PALE FOLKLORE

A unique debut not only for an American but also a band in general. Agalloch have painted way for a unique combination of music styles: black metal, doom metal, post-rock and folky influences. Indeed, we should not forget small progressive rock influence, too.

The voice is sometimes growling in a calm whispering way, sometimes growling hard and the clean vocal is also quite decent. The first long epic track features also female vocals that perfectly fit the dark atmosphere. The blowing wind brings the dark shade of winter. Things get fast in the second track and and in the end, a simple quinta chord is used to calm things down. The third track is a culmination of the the effort so far - instrumental parts are combined with evil singing and mourning guitar. These three track actually epitomize the typical Agalloch sound. You can choose if it something for you or not to continue listening. But... The next track is quite unusually acoustic and soft but remains atmospheric and windy.

"Hallways of enchanged ebony" is a great epic title and the music does not stay behind expectations. "Dead winter days" is a perfect post-rock driven mostly instrumental track. "As embers dress the sky" remembers me of Opeth in the beginning: clean vocals and similar riffs. Death metal vocals are also not a far cry from Opeth.

"The melancholy spirit" has a catchy melody, clear acoustic parts, slow doomy sections and even a piano outro.

The album is a highlight of progressive black metal, however I have to give it a 3 star only since it is not an excellent addition for a progger, but still very much recommended. In a metal review, I rated it with 4 stars.