THE MANTLE

Having turned into an avantgarde puppet over the years, I have grown out of my old inane banter metaleer stages. However this band is a semi-god that is infinite and unscraped by time, you do not judge them after you've seemingly grown in the ways of sophistication, they judge you.

The album personally allowed me to visualize like none other. it's not drums, nor guitar, in fact I can't picture the music coming from any band what so ever. It is a fantasy celestial, the music is like stillness in another world.

If growls and eerie vocals are not in your diversity then I advise you to be careful on the purchasing. But it has always been a firm belief of mine, that once you have the culture and understanding to appreciate growling (even if it takes time), music will be more open to you, and make itself known in dimensions which you have not conceptualised yet. For it is said that if you can care for the worst, then you can learn to care for anything.

If this music is what you call prog... Then prog is not dead.

Following an excellent debut album is always incredibly hard, because, considering the amount of fans, the group always has to offer something new, fresh and yet not disappoint the average conservative fan. After the flawless Pale Folklore, a masterpiece on its own grounds, Agalloch was also under pressure during the time of this release. What came from the minds of the musicians was an even superior album of outstanding beauty that would not only surpass the predecessor but would become the group's breakthrough, their most cherished masterpiece and, perhaps, one of the greatest albums of the new century.

Four years since the last album had passed by the time The Mantle was unleashed and you really can't blame them for lack of originality, repetition of old ideas or stagnancy. What first catches your attention upon your first encounter is that the musicians have developed their skills over the past years. This could be one of the reasons why about a half of the album is instrumental. Still, fotunately for us all, there is not a single excessive note used and the group knows better not to show off their skill and technical prowess. What is noticeable next is that the overall form of songwriting is different. Pale Folklore contained an abundancy of brilliantly inspiring melodic metal riffs put together carefully, whereas its successor seems to be mostly based around the acoustics, the electric guitar playing a less important role. This could explain why the record sounds more relaxed and carefree, yet still being an epitome of emotional, engaging music.

A Celebration For The Death Of Man... opens the album and, although it is just a short acoustic instrumental, it sets the mood quite nicely. It also represents the group's progressive folk influences very well. Next is the almost fifteen minute long In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion, which is the ultimate track to choose if you would like to introduce Agalloch artistic aesthetics to a listener who has not got the perception of it yet. Being the album's first and longest epic track, it also contains the lush, beautiful songwriting and feeling the group is known for and plenty of other elements as well. First lyrics can be found here and you can say that they have become much more thoughtful, poetic since the time. More importantly, they match the music perfectly - what more could you wish for? The improvement in the singing also shows here - while it is a fact that John Haugm will never be known for vocal acrobatics which he doesn't and I hope will never possess, his raspy and grim singing accompanied by clean vocals, now more common in the music(about half to half), also greatly improved, contribute to the sound correctly. This is the music that will send shivers down your spine and absorb you into its imaginary magical world. The second half of the song is most remarkable, highlighted by the majestic melodies, vocal harmonies and the brilliant guitar solo. The instrumental Odal is next, expanding beyond the set acoustic folk sound and also going taking a more Post Rock influenced direction that can be heard and felt beginning from this track. There will be build-ups, crescendos and other typical post-rock elements present in the group's rich sound. I Am The Wooden Doors is one of the album's heavier tracks(You Were But A Ghost In My Arms being the other one), which is not saying much as it still is immensely beautiful and has those eerie moments that make the music stand out. The contrast between the distorted riffs with black metal vocals and the clean acoustic section is one of the most remarkable aspects of this release.

The next three tracks are just as good as the ones I described earlier and they go further into the Post Rock development in Agalloch's sound. ...And The Great Cold Death Of The Earth includes the album's title and can be considered to be the title track. The use of wind instruments is very suitable for the group's aesthetics here. By the end of the track, the theme heard on the first track is heard again. However, it isn't the outro, as there is still one song left. A Desolation Song does not really flow with the rest of the album as well - the approach to songwriting and singing is different and it expresses despair, desperation and melancholic desolation with the help of its components. The lyrics are more bleak and straight forward here, although in no way simple. The real outro closes the album and this is where Agalloch's dreamy landscapes disappear and the listener has to put up with reality once again.

I won't be an exaggerating if I say that this is one of the greatest albums of this decade. This is music for the hearts and ears of all people regardless of their tastes and moods. There isn't quite anything sounding like this(although now there are many groups trying to copy Agalloch's sound but with no success). Anybody refusing to witness the majestic beauty of The Mantle is missing out greatly. This album is particularly recommended(yet not limited to)fans of progressive folk, modern music and post rock.

A masterpiece!

agalloch comes through with a masterpiece in THE MANTLE, creating a cold wintry landscape of folk style acoustic guitars, occasional outbursts of metal, with growled vocals at times, and haunting clean voice others. The standout track here is " In the Shadow of Our Pale Companion." Clocking in at over 10 minutes, this song showcases all agalloch have to offer. beautiful acoustic sections, hard rock crescendos, all encapsulated in a dark atmosphere. think about walking alone in a forest while its snowing...Other key tracks include Odal and A Desolation Song, which is acoustic with clean vocals, and features an accordion of all things. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOLK/METAL with an incredible atmosphere, that sweeps you away to a different place. i would give this album somewhere around 4.3 stars. not quite a masterpiece , although for the genre its in, it could very well be considered one.

A simple acoustic guitar track with some percussion and we are off. We are off on a journey into the woods and forests of life, and to the rivers and streams of reality. It is not known where these woods and waters will lead us to but there is one thing that can be assured, it will be a grand and beautiful journey.

The album starts with the aforementioned acoustic opening track, titled "A Celebration for the Death of Man" and is nearly as simple as it gets. It is nothing more than an acoustic guitar playing over a simple drumbeat and some ambient sound effects, but will serve as the backbone for this album over the course of the eight following tracks. It is here that we hear the influence of Death In June, an acclaimed neo-folk project.

After this opening track, we take a step away from the edge of the forest and dive deeper into the thick, dark wonders that lie ahead. The dark wonders that lie in the forest are much like those found in the second track of the album, "In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion," strange, and fearful, yet beautiful beyond all words. Here we get our first dose of the true atmosphere that this Portland, Oregon based trio can really create. The vocals shift between harsh and clean, but do not despair, neither style of vocals over power the actual music itself. They are there simply to deliver the message that is to be delivered and to enhance the atmosphere itself. Due to this, the vocals are almost a monotone and show very little variation. This however, is not a sign that they are emotionless, in fact that are just the opposite. The song continues and after two beautiful guitar solos it transitions into the third track, quite perfectly with the use of the sound horse hooves pounding along the ground.

Deeper yet into the forest we go, and where do we find ourselves but at the center of a vast bedazzling snow covered landscape. The trees are all barren and leafless, but the blanket of snow and ice more than makes up for the seeming lack of life. As we look around us, we find that there is more life here than what was first visible. In the distance, there is a deer, which is calmly wandering amidst the frozen maze of trees. We approach it slowly and carefully to avoid scaring it into running. As we are walking towards it, you step on a stick, snapping it. It makes a soft cracking noise that alerts the deer and sends it running off. "Odal" is an instrumental that is led by simple acoustic guitar playing, background ambience, and very fitting drum work. It is a very simplistic track nearly reaches the eight-minute mark. Despite its lengthy running time, it is never even once boring. The simplicity of this track is easily its appeal. About three fourths of the way in, a piano begins to lead the song to its end, but before that can end the track, we hear the wind blowing and a wooden chime clunking its way into the next track.

Further through the woods we walk, past the rabbits and foxes and into even deeper parts of the forest. Here we see a small wooden cabin, one that seems to not have been used for years, as the wooden door that seals its opening was caked with not just ice, but dirt as well. The build up is thick, nearly an inch. Wishing to gain entrance into this building, you walk to the door, and knock at the ice. It does not even crack, so we go searching to find a rock to smash it with. After about ten minutes of wandering we find a tall tree that could only be identifies by the few acorns scattered around the ground near it. He we clear away some snow to make a place to sit. The oak seems to be the forests guardian, as it makes us feel safe and yet assures us that we are not welcome here if we harm anything. After some more lounging, you spot a rock, and we head along our way after collecting it. The track "I Am The Wooden Doors" is the heaviest song on the album, but even that is saying very little as it is still filled with acoustic guitars. It has good electric guitar riffs and great drum work. Vocals again make an appearance in this song, and are the same harsh, tasteful, and intelligible rasps and soft humming clean vocals that, as with "In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion" serve nothing more than to increase the atmosphere. At parts, you can hear the fret board screeches, but they are very limited and only add to the natural feel this album possesses. The song ends with an acoustic lead into the next track, "The Lodge."

As we trudge along through the snow, the cabin once again comes into sight. We rush forward to get to the door of it. You bend down and shatter the ice with the rock, and then scrape the dirt away. After we are afforded our entrance into the lodge, we realize that it is empty, nothing left inside of it aside from the outlines of furniture of the past owners. Disappointed we turn away from it and begin our trek through the forest. "The Lodge" is another instrumental that is filled with acoustic guitar work as well as two very interesting instruments. These two instruments are the contrabass and deer antlers used for percussion. They add a unique vibe to the song and possess an almost kind of dreary sound to them. This track is much shorter than the past three songs and almost leaves you wanting more, but these wants are certainly erased when the next track kicks in.

Upset at this empty promise of comfort we move along, swiftly to find shelter from the cold. As we walk memories of loves past enter our head and bring tears to your eyes. We walk closer together, hoping to find a big enough tree to sit under and let our sadness flow out of us. We walk through the deep snow, until we reach a trail where we see a tall oak at the end. As we walk towards it, you become slowly overcome with grief, and tears fall faster down your cheeks. As we near the tree you utter out whispered curses, you damn the tree to calm your soul. Calmed down from relieving yourself of the misery we continue to walk. "You Were But A Ghost In My Arms" brings back the slightly heavier sound of "I Am The Wooden Doors" and shares many of its characteristics, such as the switching between of harsh and clean vocals, as well as acoustic and electric guitar complimenting each other. The drums are simple but effective. There is a spoken word passage that is followed by a dialogue piece seemingly about a man who was left by a woman, and how he questions why she left him. After the piece, the song becomes instrumental for around two minutes. Soon it is led to a close and leads into the next song.

After releasing your anger we walk in silence through the rest of the dark forest realizing that it is now dusk. Having nothing to say we walk along side each other. "The Hawthorne Passage" is the next and last instrumental on this album, and it spans an astonishing 10 minutes. For the first half of the song it is a basic acoustic and electric guitar song accompanied by drums, played in a very post-rock influenced way, especially mid-way through the first half. It slows down quite a bit and leads into a climactic guitar solo which then ends up back at the same formula as before. About halfway through the song we are greeted by the sound of cars driving over a bridge, this is soon followed by the guitars coming back in, and then by the drums. A trombone makes an appearance near the end of the song, which ends with spoken word in a non-English language. The song leads into the next right after the spoken word.

Distraught and saddened by the memories you continue to walk, but with your head hanging down. I hold onto your hand and comfort you by whispering an old proverb that your grandmother you to tell us when we were younger, to calm you down. While depressing in nature, it had a sense of "everything happens for a reason" feel to it. We soon reach the edge of the forest and find an old fire pit. There I look for some rocks, dry leaves, and sticks. We sit on two large stones that are surrounding the pit, and I try and start a fire by creating sparks with the rocks over the leaves and sticks. In a few short minutes, a small fire burns before us. ".And The Great Cold Death Of The Earth" signals the near end of the album, with the return of the mostly acoustic guitar work that was present in the opening track. It is similar in set up as the other tracks, with alternating clean and harsh vocals and acoustic and electric guitars playing together with a simple drum pattern going on. The contrabass and trombone also make their return into the album with this song. Around the two minute and forty-five second mark, we are treated to an acoustic guitar solo. In between the two clean vocal passages is a Cherokee proverb that is sung in harsh vocals. Near the end of the song, the same acoustic guitar pattern and bell work is brought back in to close the track, and lead us to the albums final song and our last few minutes on this journey.

We sit at the fire together but alone, I pull out two flasks of whiskey from my coat pockets and pass one to you. We drink from them until we are drowning in the liquor instead of our sorrows. The fire keeps us warm and comfortable. Slowly we grow tired and lay down, put to rest by exhaustion and the power of the whiskey. The final track on this amazing journey is "A Desolation Song" which is not more than the acoustic guitar accompanied by the contrabass and an accordion. The lyrics are whispered and reflect a man drinking around a fire. Part way through the song a mandolin comes in, and then the song continues with the same acoustic format until the end where a blowing wind closes the album out.

This album is not what anyone could sanely call and album as it is much more. It is a total experience and will make you fell every emotion you have inside of you before it is over. It is a very unique experience and must be listened as a whole to get the full effect. Due to this there are no standout tracks on this album, but when you are entranced by the awesome music you will not be caring about the tracks at all, rather the constant stream of musical perfection.

This is an album that is well worth buying even if you are not one to typically buy albums, as it is something to be proud of to just be able to say that you own the album. Make sure you rush out to get this, but do not rush the listening experience and make sure you savor every little moment of it.

Originally Written For Metal-Archives.

".we are the wounds."

The solemn, cold darkness that formed the core of Agalloch's 1999 debut release Pale Folklore has blossomed into something far more universal. The irreverent storm of vexatious, hopeless pleadings to a pitiless majority now channeled through sparse chromatic arrangements of a more seamless flow. The elaborate structural formations have been treated with an increased level of patience, giving the musical elements additional breathing capacity. Yet the most conspicuous component of The Mantle is its reflection of natural human development in response to effects of environmental surroundings.

The Mantle is reaction to modern existence within a culture that breeds emptiness and has developed an increasing disregard to the beauty and power of nature. Agalloch have observed in disenchantment the acts of humanity in such a climate and turned their gaze towards the within. In this form, the search for true personal meaning, striving for truth within one's self in a world of deception, is directed towards the spirit, the core of the self. This reflects in the lines ".it washed away in a tide of longing....a longing for a better world." ("In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion") and "It is this grandeur that protects the spirit within, from the plight of this broken world." ("I Am The Wooden Doors"). The soul of The Mantle is at extreme odds with present cultural conditions, and formulates itself against this virus in a highly intellectual and emotionally powerful portrayal. However, in the midst of this personal empowering through inner discovery, The Mantle succeeds not in escaping the often cruel effects of human interaction. Desperate and bitter responses to the usual factors of betrayal and abandonment lurk within "You Were But A Ghost In My Arms" and "A Desolation Song". Indeed, the very existence of The Mantle, and Agalloch, depend upon these instances. However, the maturation of these individuals is strikingly clear throughout the duration of this album. No longer entirely consumed with emotional frustrations and misunderstood spiritual complexities, a search has begun for universal meanings while reluctantly acknowledging their existential burden.

At its core, this remains a melancholic and bitter work. It is music of autumnal essence and wintry isolation. Yet, unlike previous efforts, The Mantle recognizes tranquility as a realistically achievable plateau. Interestingly, however, is that these moments remain relegated to instrumental passages, particularly "Odal", "The Lodge", "The Hawthorne Passage" and vocal-less events within "In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion" and "You Were But A Ghost In My Arms". This could symbolize more about vocalist/guitarist John Haughm's development as an individual; a reaching for tranquil horizons, yet the desire remains silent within him by his own defenses crafted from worldly threats to the emotionally vulnerable.

Consistent with previous works, Agalloch once again express, through all facets of their art, a deep appreciation and reverence for nature. The elk statue that graces the cover symbolizes their affirmation. Through the beauty and splendor of nature, Agalloch have found something to believe in, a vindication for being. As this creature has become something of a mascot for the act, they have found truth and purity in the ways of nature, something to hold onto as humanity apathetically bring to ruin all that is sacred, shattering pure faith. As mankind continues to technologically progress and the ever-increasing emphasis of social status feeds superficial endeavors, nature has become the sufferer. Agalloch, in their plight to sever themselves from an afflicted species, have wholly embraced what humankind seemingly strive to destroy.

The musical accompaniment to these themes is nothing short of astounding. Agalloch have delved deeper into a broader range of sonic elements to enrich their overall expression in quite a fascinating display. The role of acoustic guitars has increased, not necessarily in abundance, yet rather in their significance to not only individual tracks, but the album as a whole. The inclusion of woodchimes, ebow, trombone, contra bass, accordian, mandolin and even found instruments such as the "grim cymbal bell" and "deer antler percussion" splendidly enhance the expressional shades within Agalloch's music. The metallic currents remain intact throughout, yet no longer can be recognized as the band's sonic foundation. "I Am The Wooden Doors" and "You Were But A Ghost In My Arms" exemplify these aspects, bitterness and melancholy entwined in cold distance, not in limitation of the music, yet also rendering itself vocally. Hauhgm's predominately monotone "clean" vocal, used to greater effect here than on past works, portrays the more reflective, thoughtful yet no less compelling features of Agalloch's evolvement as musicians and individuals. The wretchedness expressed through the bitter vocal shrieks present the agonized emotions vital to the essence of their sound and appeal. It's a presentation of the struggle between harmony and chaos that is the occupation of human experience. The results are spellbinding.

The sonic template here stretches beyond the surface chromatic minimalism. A linear foundation does exist for much of this material, yet this factor does not set limitations for elaborate thematic or musical ideas. Lengthy instrumental passages are frequent, with vocals, although no less a significant component, less of a focal point. The album's first twenty-six minutes, in the shape of 1. "A Celebration For The Death Of Man", 2. "In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion" and 3. "Odal", is a movement that, upon the arrival of it's finale, leaves the listener simultaneously mentally/emotionally/spiritually overwhelmed and cleansed. The acoustic based intro, complete with "call to arms" percussion, acts as portal into this dimension, setting the affective tone for the following proceedings. "In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion" is a 14-minute plus journey through bleak inner landscapes, the transcendental guitar leads providing glimpses of the sunlit horizon in the distance. Not so much a song as a deeply moving life experience in sonic shape, equally life affirming and despondent. The 7-minute plus instrumental "Odal" removes the listener from desolate wastelands, guiding through tranquil pathways divided by the splendor of dawn and caress of dusk. Excellent guitar ambiance ignites into a release of Earthly burden, a deliverance from blackness into the abode of inner bliss, then drifts into plaintive serenity. "Odal" is a breathtaking work of art and a monumental musical statement.

Thrust into this world on the condition of our ultimate and inevitable death, we are left to question the meanings, or the existence of meanings, within everything that surrounds us. We ponder our purpose here and seek to develop higher understandings of our environment. Reactions are developed towards the functions of the world, relations with other people and the humbling knowledge that we are ever one breath closer to our last. Life in this world can be a cold, unforgiving and bleak journey. We can take what we can from this place, utilize our methods for our own devices, or we can submit to the burden of existence, fall in line with the spirit-draining structure of society until we meet our death afraid and alone, blinded in the façade of warmth and compassion. We can wallow in the misery of life, shroud ourselves in impenetrable darkness and await life's end, arms open as if to embrace the shadows of expiration as a gift of deliverance. We can let ourselves out, escape the wretchedness, the pain of living, the horrors of a new day. The Mantle, even through its grey-spirited dejection and distressed weight, portrays this quest for meaning, the search for true belief. The unbearable conditions of existence cannot be escaped. However, we can get through by finding something to believe in, something to hold onto, to reaffirm our faith. On The Mantle, Agalloch have turned to self-preservation and nature's grandeur.

The Mantle is a deep, ambitious, penetrating work of art. It does not cater to the impatient or to those intimidated by emotionally compelling, thought-provoking artistic expressions. This is music with purpose, a prime display of a beautifully constructed album possessing the ability to dramatically alter the listener's mental and emotional state during the experience. It is music of high quality, delivered through a rich collection of visions and intentions. The Mantle is a complete package, offering stimulation musically, as well as lyrically and visually. The stark design of the package, in grey, silver and black tones, effectively reflects the spirit of this music and lyrics. Each phase of this work flows seamlessly into the next, creating a continuous stream which takes this far beyond the standard song by song album. This is an experience in the truest sense, requiring no surrounding or threatening distractions, and full soul and mind immersion for it's entirety.

The Mantle is a big step up from the debut release, as the songwriting is more polished, and the band really refines their craft. What stands out for me, in particular, is how much in love I am with the acoustic guitar work on the album. The somber beauty it emits is well, breathtaking.

The two songs I'd like to point out in particular are The Hawthorne Passage and In the Shadow of Our Pale Companion, which I think 70's prog fans would enjoy. The Hawthorne Passage, in particular(which is almost entirely instrumental) is moving and captivating, taking you on a ride mixing folk, post-rock, and a few early prog elements. ITSOOPC is more or less the "epic" here, and combines all varieties of music here with some of the simplest and most effective chords to drive the song from start to finish.

There are however, a few drawbacks, as I feel parts of the long epic track could be removed or changed, and songs like "I am the Wooden Doors" do not particularly captivate me. But, for some reason, I always seem to play this album more than I would think, as the beauty in Agalloch is hard to find anywhere else. An album that deserves much more recognition, a stunning piece of work by the band in the beautiful northwest.

Damn ! Never heard such beautifully melancholic dark-metal since the golden age of Anathema and My Dying Bride ( even if we can't compare their musical approach to Agalloch's one which blends metal with folk and progressive elements ). Threatening, sad, tenebrous and atmospheric, The Mantle is a journey out from which we come soothed and impressed by such musical inventiveness and originality. Highly recommended to those who want to explore new musical landscape, whether they are metalheads or progheads.

Forget everything you know about (extreme) progressive metal... Agalloch's "The Mantle" is the album that surpasses them all. Dark, melancholic, poetic, yet heavy at times, this album blends perfectly many styles: doom metal, acoustic rock, folk, extreme metal. Half of the album is instrumental, and more than half uses mainly acoustic guitars. I could give a lot of similar band names, but Agalloch's music is an experience of its own. The only thing that annoys me is the growled vocals (I cannot stand black metal/death metal vocals for more than a minute), but the music is so captivating that after a few listens you almost forget them completely.

Add to this beautiful epic listening experience an excellent production, artwork and packaging and you probably have one of the best albums of the decade.

This is a wonderful album. Dark, poetic, full of folkish influences, a cross between - let's say - My Dying Bride and Amorphis. It sounds very relaxing for a metal album with extreme vocals... The production is flawless, the sound is perfect... maybe the vocals could be improved a little, but like my co-reviewers would say, vocals are not the most important concern when the music is so fascinating.

"A Celebration For The Death Of Man..." is a short instrumental acoustic that introduces the main melodical theme - somehow reminds me of another band, australian fine doom metal act The Eternal. "In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion" is the epic track on this album - it extends the main theme with vocals (a mix of growls - or semi-growls - with clean vocals, the most remarkable moment being the moment where both styles blend perfectly during the verse "Here is the landscape/where is the god?/here is the sun/has he fallen"...) and awesome guitar soli (check the last one around the 12 minute mark before the coda). Then comes "Odal"... a conclusion to the trilogy that makes the first part of "The Mantle" - the first time I listened to that instrumental, I simply stood breathless for the last minute wondering what just happened... probably the most beautiful song I heard since My Dying Bride's "For My Fallen Angel". The rhythm changes when "I Am The Wooden Doors" begins... a happier song with clear folkish influences (the kind of french folkish influences that can be found on early Opeth albums, see "Black Rose Immortal" on Morningrise for example) - and even if the distorted guitar takes the lead, the acoustic guitar (and acoustic interludes) still remains strong. "The Lodge" is the third instrumental of the album... and is again completely different from the previous two - more folkish oriented with added instruments (acoustic bass and percussives). "You Were But A Ghost In My Arms" is probably the heaviest track here (and my least favorite one) - it starts with clean singing and whispering, but then the melody changes to a kind of black metal riff with double bass and harsh vocals. "The Hawthorne Passage" is a very long instrumental divided in two parts - the first half is a classic acoustic/electric guitar duet, the second half is heavier with distorted guitars. "...And The Great Cold Death Of The Earth" is the ballad of the album - although it contains a small part with harsh vocals (My Dying Bride did that too for "My Wine In Silence" on their latest album, which I find a bit strange for a ballad), it is very relaxing (double acoustic guitars, acoustic bass, mournful distorted rhythm guitar, peaceful clean vocals, ending again with the main theme - the one that can be heard during the first three tracks). "A Desolation Song" ends the album on a very sombre note - acoustic guitars/bass, accordion and mandolin come with the spoken/whispered vocals about a man drinking aroud a fire to forget his pains and sorrows. Rating: 96/100 (5 stars - highly recommended)

An ok album, although I must admit that I don't understand at all how others can think of it as a masterpiece, I do understand how someone could like this album much more than I do. It's really repetitive, mostly "eventless" and the occasional growling vocals are uncalled for in my opinion. The folk elements are implemented very nicely, but especially during the heavy parts the drums are often a bit out of sync with the rest of the band.

I'm rating it 2 stars here ... if you're new to the band you should start with their 2006 output Ashes Against the Grain and if you like that then proceed with the debut.

The Lodge: I can't see what's remarkable about this track - it's more like a long, eventless segue.

You Were But A Ghost In My Arms: This doesn't grab my attention - a lot of tremolo picking, fairly conventional chord progressions, uncalled-for growling.

The Hawthorne Passage: A nice track - unfortunately there are quite some timing problems (drums) in the middle section that annoy me a little bit.

A surprising and sometimes delightful album.

The sub-genre under which this is housed is misleading. Yes, there are elements of metal in the sound, but the overall shape of the compositions is post-rock/post-metal. This is important because, as it is currently labeled, people may spend money to purchase this album under the impression it is a DREAM THEATER clone. It most emphatically is not.

So what is it? AGALLOCH is much closer to ISIS or PELICAN than to anything in the progressive metal genre. Ponderous, slow beats provide a base for slow-building soundscapes in which crisp acoustic guitars plays the most prominent role. The emphasis is on the organic nature of the songs themselves rather than technical virtuosity. The vocals - both clean and growled/whispered - are generally low in the mix. The resulting sound is a fascinating fresh take on post-rock.

The first track is a little long for an introduction and does not develop, which is to my mind the chief fault of the album: it's simply too long for the weight of ideas it contains, a fifty minute album wearing seventy minute clothes. This is, of course, a characteristic of the post-rock genre, and has the effect of creating an ambient-like atmosphere, where ideas are prolonged. The second track, 'In the Shadows of our Pale Companions' - even the track titles are post-rock - is perhaps the album's best, and has an excellent build to the climax a few minutes from the end.

And so it goes. I appreciate the band's use of interesting instruments: faux horns and the like do dress up the music. The last track creates an almost optimistic atmosphere, counter to the general tense, brooding soundscape of the album, and is an effective closer.

Worth a listen for fans of post-rock, but not quite the groundbreaker I had been hoping for.

I must thank to this great server for bringing us so much information about our favorite style of rock music and also for allowing me to come to know a big amount of great music bands which I might have never run across. One of these great bands is an american outfit with a strange name AGALLOCH and thankgod I haven't missed this gem of the progmetal genre and also I have a pleasure from discovering of their unique music.

To this day AGALLOCH had delivered three studio albums and The Mantle is middle of them. I own all three albums but for a review I've chosen The Mantle because I think it's the best for someone who has never heard this band before and who wants to get into picture what is their music about. Of course that doesn't mean it's their best (which is a subjective rating though) but in my opinion it's the easiest album for getting into.

What is characteristic for their music isn't any exhibition of instrumental skills of each member of the band ala Dream Theater but rather an accent to emotional impact onto a listener. What the listener has to do isn't just observe the form of the compositions and look for technical finesses but just close his eyes and let the music "draw". What most people will probably get are scenes of a snow-covered desolated landscape interlaced with bare trees. After all the cover of the album itself admonishes us to such images.

The most parts of the songs are instrumental and when a "singing" appears it's a mysterious, covered voice somewhere between growling and storytelling - and here a problem may arise for someone. The voices are very eerie but instead of bringing a melody, they rather sketch the atmosphere induced by the instrumental section and they just do a great job in that.

The album begins with "A Celebration For The Death Of Man..." with its repeated theme played by acoustic guitar and foreshadows in what style the whole album will be. These repetitions, so characteristic for post-rock bands like Godspeed You Black Emperor!, make the atmosphere heavy and create a tense in the listener that disappears with first measures of the next song "In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion". This song, probably the main theme of the album, features an unique joint of neo-folk with gothic- metal and it's the best for a characterization of AGALLOCH's music. For me it's one of the best song from this band and is ideal as an "opener". Then "Odal" follows, strictly instrumental song, and it continues with drawing the pictures started in the previous song. Now comes "I Am The Wooden Doors", one of the two faster songs on the album and it reduces the tense of thick atmosphere from the beginning of the album. The next song is "The Lodge", again strictly instrumental song, in which is introduced a very interesting wooden and hollow sound that starts to determine the rhythm of the song and that shows up at the end of the album again. After this song the beat speeds up in "You Were But A Ghost In My Arms" and then comes "The Hawthorne Passage" which we can consider as a climax of the album. This composition is a demonstration of compositional and instrumental skills of the band and for the song itself it's good to own this album. After this comes "...And The Great Cold Death Of The Earth" that reminds us the main themes of the albums that ends with "A Desolation Song", the most folk- metal song ever made by AGALLOCH. But here I have one complaint - althought it's a very good song, it doesn't fit in the whole concept of the album in my opinion and it breaks its flow. If AGALLOCH closed the album with the previous song it would be much better. In this way the last song rather sounds as a bonus track. But it is the only flaw I see on this great album.

Summary - The Mantle by AGALLOCH is in my opinion one of the best albums of the year 2002, if not one of the best in decade, and I recommend it to all fans of unconventional music. Five stars. Period.

A collection of moody, rarely interesting songs that attempt something a little out of the norm for death-metal bands: to put the listener to sleep with extended tracks lacking any sort of excitement or memorable moments. "The Mantle" is a very somber, and very overrated metal album.

To start with, the band's songwriting is numbingly repetitive, which is the main reason why this album seems so long-- the songs drag into each other and are almost all the same tempo and played with a staggering lifelessness that completely sabotages the album's effectiveness. If the band put some emotion into their playing it might generate more of an impression, but as it is now, it's like they're just trying to fill space (more than an hour of it). The rhythm section is easily the worst culprit of this, but the guitars aren't much better.

To top things off-- the vocalist is terrible. His growls are more like impish squeaks and his somber singing is as unexciting as it gets.

To the band's credit, they are trying to do something different within the post/death/black- metal genre, but need to polish their songwriting and add some energy to their playing if they are to put out anything worthwhile.

Songwriting: 2 Instrumental Performances: 2 Lyrics/Vocals: 2 Style/Emotion/Replay: 1

This disc has a very special place in my music collection. I don't find myself wanting to listen to it all the time, but when I do, I really enjoy it. It is different and beautiful in a melancholy way. There is nothing overly complicated on this disc, and the mixed styles of death growling and singing with acoustic guitars may be a turn-off for some, but it fits my eclectic needs very well. Not the best album ever, but definitely deserves a spot in any music lovers' library.

It took me well over a year, but this Album just kept crawling back to me, each time i gained a higher appreciation for it

The only reason i went near this album in the first place is because a year ago(maybe more) "The Mantle" was featured on the top.20 Prog.Metal List, and so i decided to give it a try and went out and got it

at first, i really really did not like it at all, i could appreciate the acoustics at first etc. however once i discovered there was death growls and the singer seemed to only sing in the 'death' sort of tone (from what i briefly heard at first) i was very much turned off by it, so i just threw the album aside and forgot about it

as time passed i was looking for another album/music to listen to, and i came across this again, so i decided to re-listen to it properly to give it another chance, and on the 2nd time i still really wasnt feeling it

this process repeated itself week after week, month after month untill i truly did start to click, and i got a better feel for the album and discovered many beautiful sides and genius parts to it, this encouraged me to get deeper and deeper into the album

so now a days, i love it so much to a point i could possibly place it in my top 5 albums of all time

if theres anything holding me back from putting it on the prestigious list, its the death growl parts, in fairness though there are not alot of these parts, and there are other times where the singer does sign properly, and he does have quite nice and fitting voice

the whole mood and overall tone of the album is very much so melancholic, however its presented in a almost organic, nature like beautiful way

I wouldnt go sayings its a depressing album by any means, its just the music is beautifully melancholic, as they are melancholically beautiful, if that makes any sense...

The thing about this album is, some people may complain about the fact that some songs could go on for 6mins straight without really changing any part to it, almost like its repeating itself, this is a huge underlying factor that makes this album what it is, Agalloch use this technique in such a way that they build a song up and up, they may have 1 riff running through a song that goes on for 5mins straight, but as the song keeps playing it starts to progress with all these small little subtle changes, and these changes keep building and building becoming more and more dramatic and eventually all come together for a beautiful dynamic ending,

To me, its these small subtly that make this album what it is

To me this album is alike Terria by Devin Townsend, in the way that they are both true gems, however they are gems for the fact that they are once off albums by the artist/band, since the mantle ive gotten 2 of agallochs other albums and so far they've completely failed to click with me, i dont find them anyway as attractive as i find the mantle, because i feel with they'er other efforts they are more so death oriented, and less on the acoustic side(as seen mainly in the mantle) Same goes for Terria and Townsend, though i enjoy some of his other work, nothing compares to the amazing Terria, and sadly i dont think either will ever be able to match them

I must say im quite sadden to see The Mantle nowadays doesnt even make the top 100 prog.metal albums anymore...

To me this is the sort of album thats great to listen to when you may be feeling a little down, or want to just relax and put on something easy enough to listen to, or even just background music at times

excellent stuff ^_^

As long as you don't approach this expecting a metal album (or if you do and you're open-minded), this is a beautiful album. Just sit and listen without thinking about when the song is going to end, or when the "interesting bit" is coming, and you will enjoy this album.

It''s very slow and has a lot of purely instrumental sections, but it packs a huge amount of atmosphere and a melancholy beauty inspired by nature (I think). Strangely, The Mantle is also quite a powerful album and even catchy at some points.

I have not given this album the full five stars only because there are a few truly boring tracks, but who says you have to listen to them?

With this album, Agalloch are very close to perfecting their unique style of music. This is well worth a try.

The best tracks, in my opinion, are: In the Shadow of Our Pale Companion Odal (purely instrumental)

Of all the album's recorded in the annals of time, few would be able to compete with Agalloch's The Mantle in terms of musical imagery. While the band's debut Pale Folklore was able to paint the picture of a cold winter's day in the northern woods, The Mantle is capable of actually transporting you there and immersing you in this wilderness. When you're listening to this album, it's just you, the earth, and that moose on the cover. The atmospheric quality of this music is so incredible, it's almost as if the music isn't even there. You won't be picking apart the notes being played, or worry about the dexterity of the musicians. The sound coming from your speakers is a single aural being that takes you to another place.

In order to approach The Mantle, you must forego any preconceptions you may have about it, and ignore your musical biases. This is nothing like anything you've ever heard, and it's like that it's nothing like you ever will hear afterward. Surely many have passed this off because of the black metal vocals, but surely when you hear the opening track, in its acoustic glory, complete with timpani, you'll know that this has got to be something beyond black metal. Soon after, you'll realize that this is beyond music. This is, much like all of the other great records in history, an experience.

All I know is that when I don The Mantle, I don't feel, I just am. And I am cold, lost in a desloate earth, in a snowy woods where I am the last man on earth. I'm trying to find peace and resolve before I too will pass, and the earth after me.

This album is simply amazing.

The essential AGALLOCH. Mid-way from extreme Metal to extreme Post-Rock. The most balanced and enjoyable (dare I say accessible?) record, which perfectly shows all the merits of this unconventional outfit. My personal favourite is '...and the Great Cold Death of the Earth', which sounds epic right from its title! AGALLOCH guys managed to make 'The Mantle' as diverse as it's possible; here we have Ambient, Folk, Black Metal, Doom Metal, some Post-Metal stuff, and it's all wrapped in wonderful lengthy tracks a-la 'OPETH goes Post-Rocky'. I still wonder how they can be regarded as purely Metal band, they're far more intelligent than most of your common 'rock-till-ya-drop' Metal bands. Astonishing musicianship, tasteful arrangements, high-class material and unique atmosphere. Extremely recommended!!!

Sounds like the cover looks!

I have come to really enjoy checking out the various styles of progressive-metal. I tend to find the more experimental and off-the-beaten-path stuff much more interesting than any band that reminds me of the metal I endured back in the day like Maiden, Judas Priest, Ozzy, who just don't interest me any more. Agalloch is one such band that I have really taken to, appreciating very much their doomy style of post-rock/folk-metal ripe with imagery of cold, dark forests and grey statuary. While I came to the band through "Ashes" first "The Mantle" employs a similar sound, with clean guitar, acoustic guitars, and excellent fluid leads mixed with almost whispered growls. It never degenerates into silliness or unbearable harshness, in fact this is a band that should appeal to fans of Pink Floyd who have always thought about trying modern metal. The lyrics are also quite poetic and serve the imagery very well. Some claim this album (and band) to be boring and uneventful and I couldn't disagree more: this is wonderfully nuanced and atmospheric music that has maintained my interest over time-unlike more contrived bands like Riverside and Orphaned Land that just induce huge yawns from me at this point. I would personally recommend starting with "Ashes Against the Grain" although many people prefer this one. Both are good and provide another whole flavor to your metal collection. 6/10

Agalloch's second album... how to describe its sound? Maybe a mixture of neofolk bands (Nest, Ulver...), soft black metal (specially noted in the raw voices) and the tempos of some doom bands like Anathema, would be a good description, but inaccurate.

The sound here is based on clean, very clean, guitars, which play rythms, licks, and solos, and which appear clearly in the introductions and breakdowns of the songs, and which get just a rythmic and decorative function when the distorted guitar appears, and plays long chords and licks. However, the clean guitars are prominent among the distorted. There is also a duality between clean voices, in the most relaxed songs, and raw, black metal voices in the others.

If there is a general characteristic that is remarcable in this album is the atmosferic sense. Slow tempos, folk instrumentation, dense songs, full of details and few voices.

The songs are, more or less, similar, with some exceptions: as I said, very long, slow songs, based on clean guitars, with long, very long intrumental parts and an alternation between clean and raw voices. Exceptions to this are the intro, a short instrumental piece that is a good summary of what we are going to find in the album. Another extrange song is I am the wooden doors, that is almost totally played by distorted guitar and black voices. Another instrumental, The lodge, drives us to one of the heaviest songs in the album. Then, peace again.

I think that this album is the perfection in its genre. It has no merit, nowadays: Agalloch has a unique genre. There isn't another band that can play like them. After showing this album to some friends, they all told me that it was boring. Don't trust them. Trust me. Why? Well, they also find bands like Pink Floyd or King Crimson to be boring. I recognise that this album is not suitable for a party. But hey, it's progressive rock, not rockabilly. Perfect album to be listened with the lights off or, better, in an autumnal forest. If you enjoy neofolk and ambient, this album is for you.

The Mantle was my first foray into Agalloch. Its desolate beauty had me get their next album Ashes Against the Grain. But while AATG has the electric guitars in the forefront, The Mantle is a much more acoustic affair and in my mind a much better album than the follow-up.

This is an album you really want to listen to in the dark and preferably when it is cold. Jamming this in July with the sun up and the car windows down doesn't do it justice. Most all reviewers of this album tell the same tale. This album is dirt road; overcast; forest; snow and doom and gloom. Mix in equal parts hopelessness and helplessness with the thickest layer of melody on top and you have The Mantle. The lyrics only add to the desolation with their grim content. The layers of sound these guys come up with are staggering. The two guitar players both play electric and acoustic and they just build layers with those guitars that spit out melodies to die for. They will sometimes add synths in to build still more layers yet. This stuff isn't metal in its truest form. I can comfortably say that people who don't like prog-metal should give this a try if any of the attributes I have mentioned appeal to them.

As for the vocals, yes there are cookie monster vocals on the album. But four of the nine songs are instrumental and there are long stretches in the other songs with no vocals. Add in the fact that a majority of the vocals are clean and really the cookie monster aspect is minimal and really not bothersome to someone who doesn't care for them (I include myself in that group).

Agalloch is kind of a love 'em or hate 'em type of group. Their website has full length samples which will give you an idea if this band and this album are of interest. All I can say is The Mantle is the type of music that I can get lost in, given the right surroundings. These guys have a true gift in that they can really make the acoustic guitar a shining light in the context of metal, a gift they would get away from on the next release, which was a disappointment to me. But it is hard to blame them for trying something different. The Mantle is a unique album in my discography, one this band or any other will be hard pressed to top in its genre. 4.5 stars.

'The Mantle' - Agalloch (10/10)

Agalloch is one of the few bands that makes music that can really move. Sure, there are plenty of bands that make pretty songs, but all too few that can really transport you to another place, and make you feel exactly what the artist wants you to feel. Agalloch is best listened to while walking alone through a snowy forest in the evening. While Agalloch may technically have black metal influence, it shouldn't scare people away, as there is so much more to be heard here.

Although I am a fan of some forms of black metal, it's never really been my thing. However, I can appreciate the objective that black metal aims towards: atmosphere. Classic black metal bands like Emperor never tried to astound audiences with technical-virtuoso playing and shredding; they instead aimed towards creating a haunting sonic atmosphere to give the listeners an emotional resonance. While Agalloch have more to do with folk music than anything else, the attention to atmosphere inherent to black metal is definately seen here. There is almost no skill flaunting here, and everything here would be in the reach of a guitar student's skill to play more or less. However, the way that the simple guitar work is played is beyond compare, and each flowing chord sounds perfect, bringing the listener to an even higher level of musical euphoria.

'The Mantle' is best described as beautifully depressing. There isn't very much of an optimistic sound to be heard here, but more the music of someone that's potentially loved and lost all. These emotions manifest themselves as images of nature in it's purest form.

John Haughm is possibly my favourite lyricist of all time (along with Dani Filth and Daniel Gildenlow.) The lyrics are bleak and emotive without being overly melodramatic. The theme of nature is prevalent in the lyrics as well, which works to give definitive descriptions to the images the band's music tries to create. As a vocalist himself, Haughm definately isn't a technically skilled singer, but that doesn't stop his voice from having a very large (and distinct) presence that compliments the instruments perfectly to the note.

On a personal level, this is music I can listen to when I'm feeling devastated or broken over something, and somehow feel better; simply because I have proof that I am not alone in feeling these emotions. It would be absolutely impossible to write a work like 'The Mantle' without a large amount of sentimental dedication. Through their pure sincerity of voice and perspective, Agalloch has created a beautiful work here, and is something that is yet unparelleled for it's style.

4.5 stars. I was surprised to find out this band is from Portland, Oregon simply because from their sound I thought they must be from Norway or Sweden living in the woods somewhere. Well Oregon certainly isn't short on forests is it. On their MySpace site they list their influences as "Woodsmoke, snow, fire, wrought iron, fog, rain, stone, moss..." not one band is listed. On the cd itself there is a quote "The happiest man is he who learns from nature the lesson of worship". So you get the idea of where this band is coming from.The music on this record uses a lot of acoustic guitars in these mostly mid paced tunes. The vocals are both clean and growly, although the growly ones are almost whispered in a sinister way, and he holds the last syllable of each word. So these harsh vocals actually are not that harsh or difficult to handle at all.

"A Celebration For The Death Of Man..." is a short instrumental of mainly strummed acoustic guitar and percussion. The sound does build somewhat and synths come in. "In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion" has such interesting and well thought out lyrics. Nice guitar line to open as drums and classical guitar joins in. It's building.Those sinister vocals come in followed by clean vocals and they continue to share the spotlight on this one. Love the guitar 5 1/2 minutes in. The tempo continues to shift slightly throughout. I like the line: "If this grand panorama before me is what you call God...Then God is not dead".

"Odal" is an instrumental that opens with some beautiful acoustic guitar. Drums and electric guitar join in.The guitar sounds so good 2 1/2 minutes in. Piano before 6 minutes as it settles. "I Am The Wooden Doors" is where they "let loose" a little bit with drums and guitar. Growly vocals before 1 1/2 minutes. It settles a minute later then it kicks back in with clean vocals. "The Lodge" opens with the sound of someone trudging through deep snow. Done that many times (haha). Guitars take over quickly we even get some "deer antler percussion" in this instrumental. Strummed guitar takes over as the sound builds. "You Were But A Ghost in My Arms" opens with acoustic guitar but becomes powerful quickly then settles back. Vocals before a minute are normal, although we get lots of sinister ones too in this song. Thunderous drums at times. The combination of electric and acoustic guitars is such a treat. "The Hawethorne Passage" is another instrumental. Great sound to this one with some steller bass at times.The samples 6 minutes in are cool, sounds like a strong wind. I like the guitar line that comes in as the wind continues to blow. Spoken words as it kicks in again around 8 minutes. Trombone late. Spoken words end it.

"...And The Great Cold Death Of The Earth" has some outstanding lyrics including where we get the title of this album from. Bass, drums and strummed guitar sound incredible to open as clean vocals come in. Great sound here. Growled vocals quote from Cherokee folklore. Themes are repeated. "A Desolation Song" opens with acoustic guitar and accordion as reserved vocals join in. Some mandolin in this one before the song stops 4 minutes in and the wind starts to blow. Acoustic guitar joins in briefly as wind continues.

What an amazing trip this recording is. Funny but I don't feel like i've really connected with it yet on any emotional level or this would be 5 stars.

I first landed on planet Agalloch with their superb album Ashes Against The Grain. The Mantle offers a first exploration of the ambient grey metal sound that they perfected there. The Mantle is a good album that you will want to seek out if you like extreme metal with an ambient twist. However it suffers from a number of shortcomings.

I miss the flawless integration of the two faces of their sound. Some tracks like the opener and Odal are just extended ambient pieces and represent their 'white' side, others songs like I Am the Wooden Doors characterize their 'black' side and are run of the mill black metal that countless others have done more effectively before them.

The two components of their sound only meet on a few occasions as on the marvelous You Were But A Ghost In My Arms. Here they create something entirely personal that, by lack of another genre this band would fit in, we could tag 'grey metal'.

A second flaw would be that while most tracks are surely meant to be epic and narrative, they mostly fail to build up to anything and end up too long for their own good. The Hawthorne Passage is an example. It has a few good ideas but never develops into something that surpasses the bits and pieces it is forged from.

While I sure appreciate what Agalloch attempted to achieve here, their ambition was somehow defeated by the inadequate execution.

I'm not sure I've heard a darker or more depressing record in my time listening to progressive music. The acoustic guitar on this album is what truly gives the listener a sense of isolation and desolation. Just listen to the last song, "A Desolation Song."

"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"

These are likely the most quoted lines from the album, and rightfully so. In addition to the overwhelming sense of desolation, Agalloch articulate their belief that nature is a sanctuary of sorts, to the point of being sacred.

To conclude, if you are ever in a depressed mood and you want to listen to something that will mime your feelings, this is the album for you. Agalloch is absolutely successful in the atmosphere they try to create. 4.5 stars rounded to 5.

8/10

"The Mantle" is a fine masterpiece of Folk Metal.

Agalloch are one of those "progressive" metal bands that are sort of essential in any fan of the genre's library, even though they aren't a progressive metal band. "The Mantle" is the essential Agalloch album, the masterpiece of the band, for many people. I tend to believe it's only a tad better than the also wonderful "Ashes Against The Grain", but this last one doesn't have the importance of "The Mantle", historical and personal.

For whoever isn't familiar with the Folk Metal tag, this album is exactly what Folk Metal is: a mix between harsh metal riffs, Black Metal shrieking alternated with clean vocals, and folk elements, that in this case is the acoustic guitar, which is very much present. The production and sound of the album is a little muddy at times, especially in the drums and some guitars, but you obviously assume it was intentional, and it probably was. But in the end, it doesn't matter at all, because the songwriting is always excellent. Agalloch are band that likes it simple, the melodies are not too intricate and the musicianship is not at all virtuous. The structure of their lengthy pieces however is much more complex, and definitely gives a pretty strong progressive tone to the music. The acoustic guitars are the clue element for the album's sound, as they are the main thing for a lot of the songs: the electric guitar and the heavy riffs are simply giving aggression as a rich addiction to the nucleus.

However, Agalloch are like many Black Metal bands: it's not about being progressive, it's about being atmospheric. They point at atmosphere constantly, but that still isn't what this band is all about. Agalloch want to depress, they want to be extremely emotional in their music, and succeed in a way that only a few bands were able to. Every single note is extremely evocative, depressing, but also extremely beautiful and haunting. This is a band who wants to give it's audience the beauty and melancholy of bleak nature, they want to truly evoke a snowy landscape in the middle of a cold, but completely white forest,gazing at the nature in absolute silence, with such a heavy weight in the heart, that you would come to a point where you question your own existence, which, compared to such beauty, is nothing.

The structure of the album is solid, but very rigid and precise: there is a precise alternation between instrumentals and sung songs.Starting with the sung ones, "In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion" in it's epic fourteen minutes in length, is certainly the most evocative of all Agalloch songs, and absolute masterpiece that moves in a way that I never thought was possible. "You Were But A Ghost In My Arms" is another long, but still beautiful song, noticeably more aggressive and somewhat less depressing, but almost just as good and haunting.The half ballad "And The Great Cold Death Of The Earth" is another magically beatiful highlight, easily the most emotional and touching of all songs here. Among the instrumentals, we still have great, evocative moments: "The Lodge", with it's constant, strange sample echoing through the entire song, has become a classic for the band, and the epic eleven minute "The Hawthorne Passage" is a heavily progressive influenced piece, not because of the music itself but because of it's flow and different themes. The last song of the album breaks the rule of the alternation, and is a whispered song, "A Desolation Song", which is definitely the song that I liked the least, it never does anything to me.

"The Mantle" is the essential winter album, the essential Agalloch album, the essential Folk Metal album. This album under many points of view can be considered important, not really for being innovative, but for being extremely passionate.

I will try to keep this review brief, (probably a welcome relief to my usual style of review!) because words really can not do this album justice. I make no guarantees though!

I will just say this is one of the most unique albums you will hear, and one of the best. The Mantle is an amazing blend of post metal and black metal, with copious amounts of folk mixed in and no shortage of bleak melancholic atmosphere. Indeed, that is the key word here: Atmosphere.

In an odd way, post and black metal are quite alike, in that they sacrifice technicality and musical showmanship for atmosphere. Agalloch has taken the cold, bleak, haunting ambiance of black metal and spread it over the introspective, challenging, and beautiful song structures of post rock, (while never truly conforming to either one). The result is a sound unlike any other, one that is beautiful, bleak, profound and dark.

The lyrics are heavy, and I mean that in the truest sense of the word. Honestly dark and crushing, not cliche and goofy. This is deep stuff. It is the final touch, delivered with absolute perfection. Soft whispers to shrill shrieks, deep baritone talking to gravely rasps, and clean singing.

This album is best understood when it is absorbed, rather than listened to. Sit in a forest on a brisk, rainy day. Look at a snowy landscape, lay down in a dark room. Absorb this album. It has touched me in a profound way, that few albums have ever done. At times it has been my escape from society, life, reality. The drudgery's of life, anger, fear and problems wash away like a tide.

An absolutely brilliantly crafted album and rare masterpiece of music.

The Mantle is quite possibly the most beautifully desolate thing I have ever heard. Agalloch's masterful use of acoustic guitar rhythms underneath the haunting growls of creeping despair give this walk through deathland an ironically pastoral feel. And not unlike the grey wooded landscape that our wanderer traverses, the compositions - while broodingly sprawling - are familiar enough to be eerily comforting. In The Mantle, we hear the sound of a band that knows exactly what it's doing. From the ghostly atmospherics to the aesthetic guitar solos, this is unmistakeably a death march from start to finish, and one that, unlike the ruins of Agalloch's mankind, will not soon be forgotten.

An album I've owned for quite a while that at first I disliked because I thought it's songs long and boring--as well as due to the fact that this was my very first acquisition that contained growls for some of its vocals. I was put off by this, especially. Now, four or five years later, I've grown accustomed to growling in prog music and The Mantle has become one of those albums whose songs always interest, surprise, and, yes, I have to admit, excite me when they come onto my iPod shuffle's random play. The acoustic guitar-based music has always been attractive to me, I just resisted its magic because of the vocals. Now as I listen to these songs I am always surprised to check later and be reminded that these great songs so full of subtleties were from AGALLOCH! (Like tympani, double bass, horns, and Italian and Japanese sound bytes.)

Favorite songs: "...And The Great Cold Death Of The Earth" (7:14) (10/10) "The Hawthorne Passage" (11:19) (9/10), and; "In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion" (14:45) (8/10)

A solid album--one of the best from a . . . well, a pretty poor year, in my humble opinion.

Solid 4 star effort.

Missed Me By THAT Much

Agalloch should just nail me perfectly. Almost every element of their sound is something I love in music. Acoustic guitars on both lead and rhythm, low male harmonies, dark lyrics, sixteenth rhythms, lots of atmosphere. It seems like a recipe for a wonderful dish. THE MANTLE is consistently hailed as Agalloch's definitive album, so naturally I started here. While there are some great moments during this album, my overall impression is boredom. There's just not enough happening. And the emotion of the atmospheres is not quite enough to keep me going for 70 minutes and songs of up to 15. Yes, the band evokes a wintery day walking through a forest devoid of leaves. And in a few places we actually get to the point where it's like a battle through a head wind in a blizzard. But those spots are few. For the most part it's just plodding, bleak, not much danger, and certainly no excitement. I suppose it would appeal to teenage depression quite well. Stomp into your room, slam the door, and lay on your bed listening to THE MANTLE. I can remember that feeling, but I don't go there much anymore. Maybe that's the disconnect.

In line with this impression of the band, I must say that John Haughm's clean voice sounds very young. Both in tonality and ability, it just sounds underdeveloped. His gremlinish harsh vocals come from the black school, but the abrasiveness, to me, just doesn't go with the atmospherics at all. When he sings clean, he hits pitch but little else. There is a sameness to both styles that I assume improves on subsequent albums, as it just sounds inexperienced to my ear. Similarly, the guitar have a few nice lead moments, but they are way to far between.

My favorite song on the album is "I am the Wooden Doors" which is probably the closest to Black Metal on the album. Still a far cry from lo-fi Satan worshipping, the song relies on a sixteenth note rhythm, has a nice acoustic guitar solo, and in general just moves better than the rest of the album. The epic "In the Shadow of Our Pale Companion" has some pleasant surprises, including an electronic repeat effect that adds a great texture mid song, and an electric solo that opens with a metallic sweep. But there are too many long strummy parts with no lead element.

On of the defining parts of prog for me is music that rewards careful attention. This music actually works better in the background, at least for me. Another important aspect of prog, trying to either blend musical ideas or create new ones, is certainly achieved here. There are now a handful of bands doing this style of music (though still few) but at the time of this album's release, I think Agalloch really were venturing into some new territory. And for that I applaud them.

I've tried hard to like this album. I do enjoy it, and some days I think I'm just about to click with it. But it just hasn't ever completely happened. Good but non-essential describes quite well what I feel about it.

Agalloch: The Mantle [2002]

Rating: 10/10

With The Mantle, Agalloch achieve something truly special. This is a difficult album to write about for several reasons. It doesn't fittingly conform to any genre; this music features elements of folk, black-metal, doom-metal, and post-rock, but none of these labels come close to properly describing the final product. Calling this a metal album would be a criminal oversimplification. Calling this a folk album, or even a folk-metal album, would be equally understated. Every second of The Mantle is an interminable journey though some sort of apocalyptic snow-covered forest. This is an intensely atmospheric LP, but unlike many other albums that forego developed compositions in the name of atmosphere, Agalloch create soundscapes though intricate arrangements, complex songwriting, and gorgeous instrumentation.

"A Celebration for the Death of Man" is a short acoustic intro. The riff here is simple yet powerful, and the Mellotron adds another layer of intense atmosphere. The indescribably epic "In the Shadow of Our Pale Companion" is a pastoral quest that slowly builds upon folk strumming and whispered vocals to create a expansive masterpiece of sound. "Odal" is a minimalistic instrumental that holds the enormous honor of being the most beautiful track on this album. Its majesty cannot be put into words. "I Am the Wooden Doors" is the only track on this album that fully references the extreme metal Agalloch focused on with their debut LP. The juxtaposition between the black-metal influenced passages and the folk interludes works wonderfully, as always. "The Lodge" is a gorgeous folk instrumental with ethereal and unorthodox percussion. "You Were But a Ghost in My Arms" is a sprawling track with wondrous guitar interplay. Some of Haugm's best clean vocals can be found here. "The Hawthone Passage" is an epic instrumental that actually displays a strong classic-prog influence. The bluesy guitar solo is a highlight of the entire album. "?And the Great Cold Death of the Earth" is a yet another grand piece; the atmosphere truly lives up to the title. The album closes with "A Desolation Song", a harrowingly depressing epilogue that evokes images of a lonely cabin deep within a dark forest.

Any progressive music fan unfamiliar with The Mantle is obligated to rectify this ignorance promptly. Everything about the album is perfect. It's compositionally, atmospherically, lyrically, and structurally brilliant. Countless experimental metal bands have tried to recreate Agalloch's achievements here, and none have thus far come close to succeeding. As with many great albums, it's difficult to linguistically quantify what makes The Mantle so great. I cannot guarantee that everyone will feel the same things I feel when I listen to it, but I can be sure that anybody who even slightly appreciates emotional and creative music will at least be able to develop an appreciation for this moving masterpiece. Nothing else like it exists.

I find this to be a very seasonal album. For instance, if you live out in a rural area in a snowy place surrounded by forest, this is an ideal album. It's very wintery, with a production I can only describe as very forest-like. I live in a Canadian city with trees absolutely everywhere you look, so maybe I have an advantage in connecting with it, but who knows?

Anyways, as said before, it's best listened to in a forest/winter setting, preferably in a walk through snowy woods. If you're confined to the home, in the middle of a big city, or in a snowless region, fret not. This is still a very nice album, and quite dense for a sort of folk metal/black metal fusion. The production isn't crisp and clear, but it works much so to the albums advantage as it magnifies the winter forest feel the band is clearly aiming to achieve. So really, the production is impeccable to this one's ears. The vocals might take some getting used to. The harsh is a snarly black metal growl, and the clean is sort of uninteresting. It's not a large flaw though. The lyrics are somewhat hard to grasp, but often paint a beautiful portrait to go with the music. The softer parts of the album are led by a 12-string acoustic, which speaks for the bands folk metal side, and sometimes stretch out a bit too long. Other times it's perfect, and quite beautiful. The heavier parts actually don't feel so heavy, and if it weren't for the harsh vocals this probably wouldn't feel like a metal album at all.

So not everyone will enjoy this album. Some will find it boring and uninteresting, and some just won't be able to connect. Being a Canadian winter-forest boy, this might have increased my ability to enjoy this album, but who knows. Either way, I find it to be a diamond with a couple chips here and there. Close to masterpiece status, but just falls short of the honour. 4 stars.

Using primarily acoustic guitars instead of the electric guitars usually associated with... well, just about every brand of metal you can think of really, but specifically the black metal that Agalloch were previously associated with, the band have developed a compelling post-metal sound. Tapping into the fact that both black metal and shoegaze indie rock make a great deal of use of tremolo guitar, the band craft a strange, folky artifact which exists halfway between the two worlds, and tap into a current which is now regularly explored but which at the time was still incredibly fresh. A classic of experimental, cutting-edge metal.

Picture the Decemberists adding death metal to their sound and you have a rough sketch of what THE MANTLE is (Agalloch might be creepier). Come to thought, it makes almost perfect sense if you think of both bands having similar bases but going off in different volume directions and each band finding its own niche in progressive folk.

There's sense involved if you call THE MANTLE a ''post-metal'' album simply because that post-rock niche sound is on display in the cracks here. But the album is moreso folk and metal almost to the point where neither main genre completely dominates. There are plenty of acoustic guitars running about, but the electric guitars have more folky patterns to them as opposed to metal riffs. The metal comes from the volume and the grunts from John Haughm.

I can best describe the mood of the album as sombre and cold, but not completely aloof. It's dark in the ''it gives me goosebumps'' sort; nothing at all to do with depressing, gothic or creepy atmospheres even if I'm thinking ''wicked'' in spots. THE MANTLE bases itself around the mood and sometimes the tension and never focuses on histrionics, something that good albums from this prog sub-section do well.

The lengths of the songs are too tiresome due to how the mood and ''riffs'' (can't find a more suitable word) develop which bolsters two of the centrepiece tracks (''The Hawthorne Passage'' and ''In the Shadow Of Our Pale Comparison''). I would vote for ''The Lodge'' as the strongest track with the floating guitar lines over the top and the odd percussion (according to the credits, it's a deer antler; can't get more folk than that) hit the target spot. The closing track has an accordion(?) in it that makes me think Decemberists again. ''Odal'' and ''Great Cold Death of the Earth'' are the other highlight tracks.

Really, this folk/metal hybrid works quite fluidly and beautifully. If only there was more strength in the vocal department (where comparisons to Comus make sense), then I could really see THE MANTLE hitting new heights.

The second full-length release from Agalloch is not without it's moments of beauty, moments that emerge from the dappled shade of both darkness and light. This is particularly true of the sections in which the instrumental work is allowed the space to breathe and develop.

That said, my overall impression of this album is something of a lack of impression of it. It's certainly an adequate release, but I'm not altogether convinced it goes much further than that. Singer John Haughm's voice can match neither the beauty nor the power of the instrumentation, which itself somehow falls a little beyond the edge of my memory. A decent enough release, but not one that sits as a post-metal great in my eyes.

In terms of highlights, this is an album that improves as it goes on. The track 'The Hawthorne Passage' is, in particular worth a listen. I hope moments such as these will make this album a grower, given time.

Overall, I give this album a 3/5

After a very good debut, ''The Mantle'' back in 2002 fell like an unexpected meteorite upon the world of heavy metal music. This U.S band instantly left its eternal mark, in terms of personality, style and quality. In my opinion, Agalloch came to take the place of good 90's Paradise Lost in the throne of solemn, doomy and sophisticated metal.

I don't know if it's prog or not but I know for sure that Agalloch serves a very specific artistic vision. Their sound consists in equal parts of slow, dramatic and gloomy metal, extended acoustic folk passages, post metal references and black metal background. These sonic elements entwine strongly with the deeper philosophy involved: There is a mysterious, grey poetry, a dark earthly gaze upon things, dare to say a pagan approach. Agalloch's music is one with the earth, the soundtrack of secret deities ruling wild places. All these are delivered through long compositions that each one feels like a myst's journey. Fast outbursts, acoustic parts and sad heavy riffs change constantly - excellent songwriting and arranging skills - offering delight to the heathen ears!

Discovering ''The Mantle'' may feel like being a solitary traveler paving upon dry autumn leaves at a twilight hour. Here you'll find a world of truth in shadows. Here you'll find metal quality. Become the myst yourself.

Agalloch's 'The Mantle' is one of the most perfect blending's of pastoral folk music and extreme metal I've ever heard - its also one of the most thoroughly depressing albums in my collection. This is not music for anyone feeling down or unhappy as it might just push you over the edge. The music is mournful and laden with sorrow, the vocals are emotional and the lyrics utterly bleak.

Musically what we have on 'The Mantle' is deeply atmospheric acoustic guitar driven music with a black metal edge. There are definitely a couple of songs on the record where the black metal style takes over almost entirely, but I wouldn't really call this album black/extreme metal - it has far more 'folky' acoustic moments than anything else. Not to mention that clean vocals dominate, and it is the extreme vocal style, which honestly aren't that extreme on this album, that are put to the side.

In many of the songs it is the acoustic guitar which leads the compositions, and the distortion guitar provides a textured background. Vocally John Haughm is absolutely spot-on in this record, both his raspy 'extreme' vocals and his clean voice are brilliantly executed. There are a great many highlights on this album, none more so than the third track, the instrumental 'Odal' or the lengthy instrumental 'The Hawthorne Passage'.

In many ways 'The Mantle' is the odd one out in the Agalloch discography. It is both totally unique from what came before, 'Pale Folklore', and what came afterwards, 'Ashes Against The Grain'. This is an album from a band not afraid to create a unique piece of art with each release, not caring how it would fit within their discography. It is also the only Agalloch album to feature a great many instrumental tracks, occupying 25 minutes of the total playtime.

Whilst I would say that 'Pale Folklore' and the albums after 'The Mantle' might only be suitable for fans of extreme metal I would definitely encourage any progressive rock fan to check out 'The Mantle'. Yes it does have some 'extreme' moments which might put you off, but there are also some really beautiful instrumental sections which I think might appeal. I'm reluctant to give too many albums a 5-star rating as it diminishes the significance of that rating, but with 'The Mantle' I can't think of any other rating. Easily their best work to-date and for my worth their only 5-star record. Unique, atmospheric and soulful. 5-stars.

AGALLOCH took their name from the resinous wood of the aguarwood (Aquilaria agallocha) and on their sophomore album THE MANTLE, this Portland, Oregon based band demonstrates how to let their musical cross-pollinations flow like sticky sap through an hour plus timespan that encompasses a wide spectrum of sounds and styles yet never outstays its welcome. THE MANTLE was a major improvement over the already developed and mature debut "Pale Folklore," yet the first album was crippled by a lackluster production job that prevented the band's true atmospheric prowess and uncanny ability to juxtapose disparate sounds in completely logical yet untried manners. THE MANTLE showcased the band in its comfort zone as it gracefully oozed out lusciously strummed acoustic folk guitar chords, electronic embellishments, black metal inspired doom and gloom and post-rock fueled compositional constructs that allowed the music to build to dizzying crescendoes and beyond.

Their first release of the new millennium, THE MANTLE has become one of those must-have albums in any metal collection as it embodies a perfection like few others before or since. Much in the vein of their debut, THE MANTLE tackles a wide range of influences that weave the possibilities of the dark neofolk sounds of bands like Death In June and Sol Invictus with the extra bombast of the metal world in the form of doom inspired riffing dressed up with black metal tremolo picking and shrieked vocals that played tag with clean sung lyrics sometimes resulting in whispered poetic prose. At first mistaken for a Scandinavian band for their use of guitar work utilized by bands ranging from Ulver, Katatonia and Amorphis, AGALLOCH allowed the black metal universe to expand beyond its second wave limitations of the legions of copycats and followed in the footsteps of the innovators that ultimately made them a part of the club that managed to craft a new hybrid of musical innovation.

The album's signature sound is instantly addictive as the introductory acoustic guitar strumming of "A Celebration For The Death Of Men" demonstrates the band's ability to create instant ear hooks augmented by subtle changes in atmospheric variation. The track cedes seamlessly into the following monster composition "In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion" which runs the gamut of metal meets neofolk possibilities and not only creates a seemingly infinite variety of subtle changes but demonstrates how the band ratchet up the band's theme by connecting the tracks into a larger whole, in this case a pseudo-concept about how images can be conveyed through sound. The images in this case are real photos of Portland, Oregon landmarks beginning with the stag on the album cover in a shrouded mysterious blanket of foggy gray and nebulous murky atmospheric detachment. The music perfectly suits the assortment of photos that are included in the liner notes.

THE MANTLE is a slow burner and not one to be listened to in a hurry. This is not what one would deem a headbanger's type of metal as it seems a vast majority of the real estate is dedicated to dreamy acoustic folk, shoegazy post-rock and hypnotic grooves embellished by electronic wizardry and outlandish production techniques. In fact only on the fourth track "I Am The Wooden Doors" does the black metal inspired fury have domination over the mellower aspects of the album and yet even here, is graced by unorthodox acoustic guitar solos that break in beneath the distorted metal galloping of the guitar grunge. Perhaps another amazing aspect of THE MANTLE is how the vocal harmonics create a whole other level of melodic counterpoint. Not only do the vocals range from the growled, clean, whispered and shrieked but in how they work together to create a larger atmospheric experience.

Sometimes one vocal style will dominate whereas other times clean and shrieked vocals will trade off by ushering in a call and response sort of forum. While many a black metal album's shrieked vocals are indecipherable, AGALLOCH create almost the most perfect balance of lush melodic musical passages with grainy irascibly charge yet well enunciated periods of black metal magic embedded into the folk dominated soundscapes. The ratio between the sleepy time folk tranquility and the majestic metal heft is meted out in a satisfyingly elegant proportions and while there are points when certain hypnotic post-rock passages appear to be wearing out their welcome, AGALLOCH has a firm understanding of just how far to milk any certain idea before pulling out the rug and taking a 180 stylistically speaking.

THE MANTLE also masters the art of the reprise, that is, simple melodic hooks that are introduced early on and then find their ways back into the mix only with completely different variations but somehow bring the feel of an epic journey where one must revisit past destinations before moving on. In addition to the aforementioned influences, THE MANTLE brings the epic grace of Opeth to mind, especially from albums like "Morningrise" with the brilliant commingling of acoustic and electric elements but also finds epic bands like Pink Floyd-esque guitar solos and space rock feel in "The Hawthorne Passage." The way that the entire album is laid out evokes a great rock opera and i detect many small touches that remind me of Queensryche's "Operation: Mindcrime" not necessarily in musical delivery but in the compositional posturing and dynamic flow of one track to the next as they incorporate subtle sounds and themes (such as military march drumming and sound samples.)

AGALLOCH found musical perfection on THE MANTLE. All the elements that had been laid out so brilliantly on "Pale Folklore" aligned perfectly on this sophomore release. The album has become a classic in the metal world for great reason. This is one that has the double effect of being instantly addictive yet offers an infinite variety of details to offer satisfying repeat listens. In fact, this is one of those albums i can safely put on perpetual replay and never grow tired of hearing since it conveys such a vast array of moods, tones, textures and timbres graced with a sophisticated production that allows every little detail to shine through the grim, depressive atmospheric displays that permeate THE MANTLE's post-apocalyptic soundscape. When it comes to a brilliant display of how folk, metal, post-rock and atmospheric ambient sounds are woven together, i cannot think of an example better than THE MANTLE. Just digging this out for a review led me to keep it on replay for several days straight and i'm still awed by it. THAT only happens when an album is friggin' awesome beyond belief. Yep, THE MANTLE is just that.

Agalloch have managed to masterfully combine the power of darker and heavier rock with elements of folk, creating the ideal space to develop a dense, powerful and heartbreaking doom sound, but at the same time clean and nostalgic, in long developments where the intensity doesn´t decay. The Mantle, 4 years after his excellent debut with Pale Folklore, is the confirmation of a unique proposal, where the desolate and depressing winter landscapes contain the strength and drama of the best of the genre, incorporating all the sound distortion with the brilliance of Acoustic guitars that provide an ideal counterbalance to a gloomy atmosphere, the powerful riffs of electric guitars and the guttural voice of John Haughm.

They didn´t need songs with profuse lyrics to make their message clear, in fact A Celebration For The Death Of Man, Odal, The Lodge and The Hawthorne Passage are instrumental. The latter contains in its last minute a small conversation in Spanish regarding the taste for burials, but it is practically instrumental.

Although all the work maintains a similar level, I can highlight as outstanding the eternal In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion of more than 14 minutes, Odal, with its deep melancholy, the powerful You Were But A Ghost In My Arms, the instrumental The Hawthorne Passage and ... And The Great Cold Death Of The Earth, in my opinion the best song on the album, where the band achieves an unbeatable fusion of folk, doom and death metal.

Excellent material and one of the best from the Experimental / Post Metal sub-genre

What Agalloch produced here is a very enjoyable piece of music that black metal fans, progressive metal fans, post metal fans, doom metal fans, folk metal fans, and maybe even Gothic metal fans can easily enjoy. As a fan of all the above, this album was very enjoyable for me to listen to. If you are expecting this to be regular old black metal, then you are making a mistake. The band is definitely rooted in black metal, but they add so much more to it that it kind of creates its own style of doomy, folk black metal. The vocal technique uses clean singing and black metal vocals. There are also a lot of black metal riffs. The mood of the album in my opinion is pretty dark as common with black metal and doom metal, and the music sort of reminds me of a very rainy or snowy day. Also employed are the acoustic guitar and keyboard. Chances are, if you like doom metal, Gothic metal, post metal, black metal, or progressive metal, you will enjoy this album. I am going to give this album a five star rating, as the album is just a great work of music, and it is a very enjoyable album.

Absolute masterpiece! I love this album! Wonderful atmosphere and some seriously beautiful melodies and moments spread around the album!

1. A Celebration For The Death Of Man... (7/10): A wonderful album opener that throws the main theme of the following beast of a track. Always listen ITSOOPC with this one!

2. In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion (11/10): A Sheer and absolute masterpiece. A very dynamic black metal track that, combined with its lyrics, makes you feel in a dark, snowy road in Canada, heading to the unknown. Simply breathtaking, this track alone forces this album to have at least a 4-Star rating.

3. Odal (8/10): A dark instrumental with an atmospheric fade-out that transports you out of this world. I never think of listening specifically this track, but I never skip it when doing full album listens.

4. I Am The Wooden Doors (8.5/10): A great track, and one of the shorter ones in the album. I suppose it's supposed to be the single-type of track from the album and it's really good!

5. The Lodge (6/10): Probably my least favorite, but just like with Odal, I never skip it because it ruins the continuity of the album. Great instrumental nonetheless.

6. You Were But A Ghost In My Arms (9/10): One of the three heavyweights of the album! A very heavy track with its melodic moments and atmospheric sections, and definitely a track that makes up part of the reason why I gave this album five stars.

7. The Hawthorne Passage (10/10): Probably the biggest reason why I gave this album five stars is because it has "In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion" and "The Hawthorne Passage" in one tracklist. Absolutely astonishing instrumental and the third heavyweight of the album. Very dynamic as well, there's no way you will get bored!

8. ... And The Great Cold Death Of The Earth (9/10): A great ballad-type track that serves as a rest after all the crazy stuff you just faced with the previous two tracks. Also works as a nice continuation of the album opener.

9. A Desolation Song (10/10): How can I be giving a 5-Minute ballad a 10/10 rating? Well, because it simply is one of the darkest, most depressive songs I've heard, and that's an achievement no other track in this album managed to obtain. Simply beautiful, an amazing album closer.

Simply a masterpiece. Five stars.

Agalloch's greatest work, and one of the greatest works Black Metal ever had. The Mantle is a perfect balance between beautiful atmospheric sections and hard- hitting riffs and lyrics, in such way that I simply cannot think how you could possibly improve them. The second track (Agalloch's most regarded work), In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion, is easily one of the greatest pieces black metal ever had, and the rest of the tracklist doesn't fall too short. Hawthorne Passage is a beautiful instrumental. You Were But A Ghost In My Arms is the heaviest track of the album and it's also highly dynamic. The closer, A Desolation Song, is one of the darkest (if not the darkest) tracks Agalloch made, with bone-chilling lyrics and a melody that sets you in a dark, depressive mood. A very strong Black Metal album, and I truly recommend it.

A nearly perfect album in a way that is hard to describe. The pinnacle of the album is the legendary song "In the Shadow of Our Pale Companion" which is both a perfect example of the best Folkloric/Atmospheric Black Metal song and one of the easiest for new ears to the realm to first experience. The rest of the album maintains the precise instrumentation and sophisticated song structure, which I liken to a luxury brand of the genre. While the type of music is "raw", nothing is "raw" about the production of this album. Instruments are clear, and no sound outshines another. As for the vocals, I really enjoy the fluctuation between low growls, soft-spoken whispers, and melodic cleans, that all are placed in the song perfectly with matching lyrics. 10/10 album and highly recommended for any prog fan, especially those looking to get into music with growling vocals and black metal- like riffs.

A beautiful masterpiece. It's for sure one of my favorite post-metal records of all time. It's considerably inaccessible, though, so it might be necessary to give it multiple listens. While there's some records that focus on atmosphere or heaviness, The Mantle is capable of focusing in both at the same. There's tracks like And The Great Cold Death Of The Earth or Desolation Song that are purely orgasmic ballads, and tracks like I Am The Woden Doors and You Were But A Ghost In My Arms that are pure ass-breaking metal tracks.

It's definitely a must for Post Metal fans, and worth a listen for anyone. Five Stars.