Biography
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Years Active
1995 – 2016 (21 years)
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Founded In
Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon, United States
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Members
- Aesop Dekker (2007 – 2016)
- Chris Greene (2004 – 2007)
- Don Anderson (1996 – 2016)
- Jason William Walton (1996 – 2016)
- John Haughm (1995 – 1997)
Agalloch is an American metal band formed in Portland, Oregon, United States in 1995. For twenty years the Pacific Northwest group defined what it means to combine influences from a variety of musical genres into one brooding, colossal, and cinematic sound that provides the soundtrack to existential themes concerning man, nature, loss, and death.
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."
Agalloch - Bandcamp
Agalloch - Dämmerung Arts
Agalloch - Discogs
Agalloch - Facebook
Agalloch - Official Site
Agalloch - RateYourMusic
Agalloch - Store
Agalloch - Twitter
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)
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