Ashes Against the Grain - Dark Publications

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•	The Mantle
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•	Above the Weeping World
•	Fear of a Blank Planet

Customer Reviews: Read 28 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

10/10 October 19, 2006
15 out of 16 found this review helpful

Reviewgium - Volume I, issue XVI

I was never really familiar with Agalloch until just a few months ago, and to be honest, this is the first album I have ever bought by them. I have been meaning to pick up their highly-acclaimed album The Mantle for quite some time, but...well, I digress. Ashes Against the Grain...this album...I really don't know where to start on this one. I really have never quite heard anything quite like it before. It is hard to describe because it is really an incredibly unique alloy of so many different stylings; a mystifying potpourri of musical elements, blended to form a perfect "aural aroma." Perhaps the cover sticker described the style of the album best as a blend of "black metal, Scandinavian prog, and post-rock." But even this is not an apt description of the music itself. It is metal, yet not metal. It is sinister yet benign. Abrasive yet sinuous. Simple yet complex. Ugly and beautiful at the same time. It is as if God and Satan put aside their differences for just a brief celestial moment, sat down in the crisp forests of the American northwest, and made an album together.

The album is a sea of atmospheric acoustic passages, driving electric rhythms, and pristine solo figures, that all complement and overlap each other in a meaningful way. The vocals are dark and grating at times, clean and mysterious at others. It's not really fair to compare them to typical death/black metal vocals, because they are not really shouting, screaming, or grunting. Just dark and wispy, like an icy wind blowing through the fading treetops on a clear night in the early winter. As for the clean vocals, listening to them like hearing the reincarnated soul of an invincible medieval warrior from the 12th century. Not in a cheeseball power metal way, but in a "we actually travelled back in time and lived in a medieval forest-village for five years to get ideas for this album" way. Definite album highlights include "Falling Snow"--that strong solo guitar that starts and pervades the track is excellent--and "Fire Above, Ice Below" with its interwoven yet perfectly straightforward guitarwork. The haunting 3-track "Our Fortress Is Burning" is a great piece that seems to summarize within twenty minutes everything this band can do: from the mystic acoustics, to the enthralling vocals, the symetrical-raindrop solos, the eerie soundscapes, and finally what seems to be the entire band fading away into the shrouded depths of the forest, to return only when they deem us worthy to behold their visages again.

Ashes Against the Grain is one of my strongest recommendations of the year, almost worthy of a ranking higher than a 9/10, and will definitely rank within my top ten albums of 2006. (Edit: I now rate this album 10/10.)

5 out of 5 stars

The "Grey" metal OverLords. August 16, 2006
14 out of 17 found this review helpful

Agalloch, has done it again. "It" being the creation of another masterpiece. Agalloch, IMO, has forged a melancholic, sad, despairing, and yet hopeful brick of Grey metal. I am not pigeon-holing this band, I am saying that Grey metal is a distinct and clear vision that Agalloch has constructed. Is this as good or better than their previous records, well you the listener decide. On AATG, Jason Walton's bass is more up front in the mix, which to me is a good thing. The drumming has improved with the addition of Chris Greene. J.Haughm, however, played drums on "Not unlike the Waves" and "Falling Snow." The production is superb, as the mix has greatly improved with each release. The musicanship is filled with tension and release. I've had the special wood-box edition for 2 weeks now, and after several listens, I'm still hearing different nuances in the music. Brilliant songwriting. BTW, the wood-box edition is a burnished brown wood with Agalloch ingrained across the slip-off top. Very cool packaging. These guys are the masters at what they do. Which is convey their concepts of this world, and the condition of this planet we all inhabit. And let's be realistic, it really is not a wonderful existance. Music that makes you smile is very important, but music bringing about truth and a certain realism is also important. This is what Agalloch's music can do. There is sadness in beauty, and beauty in sadness. And that, my friends, is Agalloch's Grey soundscape.

5 out of 5 stars

Another gem in the Agalloch crown August 9, 2006
8 out of 9 found this review helpful

It's been a long 4 years since Agalloch's last opus, "The Mantle". Since then, fans have been entertained with various EPs, Sculptured, ELS and Nothing...all of which has been good and nice, but it wasn't Agalloch. The waiting is over. Ashes Against the Grain is here, and it does not disappoint at all.

8 tracks long and clocking in at around an hour, this is an album you will not be pushing the skip button during. The album opens with "Limbs", which begins with a very post rock type intro. It reminds me of "The Lodge (dismantled)" off the Grey EP before an ominous acoustic intro segues into a standard Agalloch sound. As always, the band seemlessly weave folk music, black metal, post rock, noise, nature and everything else into an extremely cohesive and addicting mixture. The second track is "Falling Snow" which ups the tempo up a bit. Here, I will mention that the addition of Chris Greene on drums was an excellent choice. Greene does not miss a beat, and his playing is extremely stylish (not too conservative, but not too modest). "Fire Above, Ice Below" is the longest track of the album, and also one of the standouts. The following track is my favorite, "Not Unlike the Waves". Here, Haughm does probably his most intense vocal performance since their demo--very much in the style of Burzum. The song, as all of them are, is hypnotic.

The album closes with the "Our Fortress Is Burning" trilogy. Comparisons can be drawn to the "She Painted Fire" trilogy from the "Pale Folklore" cd. Infact, there is only a few seconds difference between the two trios. The first part is instrumental and sets the mood, leading straight into the second section of the song proclaiming "The god of man is a failure". What's interesting to note is that the trilogy is dedicated to Escape the Day's frontman, Florian, who tragically died earlier this year. The band, particularly Don Anderson, were fans of the band and of Florians work. I definitely encourage you to check out Escape the Day's myspace. The ending track is the one you will probably hear the most complaints about. The last track is a mixture of feedback and other noises. To me it simulates the bleak, desolate landscape that has become mankind. The last line of "Our Fortress is Burning Pt. II" is "and all of our shadows are ashes against the grain". Eerie. The last track does not act as a comforting close to an epic. Instead, I believe it serves to let the listener reflect on what he/she has just experienced and to almost meditate on its meanings. To me, it is just as vital to the album as Burzum's "Tomhet" was to Hvis Lyset Tar Oss or Drudkh's "Smell of Rain" off the "Forgotten Legends cd.

Uncomparable musicianship, thought provoking lyrics and equally important artwork all play into the experience of Ashes Against the Grain. As with all Agalloch efforts, it takes a few listens to really get a grasp as to what's going on. Once it clicks, though, you become hooked. If you're looking for your album of 2006, look no further.

5 out of 5 stars

Explosions in the Sky above the Swamp of Sadness January 17, 2007
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

An American metal band influenced by heavy European guitar music that doesn't sound like Iron Maiden or In Flames? With a "Loveless"-inspired album cover? Fascinating, Mr. Spock might say of Agalloch and their new record.

The sound is like Explosions in the Sky engaging in a (perhaps one-sided) battle with Celtic Frost in the parking lot of a cathedral. A reverse-delayed guitar aria begins "Limbs"-- skin crawls from the chilly reverberation of a war horn blown through a mountain range. The song swan-dives into a roiling sea of distorted guitar, piano-cum-acoustic-strumming, and even an evanescent "Something in the Way"-toned break featuring naught but a lone acoustic guitar with dead strings. Neverending blizzards of harmonic-stew guitar crunch bury the ears on "Falling Snow," combined with growl vocals that add rather than detract from the atmosphere of the track. Chorused guitar breaks provide pivot points for the song, and further texturize Agalloch's raucous, mind-bending distortion-fueled trance music.

No, not THAT kind of trance. The good kind. Mesmerization through the paradoxically warm earthiness of screaming guitar amplifiers humming and droning. It's probably the feeling you get in your gut standing under exposed powerlines at night for over an hour, gazing at your shoes.

The "Our Fortress is Burning..." suite gains more yardage into Explosions in the Sky/Godspeed! You Black Emperor's territory, treading out slowcore, post-rock guitar. But everything is sped up: the climactic build-ups crescendo or expire/regroup with the speed of a mutating viral infection, and the guitars don't stay shimmering clean for long. Agalloch's apocalypse came by disease rather than by war-born radiation.

In a very good way, this record is all over the place. There's enough grooves to satisfy, almost enough grit to require goggles in addition to headphones, but the record is balanced with a great sense of melody/harmony (and the top notch production that such things demand). Though anchored in melody, it's hard to know what to expect from one moment to the next-- ever the mark of a great record-- making a listen-through of "Ashes Against the Grain" an absolute experience.

5 out of 5 stars

There is a God... August 26, 2006
7 out of 9 found this review helpful

...and his name is John Haughm.

Agalloch has done it again, created a bleak, adventurous, breathtaking sonic landscape that has taken the metal world by surprise. Of course, simply "metal" does not do the band a hint of justice or explain their sound at all. Their sound has mixtures and inspirations from Post-rock, to folk-noir, to black metal, to experimental, ambient atmospheric music. This band has never simply played instruments to form songs; they extract images in your mind, building grim landscapes and perhaps stories with their dark, poetic lyrics and rich melodic layers of instruments. Of course, an open mind, concentration, and imagination are required to truly experience Agalloch. This isn't nearly for everyone.

I think anyone who likes "The Mantle" would also enjoy this album about the same. The general feel and character, are quite similar to it, well, relatively (this is much more similar to "The Mantle" than "Pale Folklore" is to "The Mantle"). Not to say it is so similar that there are no new ideas. Agalloch is always full of ideas.

"Limbs" opens up with the most distinctive, eerie and piercing melody, soon welcoming a full band, but the sound still lurking underneath the rest of the instruments. This song probably portrays the most unsettling feeling of any Agalloch song so far, however being so melodic at the same time. After a good five minutes of instrumentation twisting and winding around in different directions, Haughm's scruffy growls emerge, and never recede for the rest of the song, and it song gets heavier, adding to the already dark and creepy atmosphere. Later on there is a very sudden halt and a very calm bass solo in the middle of the song.

"Falling Snow" is the song the label released months before the album came out, and subsequently the one I listened to about fifty times in anticipation of the album. This song has much more of a rhythm and flowing structure to it, the main guitar themes are some of the most melodic and brilliant they've written. Several times the song breaks down into a clean, folk-like acoustic guitar melody for just two seconds or so, perfectly contrasting with the heaviness and fitting in with the direction and mood of the song. Vocals in this song are heavily alternated between growled and sung, usually with whispering overlaying the singing. I think the climactic point in this song, after the last two lines of vocals in this song and the instrumentals after it is probably the best part of the album.

"This White Mountain on Which You Will Die" is more of an intro or outro to a song rather than a song by itself. It is a one-and-a-half minute extremely ambient piece, unfortunately, without much substance. "The Misshapen Steed" and "The Lodge" blow this instrumental out of the ashes.

"Fire Above, Ice Below" is a rather slow-paced song, and not as heavy. The band experiments with singing and growling overdubbed, and long, winding instrumental passages. The song ends with the calming sound of waves, authentically recorded by Haughm on the coast of Washington.

"Not Unlike the Waves" begins with those same waves, morphing into a faster-paced, heavy song, with many harmonized/overdubbed vocals and some brief morsels of folk-like acoustic melodies thrown in the beginning.

"Our Fortress is Burning..." part I starts off with a sparse piano, slowly forming into a pretty nice instrumental. Part II starts off with the same general sound, expanding upon it, and eventually introducing vocals.

Part III is a very interesting "experimental noise" type piece from the band, only hinted around on "The Gray" EP a little bit prior to this. It contains distorted, distant guitars and swirling resonance, evoking a modern, urban, chaotic, almost apocalyptic type of feeling, something completely different from any vibe I have got from the band. Most people call this song a "waste" or "worthless" but I highly disagree and honestly, I like this instrumental better than the other two on this album and it probably evokes the most images in your mind of any other song. I pretty much saw something like this coming because the band has stated that they will explore more of their influences... further preventing possible classifications for their music. This song reminds me a lot of Godspeed You Black Emperor's album, "F#a#Infinity" because of the apocalyptic feel and "non-musical" sort of structure, except not so calm.

I would have to say this album is not quite better than the previous two full-lengths, however, that is understandable because those are so good I wouldn't really expect the band to ever surpass them. The band says it's their most "focused," but bands almost always say they are most proud of their newest work. I still believe "The Mantle" is their most accomplished and distinctive work. Specifically, all the instrumentals on "The Mantle" evoke so much more of a landscape like snowy, wintry, log cabin type of feeling, and are so much better than the instrumentals on this album (although Fortress III comes close), and this album has much less folk influences which made the previous two albums so unique.

They have set their standards so high they can't even reach them anymore. But that is not to say this album is disappointing, in the least. It is FAR from disappointing, and I have been waiting four long years for more material, other than a few EP's. It was worth the wait.

Many people also seem to not like the new drummer, Chris Greene, (previously just the live drummer) as much as Haughm doing the drums. Haughm still does them on "Falling Snow" and "Not Unlike the Waves." Greene's drumming seems a tad less imaginative, but I don't think it hurts the album much.

Although more of a personal note, I would also like to mention Agalloch has now surpassed Opeth as my favorite band. Opeth is still interesting, has amazing melodies, great ideas, progressions, and is unlimitedly interesting, but Agalloch, they have all these things and more. They convey so much feeling and emotion; words cannot describe it well enough. My appreciation for Opeth has not decreased, I have simply realized with the intense anticipation for this album and then finally hearing it, that I simply enjoy Agalloch above any other band. I am not comparing the two, but Opeth just happens to be my previous favorite band.

I feel like I have "grown" with Agalloch much more because when I first discovered them, it was before "The Mantle" even came out, and they were much more obscure. "Pale Folklore" totally floored me and changed the way I look at and think about music. I don't think I was ever excited about getting an album more than "The Mantle." I remember The End Records did this little album-listening event where you sit in a chat room with many other fans, and they played the entire album, like a month before it came out. I admire how the band members visit the label's forums and regularly interact with the fans, usually answering questions and such. A band isn't quite expected to do that. In some ironic sense, they care about their fans much more than most bands do, but at the same time they don't care about their fans because they do what's in their hearts and minds when arranging and executing their music. They will not conform to other people's opinions, regulations, limitations or commercialization. If they disappoint fans they don't care. But that isn't a selfish behaviour, it is the behaivour of true artists; artists who pour their soul into their art. And that's who Agalloch are.

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