Four years had to pass till Portland, Oregon-based metallers AGALLOCH got ready to release their fourth album entitled Marrow Of The Spirit. But it seems that the most creative impact was left on the band’s recent trip into the springlike Carpathian Mountains.
Marrow Of The Spirit differs. Of course. A gem, once again with a different cut and a different shine; harsher, darker, with the fierce coldness of black metal, yet even sinking deeper into the all embracing warmth and mystery of nature. And it is maybe a little bit more difficult to access. Nature and Folk elements got reduced; you only get then on the complete intro track, the end of The Watcher’s Monolith and the last tones of To Drown. And they ain’t that deeply meshed anymore as on the predecessors. Next novelty is the fact that John Haughm completely does it without his warm clean vocals to intensify the harsher approach. What you can hear on The Watcher’s Monolith are the guest vocals by Steven Wray Lobdell.
On Marrow Of The Spirit you get less songs but these flower out to epic soundscapes without even a hint of lengthiness. Wide instrumental parts give room to variety, and some sound experiments. Be surprised or not, but you will find legendary Moogs synths on this record and a lot of different percussions. Excellent work I really like.
Marrow Of The Spirit kicks off lovely with twittering and a purling brook in the intro They Escaped The Weight Of Darkness, yet with a dramatically melancholic cello fighting against. Successfully. On the fast following Into The Painted Grey the fierce coldness of black metal reigns. The Watcher’s Monolith with its great hooks and melodies, and the 17 minutes running Black Lake Niðstång are the core and highlight of this record. These both tracks are just hauntingly beautiful, awesome, and epic! You can’t get them out of your mind again, revealing the marrow of AGALLOCH!
The final track To Drown picks up the theme of the introducing cello, but with distorted guitars and heavy pounding drums to close the magical circle of the spirit’s awareness.
And again, this album reflects on your sentiment, as AGALLOCH albums are so known for. With every new listen you get a different sense of what this album is about. What sounded grimly cold at first might appear as earthily warm next. I guess it’s like being deep in the Carpathian Mountains at icy cold temperatures and meters high snow but already feeling the warm spring underneath the snowy surface…