Agalloch

Starting out as black metal, Agalloch drifts towards folk metal, to which they inject a healthy dose of experimental rock. The band from Portland (Oregon) not only flaunt their ambition, they clearly give themselves the means to achieve it, and succeed in building a coherent body of work. 1999's Pale Folklore laid the foundations for the Agalloch style, while 2002's The Mantle brought the Agalloch phenomenon to the attention of the press. 2006's Ashes Against the Grain offered a fresh dose of the Agalloch sound, before 2008's The Demonstration Archive gave fans access to pre-Pale Folklore material. In 2011, Marrow of the Spirit, a six-track, mostly long-playing album, reminds us that Agalloch is a force to be reckoned with.