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)
The Astral Dialogue
Agalloch Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Heathen fires burn the ancestral night
Esoteric figures move across the
Arcane plateau with their
Symbols engraved in the sky
The astral plane and the lineage of the past
Reborn!
Languages of the gods, spoken in sidereal tongue
Divinities of the stars
Illuminate in runes of man
At the creation's hollow, a sudden white light gleams
Like a wayward sentient spirit in the mire
Of space and time
Gods sire and propagate here
Under divine law of the opus magnum
Evolution of a language to come
The song "The Astral Dialogue" by Agalloch is a highly esoteric piece that alludes to the encompassing nature of the universe and the profound influence of the past on the present. The song commences with a depiction of the sky, and the singer mentions the "heathen fires" burning in the distance, referencing ancestral practices of worship and spirituality that have been inherited through generations. Symbols engraved in the sky suggest that there is a great cosmic language that we must decipher in order to understand the universe fully.
As the song progresses, we are introduced to the "astral plane," a higher dimension that is inaccessible to many mortals. The past is an interwoven archive that affects our present realities, and the lineage of the past is reborn in us. The language of the gods is spoken in an esoteric sidereal tongue, and the divinities of the stars become illuminated through runes of man. The song concludes with the singer referencing the evolution of a language yet to come while also reaffirming the divine nature of the universe.
Line by Line Meaning
The firmament above the horizon of history
The sky above the course of human history
Heathen fires burn the ancestral night
Pagan fires ignite the darkness of tradition
Esoteric figures move across the
Cryptic entities traverse the
Arcane plateau with their
Mysterious plane with their
Symbols engraved in the sky
Signs etched in the heavens
The astral plane and the lineage of the past
The spiritual realm and ancestry
Reborn!
Revived!
An abstract interwoven archive
A complex woven collection
Languages of the gods, spoken in sidereal tongue
Dialects of deities, uttered in celestial speech
Divinities of the stars
Celestial gods
Illuminate in runes of man
Radiate in human symbols
At the creation's hollow, a sudden white light gleams
In the void of origin, a bright flash appears
Like a wayward sentient spirit in the mire
Similar to a wandering conscious soul in the muck
Of space and time
Of the cosmos and continuum
Gods sire and propagate here
Deities father and perpetuate here
Under divine law of the opus magnum
By the sacred rule of the great work
Evolution of a language to come
The development of a forthcoming tongue
Contributed by Katherine F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@jswissman702
I have no idea how people can profess to love Agalloch and not like this album. Recently saw them live in the greater Cincinnati area, a place I never imagined they would play; blew me away. My only advice to those who do not like this album is taken from John Cage: listen to it again...if you still don't like it, listen to it again...etc.
@oleksandrzuzuk6188
It's my favorite album
@ati1209
@Oleksandr Zuzuk
It is not my favorite
@akhiloose
2014 is one of the best years in my music life. All of my favourite bands have released albums: Iced Earth, Agalloch, Anathema, Insomnium, Sabaton,..!Anyhow, this song is the best song of 2014, nothing can compete with this masterpiece! Thx a lot for posting this!
@jonmunson6037
One of those riffs that causes sudden onset windmilling.
@amerkingbq
The last album is a masterpiece. .make me cry
@TheMetalrock666
The astral plane and the lineage of the past
Reborn!
An abstract interwoven archive
Languages of the gods, spoken in sidereal tongue
Divinities of the stars
Illuminate in runes of man
@GeoffroiSouron
One of the best moments of this album which has unfortunately some up & downs
@walterproska8516
Powerful!
@mercer4038
That guitar solo blissfully kills me