After two demo releases in the late 1990’s the band released three full-length albums: Pale Folklore (1999), The Mantle (2002), and Ashes Against the Grain (2006). “The Mantle” has since been heralded as a classic for having been one of the first albums to combine elements from black metal, neo-folk, progressive rock, post-rock, and ambient music. The influence of this record can be heard in the music of multiple “post-black metal” bands.
In 2008 Agalloch began re-releasing their demos, B-sides, and EPs under their own Dammerung Arthouse label. In 2010 their fourth album Marrow of the Spirit made number one on numerous critic’s top ten lists. In between each of these full-lengths the band pushed on the flexible boundaries they had developed around themselves through a series of EPs that found the band experimenting with post-rock/instrumental rock (The Grey, 2004), neo-folk/psychedelic folk (“The White EP, 2008) and a mammoth twenty-minute epic work entitled Faustian Echoes (2012) released through Dammerung Arts. Their fifth and last full-length album The Serpent & the Sphere (2014) has continued to earn praise for solidifying the now identifiable sound of the band.
Agalloch earned a reputation for explosive and emotional live performances. They sold out tours across Europe and the US and played a variety of major international festivals including: Roadburn, Inferno, Ragnarok, Tomahawk, Noctis, Asymmetry Fest, Maryland Deathfest, Scion Fest and others. The band took special care constructing the environment of each and every show with wood, incense, and imagery taken directly from their home in the Northwest. Such care made an Agalloch show more than just a typical heavy metal concert.
However, on May 13th, 2016, Agalloch announced their disbandment.
Regarding the band's disbanding, John Haughm previously released the following statement regarding the status of Agalloch:
"After being inundated by a barrage of responses, I feel that I should clarify some things. I take full responsibility for the decision to part ways with the other guys. It was difficult, well thought-out, and something that had been culminating over the past couple of years. I simply could not continue any further with the band as it was. I had to make a change as my motivation and inspiration had started to completely deteriorate. Whether this is the permanent end of Agalloch altogether or a possible fresh start, I don't know. I probably won't know for awhile. The band has simply been reduced back to its founding, visionary member for the first time in 20 years. Beyond that, the future is unknown."
In 2019, Haughm made comments on Facebook widely criticized as being anti-Semitic, and the other members of Agalloch released a statement claiming, "We vehemently condemn our former bandmate and want to make it clear that none of us share his reprehensible viewpoints. We have not had any direct contact with him since the breakup nearly 3 years ago... We are not friends."
The band later reformed in 2023 "with the intent of playing limited shows."
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Discography:
Studio albums:
1999 - Pale Folklore
2002 - The Mantle
2006 - Ashes Against the Grain
2010 - Marrow of the Spirit
2014 - The Serpent & the Sphere
EPs:
1997 - From Which of This Oak (demo)
1998 - Promo 1998 (demo)
2001 - Of Stone, Wind and Pillor
2003 - Tomorrow Will Never Come
2004 - The Grey EP
2004 - Agalloch / Nest (split with Nest)
2008 - The White EP
2012 - Faustian Echoes
Compilations:
2008 - The Demonstration Archive 1996-1998
2010 - The Compendium Archive
Singles:
2004 - A Fragment (Second Phase)
2010 - Nebelmeer (split with Mathias Grassow)
2010 - Fragment 4
2010 - Scars of the Shattered Sky
2010 - Where Shade Once Was
2011 - The Death of Man III
2011 - The Wolves of Timberline
2013 - Nihil Totem
2013 - The Weight of Darkness
2014 - Alpha Serpentis (Unukalhai)
Hallways Of Enchanted Ebony
Agalloch Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Let the cold blood flow on it's own
Kiss me coldly and fall away from the soul
Long forgotten
From which of this oak shall I hang myself?
These ebony halls are always dark
From which frostbitten bough shall I die?
As dark as the winter, as black as her ghastly veil
As cold as her whisper and chilling gown
No corridors of life and beauty
These enchanted halls are stained with the blood of night
Ebony halls gleam as ghosts of a fire dance wickedly across a pantheon of marble
These weary eyes shall open no more, frozen tightly by the cold embrace of death
A charnel house of memories torn and burning melancholy shall embrace me now
Hear this call
Beyond endless halls and far across the vast forest, just across the iron gates
Whispers
As dark as the winter, as black as her grim mask of death
As cold as her sorrow, her ivory tears
No corridors of life and beauty
No blood red sky, no colors left in this world
It was the light's end
The lyrics of "Hallways of Enchanted Ebony" by Agalloch are a dark and melancholic exploration of death, loneliness, and despair. The song's narrator addresses a lover who is draining his life away, and who he welcomes as an escape from his own emotional pain. The lyrics are infused with images of darkness and coldness, which reflect the emotional state of the singer.
The singer contemplates suicide and wonders from which oak he shall hang himself. The hallways described in the song are not ones of life and beauty but are instead stained with the blood of night. The ebony halls are described as being haunted by the ghosts of a fire, which dance wickedly across a pantheon of marble. The singer is weary, and his eyes shall open no more. He is frozen tightly by the cold embrace of death, and his memories are torn and burning melancholy.
The song's final verse describes whispers from far across the vast forest, just past iron gates. The lyrics convey a sense of finality, of a world devoid of color or hope. The "light's end" serves as a metaphor for the end of life, and the song's conclusion is a bleak meditation on the inevitability of death.
Line by Line Meaning
Kiss me coldly and drain this life from my lips
Please express your love for me in a cold and vampiric manner. Drain all the warmth and life from me and let the icy blood flow freely.
Let the cold blood flow on it's own
Let the blood run cold, let it ooze without interference.
Kiss me coldly and fall away from the soul
Love me in a cold and distant way so that it becomes unfeeling and forgotten.
Long forgotten
A distant memory that has ceased to exist.
From which of this oak shall I hang myself?
In this dark and shadowy place, which tree will I choose to end my life?
These ebony halls are always dark
The halls are made of dark and black wood which reflects the atmosphere of the place.
From which frostbitten bough shall I die?
Which frozen and lifeless tree limb shall I choose to end my existence?
As dark as the winter, as black as her ghastly veil
As cold and heartless as the winter season, as dark and sinister as the veil worn by an otherworldly being.
As cold as her whisper and chilling gown
The being's voice and attire are so cold with a power that it sends a shiver through the listener.
No corridors of life and beauty
The path leads to a miserable place where life becomes worthless and beauty is a distant memory.
These enchanted halls are stained with the blood of night
The halls are permanently stained with the dark blood of the night due to the unspeakable evils they hide.
Ebony halls gleam as ghosts of a fire dance wickedly across a pantheon of marble
The halls are dark and the marble floor shines with a wicked presence of the ghosts that possess the place.
These weary eyes shall open no more, frozen tightly by the cold embrace of death
The eyes of the person will never open again as they are now sealed tightly by the frigid touch of death.
A charnel house of memories torn and burning melancholy shall embrace me now
The memories of the place and the brokenhearted nostalgia will envelop the person just as the charnel house does to the dead.
Hear this call
Listen closely to the message that is being spoken now.
Beyond endless halls and far across the vast forest, just across the iron gates
Far beyond the unending halls, through the huge forest, just over the iron gates is where the person must go to find the truth.
Whispers
Soft and faint voices that are heard speaking.
As dark as the winter, as black as her grim mask of death
As cold and wintry as the personification of death, his gruesome mask is as black as the winter night.
As cold as her sorrow, her ivory tears
As emotionless and cold as the sorrowful woman's tears of fine ivory
No corridors of life and beauty
Again, the hapless path leads to a lifeless and ugly place where life is snuffed away in a slow, painful death.
No blood-red sky, no colors left in this world
The world has lost all of its beauty and the sky is plain and colorless, depicting a foreboding side of existence.
It was the light's end
It was the end of the road and the end of hope that was once lit by eternal light.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind