Band:	John Haughm
Album:	46​°​59'15​.​9"N // 120​°​32'15​.​4"W: The Devil​’​s Coil
Style:	Ambient noise, Post-rock
Release date:	May 2024
A review by:	RaduP

01. The Anatomical Dissection And Postmortem Medical Examination Of John Lewis DL Haughm Following His Execution By Hanging In September 1899
02. The Devil's Coil, Suite I - The Spectral Keeper
03. The Devil's Coil, Suite II - To Thine Barbed Wire Noose Be True
04. The Devil's Coil, Suite III - A Fine Hymn To Die To
05. 11:02 PM (Winter Of 1889)

Maybe now that Agalloch is back, people will finally care about John Haughm's ambient works. I know, that's very delusional.

When I reviewed the preceding album, 1865 // 1895: Cast​.​Iron.​Blood., I went through the entire recent history of the dissolution of Agalloch and later of Pillorian, some in part due to Haughm's own actions and how there seems to be a refuge in this solo work. Well, the context is a bit different this time around. It's not like Haughm ever needed his solo work as a replacement for Agalloch or any of his other bands since the project was started while Agalloch were still at their popularity peak around 2010, but that is something that was felt with 1865 // 1895: Cast​.​Iron.​Blood.. And now with Agalloch reuniting and being very careful with the few select dates they play live, it's safe to say that they're very in demand. I'm not sure if that reunion will ever move to the studio, but right now it's far from a low point and continuing the solo work now shows that it was never about refuge.

46​°​59'15​.​9"N // 120​°​32'15​.​4"W: The Devil​’​s Coil continues and concludes the "Nomad Trilogy" started in 2015 with +37​.​717364 // -117​.​247955: The Last Place I Remember and continued with the aforementioned 1865 // 1895: Cast​.​Iron.​Blood.. Yes, I am as annoyed as you are by those titles, but thankfully they have shorter names that I can address them by. What I really liked about Cast​.​Iron.​Blood. was how it was far removed enough from Agalloch to not draw direct comparisons, but also by introducing more guitars and vocals than the previous records, it created a livelier atmosphere that somehow worked to evoke similar feelings to how the ambient/post-rock side of Agalloch already did. The Devil​’​s Coil feels even more ambitious.

I have to talk about the opening track, the one with that long name that I'm not gonna copy. Annoying title aside, what's amazing about this track is that it was recorded only with instruments available within the album's 19th century timeline, and though that does lead to it having more of an orchestral feel, there's enough creative use of outsider instruments like dissection tools to create a very specific funereal mood that has an imbedded feeling of finality. Cellos (courtesy of Osi & The Jupiter's Kakophonix) and harmonicas and pianos are used throughout the rest of the album, but past the eerie 20 minute opener, there's a stronger emphasis on building repetitive patterns, maintaining the gloomy momentum but injecting it with sampled soundscapes, post-rock crescendos, and just a slight touch of metalness. The bombastic moments feel even more bombastic, and the gloom feels even more despondent, and both of these make sense as being part of a trilogy's final instalment.

Though there's more to the "Nomal Trilogy" and Haughm's solo work as a whole than just its connections whether personnel-wise or sound-wise to Agalloch, I can't deny that that's what continues to draw me in, and none of that would've happened without Agalloch already being so great at incorporating the elements already present here into their sound.