No way, Ashes Against the Grain? I'm really looking forward to listening to one of my all time favorite albums with you!

This was my introduction to Agalloch and is to this day still my fav album, much because of it being the first. Probably with Falling Snow as the best song here. As you said: "Phenomenal!"

@probie2460

2 жыл бұрын

The Mantle will always be my favorite album of all time for the same reason. I missed them when they were together but so happy to have found them.

I hold this album dearly to my heart since I believe it was my introduction to those atmospheric black metal/post-metal territories. The atmosphere and musicianship are just *chef's kiss*. The whole "album experience" is also superb; listening to this in its entirety in one sitting is so natural. I don't want to ramble further about why It's my favorite record of all time. I'm just glad you've enjoyed experiencing it and giving your shot at an analysis! I really liked the idea of changing musical ideas within the same style; it deeply intrigued me. From now on, the idea of Fire Above, Ice Below being a western song will not leave my mind haha.

"not Unlike the Waves" is one of my top songs by them. The snare has to be my favorite snare tone of all time.

@chrisss3749

Жыл бұрын

Definitely! It really makes me picture myself at the bow of a ship 🚢 on stormy seas.

Not Unlike the Waves is referring to the aurora borealis (the northern light)

Fire Above, Ice Below is still one of my favourite songs of theirs.

@noahforman3349

2 жыл бұрын

mine too, I think

@dmytrodanilov9334

4 ай бұрын

and mine

This album is perfect to listen to when going on a road trip, really good album next to The Mantle

This is a pretty nice experiment, especially since it's an album I really like. Curious that whoever picked this went for this one and not The Mantle, though. This one is definitely more refined in touches, especially the drums ( the singer used to do them in the previous album and while competent, you could see he lacked that most of what he did was just one step above the bare acceptable minimum), but the Mantle works best as an album as opposed to a collection of songs and is clearly structured like one interconnected musical piece, with some leitmotivs popping up. They spice up the instrumentation a bit in places, with cello, accordian and mandolin being used in places. But I may just have a softer spot for that one, it was where I really locked in with the band.

@Kalmo_

2 жыл бұрын

Same sentiment here. While this album is great The Mantle to me had much more emotion both musically and lyrically with maybe a lesser amount of technicality. As you said, an interconnected musical piece as opposed to a collection of songs. Ashes Against The Grain is still an excellent pick to do one of these full album reviews for sure.

Your channel is one of my new faborite things to listen to at work because I get to hear some of my favorite songs/albums without a bunch of pausing like other react channels and with actually thoughtful analysis about the music interspersed. Thank you!

@jordahnnelson9926

7 ай бұрын

Also a little note about the vocals, so many people I know that otherwise enjoy this style of black metal write Agalloch off for the vocals but I think they give it a lot of character. They're just slightly off sounding and I think it really adds to the somewhat otherworldly cold earthy atmosphere of their music!

@CriticalReactions

7 ай бұрын

Glad to hear!

Oh awesome! I got so many nostalgic memories with this album from my teenage years. Still, now I think the Mantle is their best

@probie2460

2 жыл бұрын

The Mantle certainly is their masterpiece.

Oh man so happy to see this. I, with luck, got this on vinyl. Still needing The Mantle - which you should absolutely do, man haha. Great vid!

Fuck yes. Masterpiece.

Really glad you reacted to this album. Ashes Against the Grain is by far my favorite album of all time. Such a unique album full of powerful emotional passages that have stuck with me since I was a kid. This album really opened my eyes to metal as a genre and shaped my taste in music.

Absolutely love this full album initiative. Absolutely love this album too. Great work!

Hi Bryan ! just stumbled on your channel but really intreged by your perspective as a composer . You did a great job in communicating your thoughts to not so well versed individual . :)

One of the best post black metal albums ever. Perfect for cold winter season. It's funny how American band sound so Nordic :D. Love every second of this album. It's an amazing journey.

Was lucky to see these guys live once and they were amazing. Their drummer used to blog a lot about obscure music and that's how I discovered a lot of interesting music.

really like your in-depth analysis and general curiosity

She Painted Fire across the Sky made me fall in love

Really love this format. Very easily linked throughout, I love the breakups between initial song reactions to thematic analysis. I enjoy your talking over the music rather than the constant pauses (which I do understand as well). Regarding the album choice, this may be my favorite album ever. It changes sometimes, but this one is always on the shortlist. You put it well when you mentioned how calm and uplifting it is, despite the post-Metal and black metal elements, which are often in opposition to hope and calm. This is my first video of yours, so I haven’t looked through your catalog and you may have already chosen one of these, but I’d love to see a similar breakdown of a Neurosis or Isis album. Found a new subscriber in me!

Love full album reactions. Would love to see you do a reaction/analysis to The Ocean - Pelagial.

@ProgPro96

2 жыл бұрын

Now that would be a good reaction

@ryanm.7147

2 жыл бұрын

Yes 17 times

@CriticalReactions

2 жыл бұрын

It's in the current list so it'll probably happen in the next month or two.

@juhaloukaja5078

2 жыл бұрын

Holy shit, YES! This has to happen :)

I enjoyed this, especially the middle section and the song Not Unlike the Waves. I listened to the entire video but I did take a break right before that song and even listened to it twice. I look forward to more albums reviews. It didn't feel like 2 hours.

@CriticalReactions

2 жыл бұрын

I'll be honestly surprised to see a high number of people watching these all the way through. I watch some 2+ hour KZread content here and there and I typically break it up into shorter sessions. But I'll agree about it not feeling like 2 hours. I was a bit hesitant getting around to recording it since I knew it was gonna be a long one but honestly I was done before I knew it. :)

I found your channel few days back 😁 Agalloch has a huge impact on my life for last 15 years. Even have a tattoo inspired by their music. Thanks for reviewing them. I will listen with you again mate ❤️

Oh man, I'm excited for this! I always find people's thoughts on albums more interesting because sometimes context really changes how you feel about the music

I'm early on in the video but I'm really enjoying seeing your genuine pleasure at discovering one of my all time favorite albums

John Haughms vocals take some getting used to, definitely unique

Agalloch was my introduction to black metal as a whole, I heard Limbs and Falling Snow on Pandora radio back around 2011 and it was my first time hearing anything like that. All these years later and I still haven't found many bands that give me the same feeling Agalloch does, I don't know if it's just from nostalgia or if their atmosphere really is that unique. And this album in particular stands out to me among Agalloch's discography. It's my favorite of theirs and I was very happy to see that it was the one that got picked. Their other albums are a lot more folky and have a lot more post-rock influence.

This is awesome, i already enjoyed sitting with you through the godspeed you black emperor stuff! Keep ist up! :) I recommended Oceansize‘s Frames already, thats a must! (If its a no-go since you know one track, then try everyone into position)

i love the structure of your reactions. when others react to albums they let the whole thing play and then analyse it. you're not afraid of pausing music and telling your instant thought

This review and analysis was perfectly done. Well done

@CriticalReactions

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! This is going to be a regular format and I'm glad I'm getting the foundational elements correct right from the start.

It's really nice to see someone actually taking so me time to listen to this great album and dissecting it! I listening to Agalloch while studying and it's, indeed, very relaxing

One of my top albums of all time!❤ so good to see it being reviewed, good job man!

Great! Some albums just need to be heard from beginning to the end to be appreciated. Looking forward to some gems in this series :) New Cult o Luna would fit in there too much more than any particular song reaction... if you are not overwhelmed with them yet ;)

One of my favorite albums ever together with their Mantle album. They're both masterpieces! glad you checked it out

Great album, happy to see you’re doing full albums. May I unashamedly recommend the new Cult of Luna album, the Long Road North, for the next one

Hi, just came across your videos and I really enjoy them. You said in the Burzum video review that you dig the music but was somewhat put off by the lyrics or lyrical themes and ideals of varg (understandable) and you would like to hear similar music with more comfortable lyrics. There is a lot of bands I could probably mention but I would suggest you check out Austere from Australia. Tim Yatras is the main composer and I feel is a brilliant musician. Also I'm from Australia and really like to expose the ever growing talent coming from here in a European dominated genre. Cheers!

Act 4 or 5 by the dear hunter and dream theaters scene from a memory please:) i wasn't watching ur channel consistently but if you do album reactions i will because when im discovering new music i usually listen the album

YES!

This one for sure is one of my all-time favorites, such a masterpiece. Most often people refer to The Mantle as their best work, but this one surely is up there with it. When it comes to the lyrics, the frequent recurrence of the "birds" theme is allegedly a reference to a movie (The Holy Mountain, a mexican surrealist movie). At the same time, I think looking for the story in these lyrics may be futile, I feel they serve purely to paint an emotional picture.

@noahforman3349

2 жыл бұрын

I prefer this to The Mantle, even though on paper The Mantle with its folk/acoustic/nature/woods style should be more appealing, since that's what I'm normally into, but I just think the songwriting on this is perfect.

I got to see agalloch live in germany last month and the last song they played was our fortress is burning pt3, it was awesome

This album has always had a strange nostalgic feel for me, even back when it first came out. I still remember listening to it none stop. It's a really beautiful album

I remember buying this at my local Hot Topic - after I heard "Falling Snow" - way back in 2006-7 ish from a college radio show I used to listen to. Solid!

What you say about the black and white nature of the music is definitely how I view the last track - feels like a living, surround sound version of that black and white digital fuzz old TV sets would get. I love your take on it representing the fading mind. It’s a song I used to skip but listening to it here I might actually feel that song more than the rest of the album (well, except Bloodbirds which is glorious).

Hell yea one of my favorite albums

give you some variants: the mars volta - frances the mutte the mars volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium tiamat - a diper kind of slumber my dying bride - the dreadful hourse agalloche - mantle lowrider - refraction lowrider - an ode to io system of a down - steel this album tool - all albums deftones - white pony korn - first albums one minute silence - one lie fits all isis - panopticon

You are an absolute legend. Absolute legend. This is one of my favorite albums of all time. The first time I heard Limbs I knew that that was it, I'll enter a trance for the rest of the album :)

Agalloch created two of the most cathartic albums. The mantle and ashes give me an almost religious experience every time I listen. Check out Harakiri for the sky, Alcest, and fen if you dig these guys.

One the best emotional black metal albums. Thanks to react !

Not Unlike the Waves is about the Aurora Borealis. Take note of the word "Solstafir" which IIRC means "radiant sunlight" in Icelandic. It's pretty straightforward: You get up to 6 months of nighttime/winter further up North. The only sunlight to be seen is in the Aurora (which requires stored sunlight particles to "work"). I think the song is about the yearning for daylight in the long, harsh winter months, with the Aurora Borealis giving hope in the otherwise cold and dark night.

Favorite album from them. What a masterpiece!

Bloodbirds is one of my favourites of all time

Damn I wasn't familiar with aggaloch's sound. Such a beautiful album, thank you for introducing me to this band.

I love this album so much.

This was such a joy to watch.

I'm going to make a 4 hour video of reacting to this video 🤔Look forward to seeing more album reviews 👌

Loved this video! I would LOVE to see you do Marrow of the Spirit. It's such an amazing album. Completely different style than this album but musicianship and progression is A1. It's not as polished as other albums because of a situation with the producer, but it adds to the raw, emotional, melancholic adventure of an album. Masterpiece. Edit: 2:08:45 No this is not a concept album in that sense, Agalloch are absolute masters of progressive, atmospheric albums that capture your emotions and take you on a journey. Also, I LOVED this format! I really enjoy the long form reaction. Please keep this format as long as youtube isn't messing with it!

@CriticalReactions

2 жыл бұрын

Interesting that it isn't a concept album but can be viewed as a linear journey. Really interest way to create an album.

Hell yeah!

Wow Agalloch full album reaction great. I'll leave some suggestions for full album reactions (all from norwegian bands): Fleurety- Min Tid Skal Komme 1995 album (avant-garde, post-black); Ved Buens Ende- Written in Waters 1995 album (avant-garde black metal); In the Woods- Omnio 1997 album (avant-garde, progressive); Arcturus- La Masquerade Infernale 1997 album (Symphonic, post-black, avant-garde).

Wonderful analysis. You earned my sub for sure. Take a break then please do this for their masterpiece: The Mantle. Be careful about being critical of it because Many consider it near perfect. Can't wait...

@cmillspa1

2 жыл бұрын

Eh, critiques are more interesting than a 2 hour gush session. Seems like he’s pretty good at balancing positive and critical takes on things.

i love the contrast of quiet acoustic vs noisewall and growling

OMYGOD is this real? This album is an absolute favourite of mine, probably the one "I'd take on a desert island". Masterpiece

In my top 3 bands of all time personally

Also I really liked the structure of this video, I think the more popular albums will get blocked (Mastodon, BTBAM etc) because they're on big record labels but I'm not surprised that this album didn't get blocked.

@CriticalReactions

2 жыл бұрын

Awesome! I'm glad this structure is working. As for blocked albums, that's sadly going to happen but I'll try the usual tricks and if nothing else I'll do the [BLOCKED] videos like I do with the Livestreams. Not ideal but better than nothing.

Agalloch is a perfect choice for people looking to get into black metal, this is awesome that you’re reacting to this entire album!

Some powerful memories associated with this album. I remember I just broke up with my girlfriend at the time and was moving. It was January, I put this CD on and drove to my new place as Limbs opened up. Good times.

I do think when they talk about the grain of the shattered sky they mean more textual, like a wood grain.

This came out in early 2000, I think? Had just finished college at the time … memories. 🥴

A masterpice!

Probably listened to this over 100 times, but never once made it through the final song (even this time). lol. I don't know what the heck was going on there. I love this album, but I think it loses something when you listen to it in "analytical" mode vs "experiencing it" mode. Though I suppose that's true with most albums

She Painted Fire across the Sky brought me in

Agalloch - Faustian Echoes, maybe later? c:

It's insane to ne that you actually did this over 'The Mantle' even though I like Ashes better everyone seems to stan 'The Mantle' too hard wo I never thought I'd see this! Awesome man

Also, we synthesise vitamin D from sunlight 😂😂 I interpreted ashes against the grain being humans have stepped away from their nature and the worship of nature. The end result being the god of man failing, their fortress burning and in the process of going against the grain, we became ashes against the grain.

The lyrics can seem quite cryptic on this album. Without context you're basically lost and the only context you get on the whole album is the very last line "All of our shadows are ashes against the grain". Their album "The Mantle" (which is the predecessor to this album) provides more context on the overall beliefs and views of the author which puts this album into context. Respecting nature and pantheism is a big theme for this band and it bleeds through almost every single one of their lyrics, but you can really only spot it if you know. That said, I'm still not 100% sure what its about. I propose the fortress is a metaphor for civilization that is bound to fail because humanity's gods are bad at making sure people live in peace. That god could be a specific one or any god, or even a metaphor for money, greed and power. Either way, the author believes this way of life will kill us all and return us to ashes that will be used to fertilize the fields of a more natural and peaceful people. At least that's my take.

@nhatquangpham1593

2 жыл бұрын

You said exactly what I want to say. Not saying it's the only true way to interpret this album but I always understand it like that

You should do odyssey to the west by slice the cake now

The 8th track III The Grain it's the end of all things the end of everything. An intergalactic war at his final moment that ends with all existences. The end of light the end of energy the end of matter. It's total annihilation. It's the best music I have ever heard in my life.

Your comments about the music seeming oppressive but not actually being oppressive when you look closer, are interesting. Given a big theme in Agalloch's music is nature, it makes sense. Nature seems impressive and brutally unforgiving to the outsider, but nature isn't. Nature just is objective, and it's up to you to learn to survive in it.

best album ever

Oh man i adore Agalloch, especially this album and more so The Mantle, but youve already heard the best song off of there so i understand choosing this one instead Anyways, i hope one of your next album reviews could be Citadel from Ne Obliviscaris, since as far as i know youve only heard songs from Portal of I, which is in my opinion not quite as godlike as Citadel

You shold listen to Vinterland from 95 I think

Are you Canadian?

the album was dedicated to a friend of Agalloch who have died.

I can understand your confusion with the birds metaphor, a lot of it is religious allegory.

Shame it didn't also feature scars of the shattered sky

@CriticalReactions

2 жыл бұрын

Did I miss a song or was the a bonus track?

Vitamin D….important for fighting viruses, like COVID-19 🦠

I think you were trying to reach so far that you missed the fact that it's quite literal. Our fortress is burning is literally the forest. Nature. "The grain" is smoke. The shadows we cast on the world are ashes against the grain (we are dust in the wind). Really digging your videos so far. It bothers me so much watching people react or analyze something and pausing in the middle of a song. I really appreciate that you don't do that.

@CriticalReactions

2 жыл бұрын

I know some people get upset at me for occasionally talking over the song but to me that's better than pausing, which ruins flow, momentum, and atmosphere. Even if it's a short pause my experience is going to be changed. Taking this album as an example, there are a lot of moments that are meant to be overwhelming and to stop that and allow myself to breathe is taking the entire emotion away from the art. You can go all the way back to my first reaction, I let the song go all the way though. It's an opinion I've held onto firmly from the start. As for the lyrical interpretation, yeah I missed that one. Thanks for pointing that out to me.

When you didn't even read the title of the video but just click because Agalloch album cover and then start to wonder why video is over 2 hours long. Apparently not a single track reaction XD Edit: And just to mention I prefer The Mantle eventhough both are masterpieces