Agalloch – The Mantle (2002)
I’ve taken to calling this album a prime example of “Bed, Bath, and Beyond” metal. Listening to The Mantle makes me want to look at vintage furniture and burn sandalwood incense, even when its tinges of vestigial black metal somehow drift to the surface. I’ve read scattered comparisons to post-rock and neo-folk, and while I’m not enough of an expert to gauge how accurate those comparisons are, it paints a tempting picture, doesn’t it? Just imagine – old black-doom tropes stripped of their former grimdark and evil, in favor of the soft rains of Cascadia. Agalloch isn’t without their detractors, but you can hear their influence on many a band from the region.
Now, Pale Folklore wasn’t exactly a burning example of blasting, feral black metal, but The Mantle emphasizes the gentler aspects of Agalloch even more. In between the metal (and sometimes alongside it) this album is splattered with clean guitar, woodblocks, the occasional ambient soundscape. The ratio of clean singing to mid-range growls has tilted further in favor of the former, too. Either way, this is some solid semi-ambient musicianship; nothing especially out of the ordinary or technically virtuous. The key point here is that you should go into The Mantle looking for a relaxed, ambient, slightly pine scented experience. Anything else would betray a fundamental lack of research on your part.
The songwriting is about what you’d expect – laid back, slow moving, gradually shifting, consonant and melodic when it doesn’t give way to sound effects. I often complain about these drawn out albums needing some editing to cut out the filler, but I was surprised to find that isn’t the case here. For all that these tracks meander (they are basically slow, lazy rivers, to keep the nature metaphors going), the mood building here is strong enough that you want Agalloch to keep a track going for as long as possible. Think of it as riding the ambience – there’s a lot of power in that if you know how to do it. To put it concisely, The Mantle does.
As for whether a “Bed, Bath, and Beyond” metal album is what I want? Well, by asking, you’re piercing deeply into the vagaries of my shifting moods and desires. I highly doubt I’m going to listen to much Agalloch when I’m in, for example, a tech-death mood. But if I want to be mentally transported to headspace of nature and organic products and fresh-caught salmon on a bed of kale, this is about where I’d look. If that’s not enough, there’s always the Berkshires.
Highlights: “I Am The Wooden Doors”, “You Were But a Ghost in My Arms”, “…And the Great Cold Death of the Earth”
