REVIEW: AGALLOCH - THE MANTLE

 

AGALLOCH - THE MANTLE (The End Records, 2002)

Produced by Ronn Chick and John Haughm

Recorded between Nov-01 & Apr 02

Cover Art by John Haughm

Tracks: 1- A Celebration for the Death of Man, 2- In the Shadow of Our Pale Companion, 3- Odal, 4- I am the Wooden Doors, 5- The Lodge; 6- You Were But A ghost In my Arms; 7- The Hawthorne Passage; 8- ...And the Great Cold Death of the Earth, 9- A Desolation Song

It is really amazing how this guys have developed their own style. In fact you can listen to this and say that this is pure Agalloch...they have developed an Agalloch sound (which was present also in their previous "Pale Folklore"). Here you have all the melodic and climatic elements combined in a really dark way. I mean, here you have keyboards, acoustic guitars and really calm passages but everything is designed to create a dark atmosphere in all the tracks. The feelings are of sadness, loneliness. There are heavier tracks like " I Am the Wooden Doors but they are all full of twisted melodies that make Agalloch and this recording a unique experience. A must for any music lover. One of the records of the year.

Favorite tracks: The whole CD ...One of the records of the month and of the year

Contact: www.theendrecords.com