THE MANTLE

As long as you don't approach this expecting a metal album (or if you do and you're open-minded), this is a beautiful album. Just sit and listen without thinking about when the song is going to end, or when the "interesting bit" is coming, and you will enjoy this album.

It''s very slow and has a lot of purely instrumental sections, but it packs a huge amount of atmosphere and a melancholy beauty inspired by nature (I think). Strangely, The Mantle is also quite a powerful album and even catchy at some points.

I have not given this album the full five stars only because there are a few truly boring tracks, but who says you have to listen to them?

With this album, Agalloch are very close to perfecting their unique style of music. This is well worth a try.

The best tracks, in my opinion, are: In the Shadow of Our Pale Companion Odal (purely instrumental)