AGALLOCH — The Mantle (review)

AGALLOCH — The Mantle album cover Album · 2002 · Folk Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
The Angry Scotsman
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.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Deviance Deathcore
ASHES INTO BLOOD
Buy this album from MMA partners
Equilibrium Atmospheric Sludge Metal
BESRA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tension Between Rot And Genesis Sludge Metal
ANTHESIS
Buy this album from MMA partners
Recycle Brain Crust Punk
C.P.G
Buy this album from MMA partners
Cartography Of The Mind Deathcore
TETHERED
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Besra – Unsullied (Music Video)
BESRA
Bosh66· 12 hours ago
Tethered - Breathe (Official Video)
TETHERED
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Saltwound - Walking The Blade (OFFICIAL VISUALIZER)
SALTWOUND
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Saltwound - The Negative (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
SALTWOUND
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Saltwound - Drowning feat. Taylor Barber (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
SALTWOUND
Bosh66· 1 day ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed