Agalloch's second album, The Mantle, is a leaps-and-bounds improvement over their first full-length, 1999's Pale Folklore. That wasn't a bad album, but it was h...
Agalloch's second album, The Mantle, is a leaps-and-bounds improvement over their first full-length, 1999's Pale Folklore. That wasn't a bad album, but it was hampered by a low-budget production job that didn't suit the sophisticated tone of the music. The improved production is the first thing that stands out here, evident in the more detailed arrangements, the classier guitar tones, and the fuller overall sound. That said, the music itself has also evolved and matured. Along with the Katatonia-inspired guitar work and grim, scratchy black metal vocals also present on Pale Folklore, a number of other sounds work their way into The Mantle, among them prominent acoustic guitar-strumming and cleanly sung vocals, Scandinavian-tinged folk guitar-picking (the middle breakdown during "I Am the Wooden Doors" is straight out of Ulver's bag), timpani percussion, and a few subtle electronic interludes. It is not just the range of sounds that's impressive, though, but rather how smoothly they are woven together, creating an album that flows from beginning to end, using its entire 68-minute running time to make its point without wearing out its welcome. Agalloch's biggest strength, much like the early work of Ulver and Katatonia, is their ability to create an epic type of listening experience without resorting to bombast or heavy-handedness, and that quality is plainly evident here. Factor in the excellent artwork and packaging (which features photos of the bandmembers looking very poised and European), and you have one of 2002's most accomplished and surprising metal-related albums.
Of Stone, Wind, & Pillor (Remastered 2021)
2023-06-02
2023-05-26
2023-05-26
2023-05-26
2016-07-15
服务条款| 隐私政策| 儿童隐私政策| 版权投诉| 投资者关系| 广告合作 | 联系我们
廉正举报 不良信息举报邮箱: 51jubao@service.netease.com 客服热线:95163298
互联网宗教信息服务许可证:浙(2022)0000120 增值电信业务经营许可证:浙B2-20150198 粤B2-20090191-18 工业和信息化部备案管理系统网站
网易公司版权所有©1997-2024杭州乐读科技有限公司运营:浙网文[2021] 1186-054号 浙公网安备 33010802013307号 算法服务公示信息