album review : Marrow of the Spirit (2010) – Agalloch

album : Marrow of the Spirit

artist : Agalloch

genre : Atmospheric Folk/Dark Metal

year : 2010

Agalloch is a band that has believed in making genuine atmospheric music since the time they woke up to it in 1995. Their albums have been a favor to humanity’s deep thoughts and the band has produced all of that in the form of pristine melody and folk elements. And Marrow of the Sprits was not any less awaited. Four years and no release means the material will contain a lot of inspirations Agalloch must have picked up along the way. Such is the thought that flashes your mind once you are onto Marrow of the Spirits.

Although the album is home to just six tracks, majority of them are over ten minutes. So the album takes time to unfold and flows at a very upredictable pace. Opening track or intro They Escaped the Weight of Darkness is over three and a half minutes long. This one is all about nature, flowing river, chirping birds with a cello is being played. Gloomy stuff and you cross this one with a heavy heart. Although the same thing is happening throughout the track it passes off smoothly.

Holding our attention the band takes us into the second track Into the Painted Grey. The song is over twelve mintues long and is a juncture for various emotions. Beginning with a bang the track has soft guitar parts, catchy blast beats and lovable screeches. Very melodic solos and soul-stirring sections make you crazy. The Watcher’s Monolith is track number three. It touches twelve mintues. An acoustic guitar opening has them taking control of the whole atmosphere and singing in chorus adds up to it. The Watcher’s Monolith is more about the feel.

And now sit back, hide all your malice and erase your worries as some of the best tracks on the album are to follow. Black Lake Nidstång at seventeen and a half minutes and To Drown at ten and a half are heavily ambient tracks. The intricacies of the sound just grip you. Ghosts of the Midwinter Fires is musically the richest nine and a half minutes on Marrow of the Spirit. Folk cannot be hidden in their music and layers of the same have been applied all over.

After a compelling hour of dark atmospheric metal, Marrow of the Spirit fades. But not before you are under its spell. Agalloch has held its own in a country where the death metal scene is prevalent and their music is ever so captivating.

Rating : 4.5/5