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Rating: Stunning debut album for the extraordinary Agalloch, an American band from Oregon, a land full of forests and ancient redwoods ("Agalloch" is the ancient name for a type of redwood). And it is precisely the love for these forests (and for nature in general) that is one of the main themes of the album, to which a healthy dose of melancholy and introspection is added.
The band is (from my point of view) one of the best metal groups around, thanks to the innovative combination of doom and gothic (think of Katatonia) with purely folk sounds (in the style of Opeth). This mix is present in its most complete form in the reviewed "Pale Folklore" (released in 1999) rather than in the other 2 albums of the band ("The Mantle" more oriented towards folk and "Ashes Against the Grain" which also features post-rock sounds).
On a backdrop of wind, a slow and melancholic arpeggio appears, which gradually grows in intensity until it becomes a powerful riff on which the drums and bass are overlaid. This is the beginning of "She Painted Fire Across the Skyline," a long suite of almost 19 minutes that occupies the first 3 tracks of the album. It is followed by a slower part where John Haughm's unique singing (halfway between a black metal scream and a whisper) appears, contrasted by a gentle female vocalization (a device that the band will no longer use). The second part of the suite opens with an ethereal acoustic guitar arpeggio followed by a more violent part culminating in a long guitar solo before returning to calm again. The third part opens with a fast and melodic riff at the same time and for a few seconds John recites the text with his normal voice before returning to the scream. Notable in the central part of the track is the use of the tolling of a bell to accompany the guitar and the piano closure before the return of the wind.
After this first stunning collage of sounds, one might expect a decline in the album, which instead does not happen. In fact, after the symphonic instrumental "The Mishapen Steed" we encounter the 10 minutes of "Hallways of Enchanted Ebony", a track that starts directly with the main riff, on which another slower and meditative riff crosses, which remains very fast for almost its entire duration, except for the last 2 minutes. "Dead Winter Days" doesn't stray much from what has been said, in which, however, the guitar has a greater role, enriching the composition with its countless solos. Conversely, "AS Embers Dress the Sky" (already present in the demo "From Which of this Oak") features a beautiful acoustic guitar insert that splits the track in half, which opens and closes with the usual evocative electric guitars. The album closes with another suite, this time 12 minutes long, "The Melancholy Spirit", where the folk component emerges even more than in the other tracks. The text is something spectacular: an invocation to the beloved queen of the woods and the desire to see her again once more.
In short, a sensational debut, incredibly evocative and full of surreal and dreamy sounds.
RATING=9
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
05 Hallways of Enchanted Ebony (09:59)
Kiss me coldly and drain this life from my lips
Let the cold blood flow on it's own...
Kiss me coldly and fall away from the soul
Long forgotten...
From which of this oak shall I hang myself?
These ebon halls are always dark...
From which frostbitten bough shall I die?
As dark as the winter, as black as her ghastly veil
As cold as her whisper and chilling gown
No corridors of life and beauty
These enchanted halls are stained with the blood of night
Ebon halls gleam as ghosts of a fire dance wickedly across a pantheon of marble
These weary eyes shall open no more, frozen tightly by the cold embrace of death
A charnel house of memories torn and burning melancholy shall embrace me now
Hear this call...
Beyond endless halls and far across the vast forest, just across the iron gates
Whispers...
As dark as the winter, as black as her grim mask of death
As cold as her sorrow, her ivory tears
No corridors of life and beauty
No bloodred sky, no colors left in this world
It was the light's end
[Music by Haughm (12/97 - 2/98)]
06 Dead Winter Days (07:51)
There lies a beauty behind forbidden wooden doors
A beauty so rare and pure it would make human eyes bleed and burn
She killed herself in the fall
I am the unmaker, I bring death to the beautiful dawn
With pillor, cold and a legion of dying angels
I killed myself in the spring
A grim bough had hung me high
I sank the fires of the Sol
Here, nightfall reigns
I oppose the light
I gather the storms with a sword I wield with hate
I shot down the sun with bow and flame
Pillorian for the dead winter
I am the unmaker
The pillorian, the ending
I die...
I damn you the dead winters
07 As Embers Dress the Sky (08:04)
The shallow voice of the wind cries between these ebony wings
The shallow cries of the wind sing a swansong for mankind
Shine on morning skyfire
ablaze this final day
The autumnal end, the dawn of man
The centuries fade below my feet
I soared above them as they worthlessly poured thought from a chalice
As wisdom would flow, twilight would come to pass
Drink, oh hallowed cup of life
Shine on evening skyfire
Paint the sky with the blood of a raven
Bereavement, oh garment of ebony
As embers dress the dusk of man...
[Music by Haughm/Anderson (3/96 - 10/96)]
08 The Melancholy Spirit (12:24)
It was in this haunted place under a moonless cloak of ebony
I was drawn to the glow of a young spiritess weeping in the woods
The blackest ravens and ice-veiled boughs
Have spoken of you, goddess of these bleak woods
I yearn for your embrace, spiritess of the melancholia
Show me, again, your sweet face
Enchant me with your rich, cinder burnt ether
Lure me into your arms and bless unto me eternal death
She had spoken to the dawn
Her words wisped in tongues of the wind
And then silence...
Pale clouds betrothed the dawn
Black rain fell
The birds wore masks
The haunting stain of her woe
Had burned itself into the oak
Night had gone
Bereaved, I was torn for her
One last time I witnessed her beauty in the distance
The arms of the trees tore at her morbid gown swaying in the loathsome winter
breeze
She faded before my eyes
Since that day a thousand veiled birds have taken flight
And the melancholy rain still pours forever on...
(Music by Haughm (4/97 - 3/98)
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Other reviews
By Hell
Agalloch manages to blend two overused genres, such as doom and folk, crafting a raw and palpable winter atmosphere as biting as the cold that freezes every single note of their music.
The contrast between acoustic/clean and distorted guitar is the first real winning weapon of the album.
