Agal hole
| Agal hole | |
|---|---|
 Agalloch (2005) |
|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Dark Metal , Doom Metal , Blackgaze , Post-Rock |
| founding | 1996 |
| resolution | 2016 |
| Website | www.agalloch.org |
| Founding members | |
| John Haughm | |
| Shane Breyer (until 1998) | |
| Last occupation | |
Vocals, guitar |
John Haughm |
Guitar, keyboard |
Don Anderson (since 1996) |
| Jason William Walton | |
| Aesop Dekker | |
Agalloch was an American dark metal / doom metal band from Portland , Oregon. The name is derived from the Latin name Agallochum malaccense for the agarwood tree .
Band history
Frustrated with the failures of their first projects, John Haughm and Shane Breyer founded Agalloch in 1996. During the summer they brought in Don Anderson to help refine the songs. The songs were released later that fall on the demo tape From Which of This Oak , which was limited to 200 copies and showed a lot more Black Metal influence than the following albums. Shortly after the recording, Jason William Walton joined as bassist.
In 1998 the band recorded a demo to be signed to a label. This demo contained material that was to be used in a revised form on the following albums. The demo caught The End Records' attention and a contract was signed. As a result of this collaboration, the debut album Pale Folklore was released in June 1999 . It had fewer black metal influences than the demo cassette, but much more folklore and neoclassical influences . After the recording was complete, Breyer distanced himself from the band.
After a break, the band released an EP with previously unreleased material from 1998 to 2001 called Of Stone, Wind and Pillor , which again included more folklore and distorted vocal elements. The EP also features a cover version of the song Kneel to the Cross by the band Sol Invictus .
Between 2001 and 2002 Agalloch recorded the album The Mantle , which combined more post-rock influences than the previous albums. The album marked the breakthrough for Agalloch as it began to attract the attention of mainstream magazines. After its release, Agalloch first performed on March 6, 2003 in Portland, Oregon. This was followed by a few concerts in March and a tour along the west coast of the United States in May.
The EP Tomorrow Will Never Come was released in 2003 and The Gray the following year . On these EPs, Agalloch showed himself from a very experimental side. The EPs included remixed and unedited / reworked pieces from the album The Mantle . On Tomorrow Will Never Come also include an eponymous, previously unreleased track was. In 2004 Agalloch gave several concerts on the American east coast in 2004, some of them in Toronto , Canada .
In 2004 a Picture Disc was released together with the Finnish band Nest . In it, Agalloch uses more Neofolk influences, while Nest tends more towards the ambient and uses the support of guitar and vocals from Haughm and Anderson.
In August 2006, the third album Ashes Against the Grain was released. In 2008 the EP The White , on which almost no metal elements can be found, and The Demonstration Archive: 1996-1998 , on which songs from the two demos and Of Stone, Wind and Pillor can be found.
In 2009 the demo From Which of This Oak was re-released as a Picture Disc . In the same year the video recording of a live performance in Belgium in 2008 was released as the live album The Silence of Forgotten Landscapes .
On November 19, 2010, the fourth album Marrow of the Spirit was released . Drummer Aesop Dekker was heard here for the first time on an album by Agalloch. In December, the new album was accompanied by a tour of the American west coast, followed by a tour of the east coast in 2011. A tour of Europe took place between April and May 2013 .
style
The music of Agalloch is characterized by the fact that the vocal passages and instruments sometimes heavily overlap. The music is often described as atmospheric or eerie because of its calm, melancholy mood.
Although Agalloch is usually classified under Folk , Dark or Doom Metal , her music contains other reoccurring influences, from neofolk to dark ambient to post rock . A general theme that is reflected in Agalloch's pictures and music is also pagan and pantheistic content. Musically, the band is also influenced by Black Metal, but the lyrics do not contain any satanic references that are usual for this genre .
In a 1999 interview with Dan Tobin, Jason William Walton and John Haughm, the band members mentioned influences from the bands Katatonia , Ulver , The 3rd and the Mortal , Swans and Godspeed You! Called the Black Emperor .
gallery
John Haughm at Party.San 2015
Jason William Walton at Party.San 2015
Don Anderson at Party.San 2015
Aesop Dekker at Party.San 2015
Discography
Demos
- 1996: From Which of This Oak , MC (ltd. To 200 units)
- 1998: Promo 98 , MC (only for labels - ltd. To 30 pieces)
Albums
- 1999: Pale Folklore
- 2002: The Mantle
- 2006: Ashes Against the Grain
- 2010: Marrow of the Spirit
- 2014: The Serpent & The Sphere
EPs
- 2001: Of Stone, Wind and Pillor (ltd. To 2500 copies)
- 2003: Tomorrow Will Never Come
- 2004: The Gray (limited to 1000 copies)
- 2008: The White (ltd. To 2000 copies)
- 2011: "WhiteDivisionGrey" (quasi re-release, contains the two EP's "The Gray" & "The White")
- 2012: Faustian Echoes
DVDs
- 2009: The Silence of Forgotten Landscapes
Others
- 2004: The Wolves of Timberline (Split with Nest, ltd. To 1000 copies, Picture Disc )
- 2008: The Demonstration Archive: 1996–1998 (Best of)
- 2010: The Compendium Archive (Best of, ltd. To 250 copies)
- 2010: Agalloch Wooden Box
- 2010: Participation in the compilation Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer (ltd. To 1000 pieces)
- 2010: Participation in the compilation Oak Folk
Web links
- Official website
- Agalloch at Allmusic (English)
References
- ↑ Agalloch's MySpace blog
- ↑ Lucifer Over Europe: Agalloch, Fen @ Viper Room Vienna ( Memento from November 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ MySpace page on "The Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog"