Agalloch - Marrow Of The Spirit (2010)

One of the things I like most about 'Marrow Of The Spirit' is Agalloch's seeming intentional nod to the ethos if not the sound of Cascadian Black Metal, aligning themselves with the spirit of the forests, the mountains, the riverine folds and rushes nestled in and gouged from the earth. Agalloch have always been oriented to a melancholic, pastoral folk metal vibe, but Marrow brings with it a greater sense of chill winds, wildness, lostness and abandonment of self into sublimity. This is a band which has used Caspar David Friedrich paintings as immediate inspiration. I dig how many different modalities and textures of Agalloch warp into their beautiful downer trip. When I saw them in 2014, it felt like seeing Led Zeppelin in the mid-Seventies or something, total Classick Rock Glory. Here, they were going for something at a slightly greater remove or distance, and it totally works.