ASHES AGAINST THE GRAIN

In the four years since their excellent The Mantle, the music scene had more than caught up with Agalloch's post-metal vision; other bands, such as the brilliant Isis, had even crafted superior works to that foundational piece. But those hoping that Ashes Against the Grain would show the newcomers how it was done may have found themselves disappointed. With less emphasis on acoustic guitars than on The Mantle, the band's sound becomes substantially more generic, and the compositions seem fairly uninspiring next to works by the likes of Isis and Pelican.

It's still a decent slice of post-metal which will appeal to fans of that subgenre, but Agalloch were always at their most distinctive - and therefore their most inventive and compelling - when they were blending post-metal and atmospheric black metal on one hand with dark folk on the other; with the folk side of their sound dialled back, the album ends up good but not quite as groundbreaking as their preceding work.