HYLI Vol. XLVII - Agalloch and Iceage
Andy sends Patrick some PNW black-metal and Patrick sends Andy some Danish indie-rock.
During the Thanksgiving holiday I (Andy, Patrick doesn’t have friends) met a friend of a friend of a friend who played in a metal band so, obviously, we talked. It was fun to chat with someone about some of these bands that I was a fan of where I’d never met another person who had heard of them. Even if we just name-dropped bands for 10 minutes and went “yeah I love them!” Basically, I don’t (if ever) get to really do that, so that was fun. Shout-out to Mitch.
This will be the last “normal” week of 2022. We have a few fun year-end things planned which we will get to next week. We hope you like them.
Agalloch - Marrow of the Spirit
Andy: I’m breaking a bit from the mold and recommending an album by a band that I know Patrick is familiar with but an album he missed because he was too busy working at Paper + Plastick listening to The Menzingers or whatever (Patrick: this album came out before I moved to Florida, thanks, also did you confuse me for our friend Thomas). I love Agalloch. If you’ve been friends with me for more than 10 minutes I make you listen to The Mantle. I truly believe it is one of the best albums ever written, regardless of genre. It is necessary for my personal brand for Agalloch to have some sort of mention in this newsletter. So I’m sneaking it in by making him listen to 2010’s Marrow of the Spirit, an album of theirs doesn’t know.
A classic-sounding Agalloch record, it was recorded entirely on vintage analog equipment, because why not. Like other albums, there is an underlying feral vibe on the whole thing. Really encapsulating that stereotype of “walking in a snowy wood listen to black metal” vibe. They’ve always been great at building a cold atmosphere (Patrick: I agree with this).
I’m not apologizing for the length of this album (Patrick: good for you, man). Six songs and it’s over an hour long, whatever, who cares. It is fine because you get songs like “Black Lake Niðstång” which is nothing short of a 17-minute masterpiece. It is funny that Agalloch fans consider this to be their weakest album but still give it 4.5/5.
I can either write you a novel about why Agalloch is great or I can simply say “Agalloch is great, trust me” and we can all move on with our lives. I am convinced anyone can find some sort of enjoyment in one of their records, regardless of genre preference. If you’ve never listened to them I beg you to give any of their albums a chance (The Mantle if I get to pick.) They rule. Hope You Like It.
Patrick: Yeah, I loved this. As Andy stated, this is cheating a bit, because I love The Mantle and love The Serpent & the Sphere already, but for whatever reason, Marrow of the Spirit is a blindspot for me. So perhaps it’s a bit predictable that I love this, but I’m allowed to be predictable, who gives a shit.
This band mixes so many sounds together so well. “Into the Painted Gray” is a pretty straightforward black metal tune: we got some blast beats, some moments of quiet, and some discordant but pretty guitars, along with a little goblin man shriek. Classic stuff. “The Watcher’s Monolith,” mixes in some guitar solos that feel akin to other metal genres, specifically stuff bordering on thrash. “Black Lake Niostang” mixes in acoustic guitars in a way that I’m told is a common move but is something that I feel like Agalloch does better than most. At the risk of being crucified by Andy, the little guitar riff that opens “Ghosts of the Midwinter Fires” almost recalls U2 with the slightly chorus-tone and dotted eighth delay (sup guitar nerds) (Andy: what the fuck are you talking about).
The song lengths can seem a bit oppressive on paper (one track here is longer than most Joyce Manor albums) but throughout listening, I never really felt the length. There are moments of experimentation that weren’t really present on the other albums (very good albums) by this band that I’ve heard before that kept me interested, even when songs bordered on 20 minutes in length. My one note is the first track on this album features only strings and the sound of a babbling brook. Get a life.
Iceage - Beyondless
Patrick: Iceage fucking rocks me. One of my favorite bands to come about in the last decade. The early punk/bordering on hardcore stuff was so exciting and full of aggression, while not being, like, Nails or whatever (Andy: really selling me here…) And then around 2014’s Plowing into the Field of Love and through last year’s Seek Shelter, the band added a new element of one form of indie rock or another to their sound that made each new album exciting. Plowing incorporated elements of Nick Cave into the sound and Seek Shelter had gospel-infused post-punk creeping in at times, which makes sense given a member of Spacemen 3 produced it.
But 2018’s Beyondless is my favorite by the band, and it isn’t particularly close. I remember back in the early part of the last decade, the band The Men pulled a relatively similar move as Iceage did here, where a capital P Punk band brought in influences of Tom Petty and the Rolling Stones but, outside of a track or two, it seemed a bit like an act, to me. It doesn’t seem like an act here. It seems more genuine, like the kids in this band hit 25 and decided to start embracing classic rock instead of rebelling against it.
The title track here is a great encapsulation of this. The strings and horns that score the chorus recall all my favorite moments of Exile on Main Street and the vocals from Elias Rønnenfelt feel almost like Gram Parsons with the melancholic delivery at times. But then tunes like “Painkiller” and “Hurrah” are total burners with endless energy. I love this album so much. “Plead the Fifth” is the closest thing to capturing Iggy Pop’s energy on The Passenger that I can recall recently. When they get to the stomp-clap-type chorus beat, it feels like something that should be the soundtrack to every bar fight movie scene. Crank the windows down and blast this shit, brother. Hope You Like It.
Andy: I gotta say, I was pretty shocked when I learned that these guys are (used to be?) considered hardcore punk because they sounded nothing of the sort (Patrick: no one considers them that anymore, that’s like three whole albums ago). It sounds a bit to me like old guys who are into rock and roll but wanted to try their hand at a punk record (Patrick: the singer of this band is younger than both of us lol). After reading Pat’s intro I guess I was on the right track a bit. None of this was bad but it felt restrained. Like, they could have gone hard but made a conscious decision to not go hard (idk why anyone would ever do that but now isn’t the time.)
“Hurrah” is a great album opener. Really slaps. I noticed that metal bands tend to not start with a banger but non-metal bands like to. “Pain Killer” was fun even though anytime I hear that word in a song I instantly think of the Judas Priest song. “Showtime” is a fun one. Vocals tended to be hit or miss for me, depending on my mood. Most of these songs are enjoyable in some fashion but still lack the “it” factor for me.
I think I’m ready to finally admit that the tambourine is a trash instrument (Patrick: ?). I cannot think of one scenario where it has improved a song and not detracted from it. “The Day The Music Dies” is the day anyone uses a tambourine. Grow up and use an Elk skull like the boys in Agalloch.
I enjoyed this but still felt like it was just missing something for me to truly love it. I wonder if I go back and listen to their earlier stuff if I’d connect a bit more. I Enjoyed It.