Everything they did reminded me of other things, but their hodgepodge of blackened neofolk post-metal or something or other was still probably the most iconic soundtrack to my early wanderings in the harsh post-education world. And thanks to a premature break-up, their discography remains distinctive and digestible. Here are my The Top 11 Agalloch Things.
Key:
- Album
- EP
- Compilation
Younger me wasn't wrong to discount this release as their most pointless, but when instrumentals are remixed to the point of being almost unrecognisable, it's still a worthwhile experiment. Not sure we really needed those three minutes of feedback though.
Fave: The Lodge (Dismantled)
More worthwhile as a collectable concert promo than an artefact for active listening, the literally schizophrenic acoustic jam is an interesting curio, but wasting the other half on a lesser remake of a song that already appeared twice on the previous album is disappointing.
Fave: Tomorrow Will Never Come
I never paid much attention to the last album (and counting), and it is pretty boring, a bunch of non-descript songs so entangled that nothing stands out. Maybe they'll give it another go some day.
Fave: Dark Matter Gods
I would have been at least mildly obsessed with this if it had come a few years earlier. All I remembered from a couple of listens as a lapsed metal fan was a long song that sampled Švankmajer's film. I had no memory of it being a vicious black metal jam, but it fits the theme like a spiked gauntlet. Until next we meet.
Fave: Faustian Echoes
It's interesting to retrospectively see how their sound and identity developed, but with nearly all of these early recordings having been reworked or remastered previously, it can't do better than non-essential-but-nice.
Fave: The Wilderness
I wasn't bowled over by the band's extreme metal affirmation when this was released and there hasn't been a belated epiphany. It sounds like a mature take on Pale Folklore's thundering ambience, but without the cute quirks. I'd have to be in the right mood to really appreciate this one, and it's not a mood I like to be in.
Fave: Ghosts of the Midwinter Falls
A shining example of quality over quantity and strength in diversity, I was always impressed by this varied EP, which seems like the band exploring their options before they mainly stuck with the first one. It was good to be reminded of Sol Invictus too.
Fave: Kneel to the Cross
A more organic follow-up to The Mantle than the intervening album, inverting the acoustic and distorted proportions results in one of their most distinctive releases, though it's more a pleasant experience than a collection of stand-out songs. I'd brushed up on The Wicker Man since The League of Gentlemen, so was able to appreciate the references.
Fave: Birch Black
Immersive metal ambience kept interesting with occasional flourishes of piano, bells and soprano, the dingy production sets the perfect tone that's only occasionally broken by a burst of angsty clean vocals or a wind effect that sounds like it comes from a toy He-Man sword.
Fave: She Painted Fire Across the Skyline, Part 1
The wall of sound is a step in a more generic direction, but these laboured compositions were in constant rotation for a couple of years, helping me to hallucinate more dramatic vistas out of bus windows, and the melodies are timeless, though I may have worn it out for this lifetime.
Fave: Not Unlike the Waves
If Ulver were never going to follow up on Bergtatt, somebody ought to do it. I used to prefer its louder neighbours, but I've finally come around to the self-consciously definitive Agalloch album, with its quieter liminal passages leaving space to breathe the cold forest air.
Fave: The Lodge
