treat, & "Limbs" & "Into the Painted Grey" we're smokin' & the new tracks were sublime. Reggie's packed fast with a mucho enthusiastic crowd. So glad I went totally last minute - made my week.

Sadly, fin.

http://noisey.vice.com/blog/agalloch-breakup-2016

rip brony metal... i think the first commenter on that noisy article said it best:

"I g­e­t p­ai­d 8­5 bu­ck­s h­ou­rl­y f­or f­­ree­­lan­ci­­ng. I n­ev­­er th­o­ug­ht I c­­a­n m­an­ag­e t­o d­o i­t bu­t m­­­y g­­oo­d fri­­end i­s ma­­­ki­ng 1­­0­00­0 d­­ol­­la­­rs ­­e­­ac­­h mo­­n­­th b­­­y d­­oi­­ng thi­­s jo­­­b a­­nd sh­­­e r­­ec­­­o­­mm­­en­­ded ­­m­­e t­­o c­­hec­­k it out. "

An update from John Haughm:

"After being inundated by a barrage of responses, I feel that I should clarify some things. I take full responsibility for the decision to part ways with the other guys. It was difficult, well thought-out, and something that had been culminating over the past couple of years. I simply could not continue any further with the band as it was. I had to make a change as my motivation and inspiration had started to completely deteriorate. Whether this is the permanent end of Agalloch altogether or a possible fresh start, I don't know. I probably won't know for awhile. The band has simply been reduced back to its founding, visionary member for the first time in 20 years. Beyond that, the future is unknown.

Well, I know what my Friday eve soundtrack will be. RIP Agalloch.

john haughm, visionary member

http://i.imgur.com/V5mYUOY.jpg

shots fired

my 13 year old kid would have a fit if he saw that "girlfriend's". he hates that.

Shout out? Sod off?

Don Anderson and Jason Walton didn't seem too happy either, both saying it wasn't their decision. It would be cool to hear what those three could come up with musically without the glorious visionary leader.

I mean Agalloch were kind of middling a lot of the time with some great bits (Ashes Against the Grain is probably the most consistently good) but hardly anything genius.

^srsly

Ashes forever! the rest not so much. They really did hit just about all of my sweet spots with that album. i'll listen to it forever. i did feel kinda guilty that i didn't like what came after even half as much, but what are ya gonna do?

I saw them last fall and they were dreadfully boring and that main dude seemed to take himself way too seriously. But I was also very tired and had already watched sets by Ufomammut and Yob, so I dunno.

speaking of aesop, everyone should listen to his new podcast DEATH METAL DADS.

I'm really disgusted at how this is turning out.

Brilliant album. Really pleased with it.

http://i.imgur.com/q3lBw2V.jpg

https://www.metalsucks.net/2023/04/18/agalloch-reunite-for-prophecy-fest-will-play-limited-shows/

Darkspace have reformed too it seems?

they have a new bass player yes

oh, that agalloch guy said something antisemitic apparently. I didn't know, ignore the reunion I guess

Yeah, I was really disappointed to see that Agalloch lineup, given the pretty firm response the other two guys in the reunited lineup gave back in 2019:

We—Jason, Aesop, and myself—are deeply disappointed to learn that our former bandmate John Haughm has made an anti-Semitic comment on his Facebook page. We vehemently condemn our former bandmate and want to make it clear that none of us share his reprehensible viewpoints. We have not had any direct contact with him since the breakup nearly 3 years ago (aside from Don who handles the business side of things with him). We are not friends. More importantly, he is NOT Agalloch. Please feel free to share.

Guess that festival money was helpful in getting over that pretty easily.

Well, Aesop Dekkar isn't part of the reunion so at least someone has principles.

Yeah, respect his decision to stay out of it, but disappointing that the guy who wrote that statement (Don) and Jason are both still in.