Review of the album "Ashes Against the Grain" by US Death Metal Band Agalloch

Agalloch was a US death metal band with various influences. Even though I had mentioned previously that I would not review albums from US bands, there will be a different and better approach going forward. Agalloch was from Portland, Oregon and they were formed in 1995. Their 2006 album called Ashes Against the Grain is a good death metal album that is very creative. Note: it is now 2018 and even if I may have said that I wouldn’t review or analyze more albums by US based artists, that thought was temporary. So let us begin to analyze this very good album from Oregon’s Agalloch.

The first song that I had ever heard from these guys is the song Falling Snow. The main riff is very catchy and the song is about how sometimes intense and massive snowfall can lead to death. The first song called Limbs is a slow song that has that The Gathering kind of influence. The riff will remind you of that Dutch band if you listen to it long enough. As the song slows down I hear a Dark Tranquillity influence in the guitar playing as well.

We could say that the slow guitar taps also remind us of Morningrise era Opeth. Note: Morningrise was released in 1996. As for the song Falling Snow, it has a lead guitar style interlude though it is not an interlude in the literal sense but it gives that song a sort of distinct feel.

John’s vocals do not exactly sound like the raspy Jeff Walker but they are still pretty low in pitch. If we do not avoid the heavy falling snow as it also hits the mountains, death will result. As the song comes to an end, a catchy progressive part is in the song. Then comes the very short instrumental song called This White Mountain on Which You Will Die. The atmospheric start to the song is very evident.

Then the next song called Fire Above, Ice Below is influenced by Fates Warning and Ensiferum as the pounding drums can still be heard. The song is about there being a fire in the sky as there is ice below the Earth that is still solid. Sometimes even when humans try, they are not able to get rid of their emotional pain that is stuck with them. Even though Agalloch was a progressive death metal band, I can hear a definite In Flames influence as the 4^th song slows down. The song ends as we hear the sound of ocean waves crashing on the shore. The sound of the waves can be heard going into the next song called Not Unlike the Waves.

Then comes a song that is divided into three parts but they are each three separate tracks. The first part is called Our Fortress is Burning…1 (in Roman numeral form). The first part is an instrumental song that is slow and has the sound of thunder moving in the background. The song is similar in style to 1994 Amorphis. However, it cannot even compare to the beauty of that first Amorphis instrumental song on Tales From the Thousand Lakes. We will have to deduct a few points from the album’s score because of this first part. This first part is not bad but it is musically very average and stale. The second part is called Bloodbirds. This three part Our Fortress is Burning section is similar to Fates Warning’s The Ivory Gate of Dreams. However, in the case of Fates Warning, that whole section is combined into one song and it has a musical mastery and technicality that Agalloch can never match.

Agalloch were a good band and they tried to be creative but they cannot compare to death metal bands from Europe or Japan. The final score for the album Ashes Against the Grain is going to be 82 out of 100 points.