6.AGALLOCHASHES AGAINST THE GRAINAtmospheric Folk-Doom Metalreleased August 8th, 2006
via The End Records
1. Limbs [9:51]
2. Falling Snow [9:38]
3. This White Mountain On Which You Will Die
(instrumental) [1:39]
4. Fire Above, Ice Below [10:29]
5. Not Unlike The Waves [9:16]
6. Our Fortress Is Burning… I
(instrumental) [5:25]
7. Our Fortress Is Burning… II: Bloodbirds [6:21]
8. Our Fortress Is Burning… III: The Grain
(instrumental) [7:10]
9. Scars of the Shattered Sky (Our Fortress Has Burned To The Ground)
(instrumental)* [19:27]
*bonus track only available to an exclusive vinyl edition of the albumASHES AGAINST THE GRAIN is
John Haughm (Vocals / Guitars / Drums on 2 and 5)
Don Anderson (Guitars)
Jason William Walton (Bass)
Chris Greene (Drums)
*tbh I don’t know if this is the same lineup so I hope it isWITHRonn Chick (Piano on 1, 6 / Ebow on 4)
Ashes Against The Grain is one of the best records I have ever heard. In the almost 13 years I’ve been listening to this album, I still haven’t heard anything like it (Gallowbraid excluded).
There is an angst about this record. Ashes… is like a lamentation on nature. Its brooding atmosphere is thick with the loneliness of a snowy, secluded forest, each reverb-coated chord strummed fluid as water and cold as the winter wind itself. I think John Haughm’s vocals add something quite special to this album, as his “harsh” vocals are my favorite kind – more like a ragged whisper, he sounds like what I imagine an ancient, mighty tree spirit would sound like, crackling and popping like old bark, and adds a certain texture to the music that is impossible to ignore. And when he sings cleanly, like in “Falling Snow,” it is a voice of warmth and beauty, a stark contrast to the grim delivery used elsewhere. “Limbs” is almost 10 minutes long, and yet it has only 8 lines of vocals, singing fantastic poetry:
The texture of the soul is a liquid that casts a vermillion flood
From a wound carved as an oath; it fills the river bank, a sanguine fog
These arms were meant to be lost – hacked, severed, and forgotten
The texture of time is a whisper that echoes across the flood
Its hymn resonates from tree to tree, through every sullen bough it sings
These boughs were said to be lost – torn, unearthed and broken
Earth to flesh, flesh to wood, cast these limbs into the water
Flesh to wood, wood to stone, cast this stone into the water
Unlike a lot of bands, the songs on this album don’t feel long to me. Where other bands have lengthy pieces that seem to meander and lose the plot and sound like multiple songs pieced together like a patchwork of musical ideas – Symphony X, Opeth, plenty of less obvious names as well – Agalloch takes an idea, runs with it, and intelligently elaborates on it until the song seemingly figures out the conclusion all on its own. “Not Unlike The Waves” is a remarkable tune with a watery riff that ebbs and flows like the tide; beautiful warm vocals hang gently on open vowels to create an angelic harmony that is quickly intruded on by demonic growls screaming the Icelandic word for crepuscular rays (Sólstafir).
Along with John Haughm’s vocals, the guitars are the true stars of this record. It doesn’t matter what they’re playing, whether it’s heavy or soft or distorted or clean, they are captivating. The tones are perfect, the harmonies effective, the very sound of the strings being plucked is almost therapeutic to listen to, particularly because the rest of the band tends to drop out during these sections (notably in “Limbs,” “Fire Above, Ice Below,” and “Not Unlike The Waves”) which only emphasizes the guitar that much more. I’ve used the word “watery” here to describe the strummed chords and that’s the perfect word. Other times, such as the main riff in “Limbs” the guitars take on a powerful, earthy sound with a lot of weight behind each pick and strum.
It also took me a couple years, but “The Grain” is a masterpiece. Nothing but ambience and noise but if you listen closely you can hear in the pulsing sounds when the guitar is being played to create the haunting soundscape.
I picture the same scene every time I play this album: nightfall on a wood somewhere out west, where the trees grow so high they pierce the skies and their canopies are unseen. What little of the sky that can be seen is a dark blue, and growing darker. The trees shiver as a cold wind passes through. After some time, there comes a soft glow in the distance, which slowly grows and brightens. It’s accompanied by low groans and sickening snaps, and in time, flames overtake the forest. Birds scatter; some escape, and some succumb to the destruction, falling like snow from fire above to ice below.
In Summary: The Mantle is overrated. Fight me. Ashes is not only one of the best albums I’ve ever heard, it’s one of the best pieces of art I can think of in general.
Katt’s Favorites: Limbs,
Falling Snow,
Fire Above, Ice Below,
Not Unlike The Waves,
Our Fortress Is Burning… II: BloodbirdsListen to “Ashes Against The Grain” by Agalloch on Spotify
Topic: Katt's Top 50 Albums v. I bless the rains down in Africa [#1] (Read 68441 times)