Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

9.2 | 1502 votes |

Release date:	8 August 2006
Style:	Atmospheric black metal, Neofolk
Owners:	1580 have it 137 want it 4 trade it

01. Limbs
02. Falling Snow
03. This White Mountain On Which You Will Die
04. Fire Above, Ice Below
05. Not Unlike The Waves
06. Our Fortress Is Burning... I
07. Our Fortress Is Burning... II - Bloodbirds
08. Our Fortress Is Burning... III - The Grain
09. Scars Of The Shattered Sky (Our Fortress Has Burned To The Ground) [Double LP Vinyl 1000 Copies Limited Edition bonus]

Top 20 albums of 2006: 1
Top 200 albums of all time: 11

Reviews (2)

Lyrics (9)

Line-up
John Haughm - guitars, vocals
Don Anderson - guitars, piano, vocals
Chris Greene - drums
Jason William Walton - bass

Guest musicians
Ronn Chick - piano, ebow

Advertise on Metal Storm

Staff review by
Dream Taster

Rating:
8.9

In today's world of overplayed musical styles and boring sameness, a few bands stand out as innovators. Agalloch from Portland, Oregon is one of those bands. With their unique blend of Doom, Gothic and elements of Death metal, those musicians managed to break through the US scene with the highly-acclaimed album The Mantle back in 2002. The band witnessed the arrival of Chris Greene taking over drumming duties for John Haughm (who remains very busy with guitars and vocals) while the rest of the lineup is still rounded up by Jason William Walton (bass) and Don Anderson (guitars).

Read more ››

published 20.06.2006 | Comments (46)

Guest review by
strade

Rating:
8.0

Agalloch's Ashes Against The Grain. Never have I found another release I love so much yet feel so unsatisfied by. There's so much here, yet it feels as if so much is missing. It's so spot on, but I just don't find it a flawless or even exemplary demonstration of the genre in question. I'd call it the perfect musical embodiment of a love/hate relationship. With that said, however, I must admit that I feel a far greater abundance of the former than the latter.

Read more ››

published 11.03.2012 | Comments (26)

Found in 93 lists
Top lists

Erik M.	My Top 75 Albums Of All Time \| #2 Erik M.
~Starchild~	Hall Of Fame: Top 80 Of All Time \| #2 ~Starchild~
CyberSymphony	Choice Albums Of Atmospheric Metal \| #2 CyberSymphony
Pyramid God	The Epics (Best Songs Over 10 Minutes) \| #28 Pyramid God
saw_you_drown	Classic Metal Albums Of Forever \| #36 saw_you_drown
mz	Mz's Favorite Black Metal Albums \| #4 mz
~Starchild~	The Ultimate Metalgaze/ Ambient/Atmospheric Black Metal + Post Rock/Post Punk List \| #1 ~Starchild~
Starchild	My Favourite Albums Of All Time \| #13 Starchild

More lists with this album (93) | Create a list! ››

Comments page 2 / 2

‹‹ Back to Albums

Comments: 51 Visited by: 2515 users

Hits total: 65904 | This month: 21

Chthonic	Deafkids
Descend Into Despair	An Autumn For Crippled Children

	Neptunian Maximalism Éons
	Emmure Hindsight
	Mushroomhead A Wonderful Life
	OHHMS Close
	Eremit Desert Of Ghouls [EP]
	Behemoth A Forest [EP]
	Al-Namrood Wala'at
	Convocation Ashes Coalesce
	Mrs. Piss Self-Surgery
	Sorcerer Lamenting Of The Innocent

Dima Posts: 1597 From: Australia	19.10.2014 - 02:42 Dima Posts: 1597 From: Australia Written by Guest on 18.10.2014 at 18:41 What is special about this album? I've heard a few seconds of the first song, and the first thing I noticed was that lacks an atmosphere like that of The Mantle, something weird coming from Agalloch. No offense intended. Oh it has an atmosphere alright. A cold one at that. ---- \|A New Power is Rising\| Loading...
Frodd Account deleted	08.12.2014 - 16:06 Frodd Account deleted Worst album ever. Loading...
InnerSelf proofread free Posts: 2619 From: Syria	+1 08.12.2014 - 17:50 Rating: 9 InnerSelf proofread free Posts: 2619 From: Syria Written by Guest on 08.12.2014 at 16:06 Worst album ever. I know, YUCK ... especially that awful song Falling Snow ---- He who is not bold enough to be stared at from across the abyss is not bold enough to stare into it himself. Loading...
Frodd Account deleted	+5 08.12.2014 - 17:53 Frodd Account deleted Written by InnerSelf on 08.12.2014 at 17:50 Written by Guest on 08.12.2014 at 16:06 Worst album ever. I know, YUCK ... especially that awful song Falling Snow eww Falling Snow, i couldnt listen to it more than 160 times. absolutely appalling. Loading...
InnerSelf proofread free Posts: 2619 From: Syria	+1 08.12.2014 - 17:57 Rating: 9 InnerSelf proofread free Posts: 2619 From: Syria Written by Guest on 08.12.2014 at 17:53 eww Falling Snow, i couldnt listen to it more than 160 times. absolutely appalling. I was like: "I should absolutely 8 this", but then I thought it's totally not worthy of an 8. ---- He who is not bold enough to be stared at from across the abyss is not bold enough to stare into it himself. Loading...
Frodd Account deleted	08.12.2014 - 18:01 Frodd Account deleted Written by InnerSelf on 08.12.2014 at 17:57 I was like: "I should absolutely 8 this", but then I thought it's totally not worthy of an 8. i know right? i bet i could make a better album using nothing but this album and john haughm. Loading...
InnerSelf proofread free Posts: 2619 From: Syria	08.12.2014 - 18:06 Rating: 9 InnerSelf proofread free Posts: 2619 From: Syria Written by Guest on 08.12.2014 at 18:01 Written by InnerSelf on 08.12.2014 at 17:57 I was like: "I should absolutely 8 this", but then I thought it's totally not worthy of an 8. i know right? i bet i could make a better album using nothing but this album and john haughm. This band could make use of you as a devoted listener. ---- He who is not bold enough to be stared at from across the abyss is not bold enough to stare into it himself. Loading...
Maco Classless Posts: 3084	29.07.2015 - 08:30 Maco Classless Posts: 3084 Man, I've forgotten how amazing this album is. ---- Never trust a junkie. Loading...
Metren Donkey Hotte Posts: 914 From: Estonia	12.11.2016 - 01:05 Rating: 8 Metren Donkey Hotte Posts: 914 From: Estonia After falling in love with The Mantle, this album truly was a disappointment. It's self-indulgent, all over the place with regard to the musical ideas and just plain boring in the final third. All that by Agalloch's own very high standards of course. It's not all bad or even average, there are plenty of brilliant moments here, but just not enough to make it a masterpiece, which it isn, by a long shot. ---- I am not nor have I ever been a musician or a member of a one-man band, especially a band that has a name that starts with "D". Loading...
Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 50677 From: Norway	+3 28.02.2017 - 01:16 Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 50677 From: Norway Gosh if ppl says its worst album ever, Its like voting for trump something ---- Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!! Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die'' I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing Loading...
Jack_Torrance Posts: 55 From: Germany	+2 17.01.2018 - 16:34 Rating: 10 Jack_Torrance Posts: 55 From: Germany Masterpiece. Loading...
Metren Donkey Hotte Posts: 914 From: Estonia	07.05.2018 - 18:38 Rating: 8 Metren Donkey Hotte Posts: 914 From: Estonia I've come to like this album a lot more this past year. Still not on The Mantle level though, not that many albums are. ---- I am not nor have I ever been a musician or a member of a one-man band, especially a band that has a name that starts with "D". Loading...
Maco Classless Posts: 3084	14.05.2018 - 01:12 Maco Classless Posts: 3084 Written by mz on 19.12.2010 at 11:31 Its one of the best metal albums of all and the first album of agalloch that I heard and I really like our fortress is...(II) Agreed ---- Never trust a junkie. Loading...
DeathMetal Posts: 331 From: Korea, South	04.09.2018 - 03:45 Rating: 8 DeathMetal Posts: 331 From: Korea, South Pretty decent. Loading...
Gothic Metalhead Posts: 10 From: USA	+1 31.12.2019 - 15:34 Rating: 10 Gothic Metalhead Posts: 10 From: USA I really am not a fan of agalloch to listen to their entire discography, but ashes against the grain is the only album I love. Truly a masterpiece of atmospheric black/doom Loading...
Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 50677 From: Norway	31.12.2019 - 15:54 Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 50677 From: Norway Written by Gothic Metalhead on 31.12.2019 at 15:34 I really am not a fan of agalloch to listen to their entire discography, but ashes against the grain is the only album I love. Truly a masterpiece of atmospheric black/doom Then you are weird, one of rare bands what play decent music in each albums ---- Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!! Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die'' I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing Loading...
Paulh Posts: 391	21.05.2020 - 17:08 Rating: 9 Paulh Posts: 391 01. Limbs - 10/10 02. Falling Snow - 10/10 03. This White Mountain On Which You Will Die - N/A 04. Fire Above, Ice Below - 9/10 05. Not Unlike The Waves - 8.5/10 06. Our Fortress Is Burning... I - 8/10 07. Our Fortress Is Burning... II - Bloodbirds - 9.5/10 08. Our Fortress Is Burning... III - The Grain - 8/10 Overall: 9.0/10 Not as strong as The Mantle, but still an excellent album from start to finish. Loading...
musclassia Posts: 1828 From: UK	22.05.2020 - 12:36 Rating: 10 musclassia Posts: 1828 From: UK Written by Paulh on 21.05.2020 at 17:08 01. Limbs - 10/10 02. Falling Snow - 10/10 03. This White Mountain On Which You Will Die - 9.5/10 04. Fire Above, Ice Below - 9/10 05. Not Unlike The Waves - 8.5/10 06. Our Fortress Is Burning... I - 8.5/10 07. Our Fortress Is Burning... II - Bloodbirds - 9.5/10 08. Our Fortress Is Burning... III - The Grain - 8.5/10 Overall: 9.2/10 Not as strong as The Mantle, but still an excellent album from start to finish. I definitely wouldn't rate the 2-minute interlude higher than Fire Above, Ice Below and particularly Not Unlike The Waves, but yeah, I think it's a notch below The Mantle whilst being very special (a 9.5 to The Mantle's 10). The Grain has grown on me over time, to the point where I can now at least appreciate its contribution, but more often than not I finish the album with Bloodbirds Loading...
Paulh Posts: 391	22.05.2020 - 12:40 Rating: 9 Paulh Posts: 391 Written by musclassia on 22.05.2020 at 12:36 Written by Paulh on 21.05.2020 at 17:08 01. Limbs - 10/10 02. Falling Snow - 10/10 03. This White Mountain On Which You Will Die - 9.5/10 04. Fire Above, Ice Below - 9/10 05. Not Unlike The Waves - 8.5/10 06. Our Fortress Is Burning... I - 8.5/10 07. Our Fortress Is Burning... II - Bloodbirds - 9.5/10 08. Our Fortress Is Burning... III - The Grain - 8.5/10 Overall: 9.2/10 Not as strong as The Mantle, but still an excellent album from start to finish. I definitely wouldn't rate the 2-minute interlude higher than Fire Above, Ice Below and particularly Not Unlike The Waves, but yeah, I think it's a notch below The Mantle whilst being very special (a 9.5 to The Mantle's 10). The Grain has grown on me over time, to the point where I can now at least appreciate its contribution, but more often than not I finish the album with Bloodbirds It's quite difficult to rate intros, outros and interludes. I try and rate them on their own merit (I think TWMOWYWD works very well at creating atmosphere). I would say that it does a better job of creating atmosphere as an interlude than FA,IB does at being an engaging song, but that's just my opinion Loading...
RaduP CertifiedHipster Posts: 4032 From: Romania	22.05.2020 - 12:42 RaduP CertifiedHipster Posts: 4032 From: Romania Written by musclassia on 22.05.2020 at 12:36 more often than not I finish the album with Bloodbirds Disgusting ---- - I've dreamt of that for years. - Dying? - Running. 2020 goodies Loading...
musclassia Posts: 1828 From: UK	+1 22.05.2020 - 13:04 Rating: 10 musclassia Posts: 1828 From: UK Written by RaduP on 22.05.2020 at 12:42 Written by musclassia on 22.05.2020 at 12:36 more often than not I finish the album with Bloodbirds Disgusting Some days, I just can't be arsed to listen to a full 7 minutes of guitar noise, and I make no apologies for that Loading...