A Desolation Song is the perfect closer for this album.

My favourite metal album so far. Magnificent.

Written by Metren on 26.08.2016 at 18:41

I'm finally, very very slowly learning to appreciate this album and this band. Can't wait for the right moment to listen to this in the winter by the fireplace with a glass of mulled wine in my hand.

And that time has come, rather sooner than I had expected. It's snowing (has been for days, even though it is only November), there's a fire warming my room, mulled wine to drink and this album. Perfect, absolutely perfect. Sometimes life's good

Written by [user id=142921] on 03.09.2016 at 18:33

Written by [user id=159927] on 03.09.2016 at 16:44

10000000000000000000000000000000000000/10

wish i could listen to it for the first time again

Oh wow, i would give this a 7 out of 10 now maybe 8

Written by [user id=142921] on 03.02.2017 at 09:13

Written by [user id=159927] on 02.02.2017 at 18:05

Written by [user id=142921] on 03.09.2016 at 18:33

Written by [user id=159927] on 03.09.2016 at 16:44

10000000000000000000000000000000000000/10

wish i could listen to it for the first time again

Oh wow, i would give this a 7 out of 10 now maybe 8

you're not allowed to change your opinion

but I am.

Quote:

Written by [user id=142921] on 03.02.2017 at 09:13

Oh wow, i would give this a 7 out of 10 now maybe 8

you're not allowed to change your opinion

I swear, I was an idiot when I wrote that, this is a 10/10. My opinion changes too much.

Quote:

Written by [user id=142921] on 05.04.2017 at 12:38

Written by [user id=159927] on 04.04.2017 at 23:50

Written by [user id=142921] on 03.02.2017 at 09:13

Oh wow, i would give this a 7 out of 10 now maybe 8

you're not allowed to change your opinion

I swear, I was an idiot when I wrote that, this is a 10/10. My opinion changes too much.

lmao what the hell man

I don't even know.

Agalloch is definitely the band with the best finals in the metal. From And the great cold death of the earth, A desolation song and Bloodbirds from Ashes I feel a satisfying saisfaccion that leaves me a feeling that something divine happened. Definitely this album and Ashes are in my top 20 metal albums of all time.

I just got the remastered version of this masterpiece on vinyl. It looks as cool as it sounds!

This album bores me.

Listening to this in Cusco... it fits

How can this album be so damn near-perfect?

Written by Maco on 02.01.2018 at 03:47

How can this album be so damn near-perfect?

Yet you gave it a 10 (meaning it is perfect)

Written by [user id=159927] on 03.01.2018 at 23:00

Yet you gave it a 10 (meaning it is perfect)

Don't be a pedant. I'd give it a 10 as well, although I think the closing track is slightly underwhelming.

Written by [user id=159927] on 03.01.2018 at 23:00

Yet you gave it a 10 (meaning it is perfect)

A 9.5 would round up

I will never get the hype around this band.

Beautiful album, a bit boring at times, but I liked it none the less.

It's a wonderful album, but a little long

It's a wonderful album, but a little long

Mmmm it's okay? It's too repetitive and the vocals are just regular growling. The classical guitars and the atmosphere of the album are the highlights but it all keeps going on in loops. I've heard better atmospheric albums and they also had better solos and better vocals. I'm not a big fan of growling but I do appreciate and even enjoy some growling when it's really good or fits the song. I mean, I expected that the metal storm rating was overblown out of proportions.

I think there are a lot of black / death / extreme/ atmospheric metal listeners on this site and anything that has atmosphere and growling which is half decent has the tendency to be a top album on metal storm. 7/10 and that's mainly for the originality, atmoshpere and production. Back in 2002 this must have been a fresh release.

Written by GIO 616 on 25.10.2018 at 04:35

It's a wonderful album, but a little long

Maybe you accidently listened to it twice?
(just like you posted this twice)

Anyway, I always fail to see people rating 10/10 but complaining about the length of an album.
If you really do think it's perfect, you should be happy for every single piece of music you received for your money, shouldn't you?

Written by Mountain King on 11.01.2019 at 13:48

Mmmm it's okay? It's too repetitive and the vocals are just regular growling. The classical guitars and the atmosphere of the album are the highlights but it all keeps going on in loops. I've heard better atmospheric albums and they also had better solos and better vocals. I'm not a big fan of growling but I do appreciate and even enjoy some growling when it's really good or fits the song. I mean, I expected that the metal storm rating was overblown out of proportions.

I think there are a lot of black / death / extreme/ atmospheric metal listeners on this site and anything that has atmosphere and growling which is half decent has the tendency to be a top album on metal storm. 7/10 and that's mainly for the originality, atmoshpere and production. Back in 2002 this must have been a fresh release.

I am sharing most of your thoughts, in particular concerning the endless loops and the general grade of repetition.
I do not mind the growls at all, in fact, my favorite styles doom/death, death and black do not compute without growls. And I really do like the slower, mellow, accoustic spectrum of metal, too.
So looking at the ingredients of The Mantle and the encomia it accumulated, this should be one of my favorite albums. But it's not. In fact, I didn't even bother to ever purchase this.

Caused by the fulsome reviews, I bought Pale Folklore a couple of years ago. I gave it quite a couple of spins but just couldn't urge myself into liking it. It bored the pants off me and ended up 6/10.
Then people kept on telling me how paramount the following The Mantle was, but same story here. I just can't spot any outstanding highlights and riffs sticking in my mind are scarce exceptions.
I just re-listened and even right after these 68 minutes, I fail to recall a single melody or passage deserving all the praise this album gets. I'd even say the vocals and the instrumentals are at best of mediocre quality.
Luckily, I didn't spent any money finding out that this album barely contains anything I'd necessarily have to hear again.

I am happy for anyone adoring this album but I just don't get it.

Written by Starvynth on 11.01.2019 at 17:08

Written by Mountain King on 11.01.2019 at 13:48

Mmmm it's okay? It's too repetitive and the vocals are just regular growling. The classical guitars and the atmosphere of the album are the highlights but it all keeps going on in loops. I've heard better atmospheric albums and they also had better solos and better vocals. I'm not a big fan of growling but I do appreciate and even enjoy some growling when it's really good or fits the song. I mean, I expected that the metal storm rating was overblown out of proportions.

I think there are a lot of black / death / extreme/ atmospheric metal listeners on this site and anything that has atmosphere and growling which is half decent has the tendency to be a top album on metal storm. 7/10 and that's mainly for the originality, atmoshpere and production. Back in 2002 this must have been a fresh release.

I am sharing most of your thoughts, in particular concerning the endless loops and the general grade of repetition.
I do not mind the growls at all, in fact, my favorite styles doom/death, death and black do not compute without growls. And I really do like the slower, mellow, accoustic spectrum of metal, too.
So looking at the ingredients of The Mantle and the encomia it accumulated, this should be one of my favorite albums. But it's not. In fact, I didn't even bother to ever purchase this.

Caused by the fulsome reviews, I bought Pale Folklore a couple of years ago. I gave it quite a couple of spins but just couldn't urge myself into liking it. It bored the pants off me and ended up 6/10.
Then people kept on telling me how paramount the following The Mantle was, but same story here. I just can't spot any outstanding highlights and riffs sticking in my mind are scarce exceptions.
I just re-listened and even right after these 68 minutes, I fail to recall a single melody or passage deserving all the praise this album gets. I'd even say the vocals and the instrumentals are at best of mediocre quality.
Luckily, I didn't spent any money finding out that this album barely contains anything I'd necessarily have to hear again.

I am happy for anyone adoring this album but I just don't get it.

Exactly my thoughts. I will have to check the rest of the discography because to be honest I'm not familiar with the other albums. I just saw their live DVD once but I don't recall anything specific.

When I saw the notification I thought I was being bashed by a fan for not liking the album so I'm glad I got to read such a constructive comment.

Have a great weekend.

Written by Mountain King on 11.01.2019 at 19:51

[...]
When I saw the notification I thought I was being bashed by a fan for not liking the album so I'm glad I got to read such a constructive comment.

Have a great weekend.

That's exactly what I thought when your notification popped up.
Your rating does still imply it's good, 7/10 should never justify hard bashing.
But maybe the hardcore fans are already waiting in the wings and poisoning their daggers? Who knows...

The same to you!

Oh, The Mantle, atmospheric God album, right? Yeah, this album has giant mystic atmosphere all around. That's for sure. But overall, it's not perfect. Too much instrumentals where not much is happening and they're too long, still same acoustic guitars with same classic chords on and on. Featureless vocals.

Written by Mountain King on 11.01.2019 at 13:48

Mmmm it's okay? It's too repetitive and the vocals are just regular growling. The classical guitars and the atmosphere of the album are the highlights but it all keeps going on in loops. I've heard better atmospheric albums and they also had better solos and better vocals. I'm not a big fan of growling but I do appreciate and even enjoy some growling when it's really good or fits the song. I mean, I expected that the metal storm rating was overblown out of proportions.

I think there are a lot of black / death / extreme/ atmospheric metal listeners on this site and anything that has atmosphere and growling which is half decent has the tendency to be a top album on metal storm. 7/10 and that's mainly for the originality, atmoshpere and production. Back in 2002 this must have been a fresh release.

Having just listened to it for the first time in full in a very long while, and it having been my favorite album of all time for a very long time, I'm starting to agree with you a bit. This is an absolutely marvelous album, but it's dragged a bit down by repetitions, with are great motifs and all, but don't work that well with the album's length, hence why I usually just listened to either the first four songs or the last two. I honestly think this would've been a better record if The Lodge was somehow merged with The Hawthorne Passage and it flowed directly into And The Great Cold Death Of The Earth.

Try giving it another listen but remove The Hawthorne Passage and You Were But A Ghost In My Arms. In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion is still my favorite song of all time, so at the very least relisten to the first two songs.

The formula of this album: alternation of excellence of songs:

track 01: beautiful intro
track 02: a highlight
track 03: a very nice one
track 04: a highlight
track 05: a beautiful "filler"
track 06: the brightest highlight
track 07: a very nice one
track 08: a highlight
track 09: a nice closer

This alternation prevents it from generating any boredom IMO -- despite the album length.

In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion is a genuine contender for one of the best songs written within metal, I honestly think it's a masterpiece. Hawthorne Passage, Odal and You Were But A Ghost In My Arms are also immense

Written by musclassia on 19.12.2020 at 01:21

In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion is a genuine contender for one of the best songs written within metal, I honestly think it's a masterpiece. Hawthorne Passage, Odal and You Were But A Ghost In My Arms are also immense

ITSOOPC is my favourite song ever.

Written by RaduP on 19.12.2020 at 13:09

Written by musclassia on 19.12.2020 at 01:21

In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion is a genuine contender for one of the best songs written within metal, I honestly think it's a masterpiece. Hawthorne Passage, Odal and You Were But A Ghost In My Arms are also immense

ITSOOPC is my favourite song ever.

Probably the same for me, or at the very least top 5

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...