Review Edit

It starts off on a good rocker, Shy Boy, which if I recall is a song from Vai's David Lee Roth. A good song, but nothing spectacular and perhaps not the best opening song.

All in all, a good DVD, but not great, and perhaps at least 15-20 minutes too long for my liking and too many bad visual effects, some shoddy camera work/editing and some botched perfomances.

This demo is where it all began for Agalloch, released only one year after the band formed and a very interesting demo this is indeed. The production is not exactly top notch, but I feel it actually adds to the rawness of the sound and helps with the general atmosphere of the songs on here. There are four songs on here, and it makes for a surprisingly long demo. To me, this is not a highly evolved or greatly progressive record, especially compared to some of their later work, but it was a sign of great things to come for the band. Yet, despite it not being overally progressive, it is still very creative and a unique album at the time in the metal scene. To really capture what this demo is about, it will require many many listens, and very close listens at that, with an appropiate atmosphere for listening sure to enhance the experience.

The album has a strong black metal influence and also a fair amount of the Gothenburg metal scene influence, much of which is highly evident on the track that starts the demo off, The Wilderness. It's an 11 minute epic, and you can hear the Gothenburg influence almost right away. I admit the very first black metal-esque high pitched shriek we hear makes me cringe as it just seems so much in the vain of stereotypical black metal. Yet for all its black metal/Gothenburg influence, I can still hear something that just makes it feel unique for it's time. Having heard much of their later work before this, I was a little surprised of the inclusion of the guitar solo in this track, since solos are not that common in Agalloch territory, but it fits perfectly here. While there is nothing flashy about the musician here, that doesn't matter here because the general sense of atmosphere doesn't require it. This is weakest song of the demo here, but still a very good song nonetheless.

I noted the production values earlier, and this is particularly evident if you listen to Embers Dress the Sky on the album Pale Folklore which was released in 1999, and the version on this demo. While fundamentally very much the same song, the earlier version gives me different emotions throughout, due to the different production and even being in a different key signature, which I think really made a big impact on the feeling too. Where the later version sounded more majestic and almost ethereal, the older version has a rougher and darker edge to it.

Foliorum Viridum was on the Of Stone, Wind, and Pillor EP, and you will notice they have very different track lengths. This is because Old Cabin actually begins where Foliorum Viridum would normally stop on Of Stone, Wind, and Pillor . For those of you used to the later Agalloch sound, the keyboards may come as a shock, as it did to me when I first heard this song, as I had only heard Ashes Against the Grain and then this demo straight after before having heard any of their other albums (that have been released at the time of this review). There is a lovely melancholic piano and keyboard choir arrangement from the moment you hit play, and I think it was a very well done approach especially after the first two metal orientated songs. All the keyboard elements here just add up to an incredibly atmospheric and moving piece of music. I love listening to this a lot, and and with Embers Dress the Sky I find it the most moving and emotionally stiring songs on the demo.

If you include where Old Cabin begins during the Foliorum Viridum track, this is another epic length song. Like The Wilderness, this is a very Gothenburg/Black metal influenced piece. While not an incredible song by any standards, it's still well written song with some great melodies throughout and progresses in an interesting fashion and I feel the album doesn't end on any real bad note.

While I don't think Agalloch had completely found their style yet, I could still hear their unique stamp written on this demo. To me although I feel it's not essential Agalloch, for those that are curious about the beginnings of Agalloch and want to go back further into their history to see how they evolved into the sound they would display later on, it's a good demo to listen to and enjoy.

 I made a factual error in my review which I corrected in my edit above.

And btw, the corrections I made to my Steve Vai:Live At The Astoria review haven't come through yet And I'm hoping that gets corrected sometime soon Obviously if you guys are busy, I don't mind waiting, I just want to make sure my edit comes through