Agalloch - The Mantle
| Release date: | 13 August 2002 |
| Style: | Neofolk, Atmospheric black metal |
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Owners: |
1819 have it 181 want it 3 trade it |
01. A Celebration For The Death Of Man...
02. In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion
03. Odal
04. I Am The Wooden Doors
05. The Lodge
06. You Were But A Ghost In My Arms
07. The Hawthorne Passage
08. ...And The Great Cold Death Of The Earth
09. A Desolation Song
Top 20 albums of 2002: 1
Top 200 albums of all time: 10
Featured in "Getting Into: Agalloch"
02. In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion
03. Odal
04. I Am The Wooden Doors
05. The Lodge
06. You Were But A Ghost In My Arms
07. The Hawthorne Passage
08. ...And The Great Cold Death Of The Earth
09. A Desolation Song
Top 20 albums of 2002: 1
Top 200 albums of all time: 10
Featured in "Getting Into: Agalloch"
Song by Song
Reviews 
Lyrics John Haughm - vocals, guitars, drums, percussion, ebow, woodchimes, samples
Donald L. Anderson - guitars, piano
Jason William Walton - bass, noisescape
Additional musicians:
Danielle Norton - trombone
Ty Brubaker - double bass, accordion
Ronn Chick - synths, mandolin, bells, programming
Aaron Sholes - samples
Neta Smolack - samples
Rating:
9.5
9.5
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Rating: 9.5 |
In the true musical lineage of Opeth and Katatonia, Agalloch is one of these mystic and melancholic bands, excelling at playing a smart blend of Doom Metal and few elements from Melodic Death Metal, such as the voice a la Dark Tranquillity. Established as one of the best combos in their style and one of America's most interesting bands, Agalloch was founded in Portland, Oregon in late 1995. After a couple of demos, they scored a deal with The End Records in 1998 and their debut album Pale Folklore was released in 1999. In 2001, a limited MCD entitled Of Stone, Wind and Pillor was released and they then worked on today's chapter, their second full-length album, The Mantle. Agalloch is composed by John Haughm , Don Anderson and Jason William Walton . Read more ›› |
Guest review by
telephonebear
telephonebear
Rating:
10
10
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Rating: 10 |
Agalloch are a band that I have only recently started listening to, but they are the first band in a long time that I have fallen in love with instantly. Most of my favourites have grown on me overtime but there was something about The Mantle that captured me immediately. I tend to listen to cleaner vocal songs, although there are death metal bands I like, but I thought I would be put off by Haughm's raspy blackened vocals. Instead I found them really beautiful the way they weave in and out of the music. That was the thing that struck me most about Agalloch: the beauty of it. The general formula seems to be power chords on electric guitar with gentle twangy acoustic melodies over the top. This works really nicely and the juxtaposition of the heavy and the soft is mirrored when Haugm's vocals become more tuneful. The first time this occurs is in "In The Shadow of Our Pale Companion"-the magnum opus of the album and Agalloch's best along with "Not Unlike the Waves" four years later. The rasps and whispers build up to an epic sounding tuneful cry which gives me shivers every time. The vocals then vary between these two styles, as well as monotone almost talking and whispers through the rest of the album, in a very fluid way. There is no clean verse to harsh verse pattern; it all blends into each other. Read more ›› |
31.08.2022
| 31.08.2022 |
It is only now that I realize how ironic it is that one of the most wintery albums out there was released in the summer. The August from 20 years ago gave us this masterpiece, and this is one of those kind of albums where it's very uncontroversial to call it as such. "In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion" only gets competition from "East Hastings" as my favorite song of all time, and I've mentioned time and time again how discovering this album about ten years ago was a paradigm shift for me and my music taste. It's interesting see how I still connect to The Mantle after all these years, even though sometimes I feel it's either too pompous or meandering for its own good, there are very few albums with such a great interplay between electric and acoustic guitars, and that so effectively merge atmospheric black metal into post-rock structures. And all of it feels magical years later. RaduP's picks | More picks ›› |
| Thumbs up: Starvynth, ScreamingSteelUS, X-Ray Rod, nikarg, Daniell, musclassia, Darkside Momo, corrupt, Dream Taster, Nejde, Redel |  |
Found in 167 lists
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Comments page 5 / 5
Comments: 144
Visited by: 3251 users
| musclassia Staff Posts: 7619  |
Written by RaduP on 19.12.2020 at 13:09 Probably the same for me, or at the very least top 5
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18374  |
Like every hope I've ever had Like every dream I've ever known It washed away in a tide of longing, a longing for a better world From my will, my throat, to the river, and into the sea, wash away, fade away That parts fucking gets me every time...
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Gothic Metalhead Pro Introvert Posts: 146  |
What a ride with this album. As strange as this sounds this was my first discovery of Agalloch and I originally hated The Mantle for being a boring album that dragged on. I wouldn't give this album another chase until after I listened to Ashes Against The Grain, now my all-time favorite metal album. With every passing listen, it was the greatest reevaluation I ever made as I finally understand that this is what metal means as an art form. Now I literally listen to Agalloch every day (more particularly this album and especially Ashes) and they've become one of my all-time favorites. While I do love Ashes more, The Mantle truly opened my eyes and into my heart. Too bad I discovered them too late after their breakup as I always do with most of my favorite metal bands.
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| BetulaObscura Posts: 209  |
Written by Gothic Metalhead on 20.12.2020 at 09:57 Better late than never mate! Cheers!
---- "Inspired by the future of the past"
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| JavierPaper Posts: 218  |
How could I not comment on this beautiful album? Well, at first I didn't think so, and it seemed to me like a very lazy band with terrible vocals. Several months later I listened to this album again, but this time in its entirety, uuuh I remember it was a journey of feelings. The beginning of "In the Shadow of our Pale Companion" that I can't get out of my mind. The chords of "A Desolation Song". The rhythm of "Odal". "The Hawthorne Passage" which, with the fact that it is instrumental, makes it 100 times better. There are many moments that I love on the album, but this commentary would be 3000 words long. 
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| Roman Doez Hallucigenia Posts: 972  |
Better than I remembered, pretty good album but definitely not for me
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| nonZero Posts: 1332  |
Written by JavierPaper on 30.09.2021 at 01:43 Write a review! I would read it.
---- Top 500 Albums (ordered & rated) Top 200 Overlooked Albums (with genres) So I Heard You Like Wintersun... (Time II find new bands)
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| Dylan 1974 Posts: 92  |
Giving this pure, unadulterated classic a spin today. It never gets old and just may be the greatest album ever constructed by man or beast. Like Robert Johnson (and Tenacious D), these fuckers must have signed a covenant with the dark lord to produce this glistening jewel. 
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| sgtrobo Posts: 593  |
Took me awhile to really get into Agalloch, but I gotta admit, this one keeps getting better and better the more I listen to it
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| Maha_Niwakiru Posts: 15  |
Written by Gothic Metalhead on 20.12.2020 at 09:57 It felt that way too. And also discovering they played a festival I attended : I could have seen them.
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| Alakazam spendin' cheese Posts: 1218  |
Feels good to get the og vinyl on the brink before its anniversary. Agalloch, or should I say John, always had the eye mind for producing stellar individual art direction and layout within each piece, let alone product per se as each variation of each release is a variation in itself.
---- I may not have the largest collection but I certainly have the absolute best 
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| A Real Mönkey Posts: 1176  |
Here at the edge of this world Here I gaze at a pantheon of oak, a citadel of stone If this grand panorama before me is what you call God Then God is not dead Probably one of my favorite lyrics ever.
---- Need a break from headbanging? Restore your street cred by visiting my hip-hop list! Tha Swagnum Opus: A Selection Of Hip-Hop For The Curious Metalhead
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| 24emd Theory Snob Posts: 1076  |
Finally got this today (better late than never) and damn is it a masterpiece! The vocals, the atmosphere, the faster parts, the slower parts. Just wow.
---- "I am too stupid to be human, and I lack common sense." - Proverbs 30:2 "Music? Well, it's just entertainment, folks!" - Devin Townsend Best 2024 Albums
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| nonZero Posts: 1332 |
A fantastic, bleak album that transports you to another time and place, lost in a dark snow-covered forest. One of my favourite black metal albums of all time. 9.6/10 for me - 'In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion', 'Odal' and '...And The Great Cold Death Of The Earth' are the standout songs. 'I Am The Wooden Doors', 'The Lodge' and 'A Desolation Song' are all also great.
---- Top 500 Albums (ordered & rated) Top 200 Overlooked Albums (with genres) So I Heard You Like Wintersun... (Time II find new bands)
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| AndyMetalFreak A Nice Guy Contributor Posts: 5301  |
This album is legendary, one I like to come back to every so often. I usually get the urge around this time of year, that is towards the end of Autumn, just as winter approaches. It makes the perfect setting for a walk through the woods andcalong the river on a clear Winter's day, with a cold breeze in the air, as the colourful autumn leaves fall from the trees. Sadly the area surrounding the woods has now been built on, and alot of the pathways are no more, so the scenery isn't ehat it once was, but it's still a quality album anyway  "In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion", "You Were But A Ghost In My Arms" and "I Am The Wooden Doors" are my favourite songs on here, but the rest is still very impressive.
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| Daddo Posts: 15  |
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| JoHn Doe Posts: 5081  |
Written by Daddo on 31.10.2023 at 09:28 Do you think people that use the term "microaggression" listen to Agalloch or black metal? I highly doubt that.
---- I thought the two primary purposes for the internet were cat memes and overreactions.
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| Daddo Posts: 15 |
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| JoHn Doe Posts: 5081 |
Written by Daddo on 31.10.2023 at 09:52 Well, I don't follow "metal sucks", but I still think your sarcasm is unfair (even incorrect) here. If you dislike this album, there are better ways to express that.
---- I thought the two primary purposes for the internet were cat memes and overreactions.
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| Nejde Posts: 1695  |
Written by JoHn Doe on 31.10.2023 at 09:54 Don't bother. He was supposed to be permabanned back in 2020 already. I fixed that now so he is gone.
---- Liebe ist für alle da.
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| Fritzl_Dungeon Account deleted |
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| JoHn Doe Posts: 5081 |
Written by [user id=336621] on 01.11.2023 at 05:25 Nobody said that either. 
---- I thought the two primary purposes for the internet were cat memes and overreactions.
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| A Real Mönkey Posts: 1176 |
Been on a bit of an Agalloch kick since I found out that they were releasing a deluxe edition of this album (and discovering that they had already done so with Pale Folklore). Beautiful artwork and collects the hard to get EPs on the second disc. Finally able to get my hands on physical copies of their albums after years of pirating them. Huzzah! Now I wait and pray that Ashes Against The Grain gets the deluxe treatment. I’ll have to make it a point to visit the Deer statue if I ever find myself in Oregon.
---- Need a break from headbanging? Restore your street cred by visiting my hip-hop list! Tha Swagnum Opus: A Selection Of Hip-Hop For The Curious Metalhead
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| poring dark Posts: 43 |
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