2026 Anniversary Series 090: Agalloch – Ashes Against the Grain

Scribed by Sandre the Giant Released: 8th August 2006 Agalloch are a band who I can honestly say completely changed my outlook on just what metal music could be in 2006, when I first heard their incredible ‘Ashes Against the Grain’ album. Their name apparently came from the resinous wood of the agarwood tree, when frontman John Haughm found it while looking for a word that invoked ‘the aesthetic of woodsmoke on a winter’s night’. If there was ever a band whose sound encapsulated their name more than this, I’d be surprised. Agalloch’s early work was more black metal, while had drifted more into acoustic neofolk influenced black metal on previous records, including the incredible post rock/black metal of ‘The Mantle’ from 2002, but the metal elements returned with a vengeance, loosening the influence of post rock, in 2006 on ‘Ashes Against the Grain. This is the album I discovered Agalloch on, and it has been one that has consistently haunted my dreams ever since. I could tell from the…