AGALLOCH
I've so lost faith in American Metal in general that when I first heard AGALLOCH I was sure they weren't American. Now I am proud find they are and this debut effort gives me reason to believe that the USA still has some good bands left. In particular, there has been a noticeable focus with North American bands on playing the more dark and atmospheric styles that Europe has mastered for so long. Latecomers or not, AGALLOCH play within this genre with masterful expertise, with a transcendence all their own.Pale Folklore seems a fitting title for an album that casts a dim, sentimental and gray pall over the listener from note one on. Surely, an overcast, rainy and cold day would be optimal setting for listening to this album. Borrowing influence from a variety of sources, many of them outside the traditional Metal categories, AGALLOCH have successfully formulated a musical chemistry that expands one's senses by dissecting attributes from bands like OPETH and KATATONIA and straining them through a wider net of infusion. I only wish I had heard all the non-Metal bands AGALLOCH have been compared to. Since I have not I have to take it on faith that bands like FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM share a likeness with AGALLOCH.
The importance of all this to Pale Folklore is the cohesiveness of all the neighboring influences. The listener never gets the impression that these outside influences have been forced or woven in an awkward manner. Pale Folklore is a seamless blend of varied genres that culminate in a rich album full of emotive strings, woeful rhythms and sentimental musical contemplation. One thing never changes however - the foggy, almost dismal and bleak feeling the songs lend the listener. Yet, for all its coldness, this is an indisputably catchy and memorable collection of tracks.
What I admire about AGALLOCH is the simplicity with which the succeed at their trade. With the scope of outside influence this album uses, one might think this is a complex pattern of structures and styles but, amazingly it is not. Perhaps that is why I seem to like it so much - its a natural.
For those with a flare of the bleak and eclectic, Pale Folklore is your album.
