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oregon based agalloch will release their eagerly anticipated "ashes against the grain" album on august 8th under the "end records" label. check out the track "not unlike the waves" here.

agalloch creates very layered, complex, anthemic, mountainous blends of doomy, melancholy metal using instruments that run the gamut from piano to cello to violin to electric guitar. tempo shifts abound throughout a catalogue of songs that usually last at least seven minutes apiece. haughm's vocals are deliciously haunting and oscillate between black metal growls and soothing, clean vocals.

their previous release, 2002's "the mantle," still consistently finds its way onto my playlists.

while strapping's "city" represents the best album ever recorded for purposes of catharsis, agalloch's music epitomizes the best the metal world has to offer anyone who wants to contemplate life while curled up in front of a fireplace.

its also probably the best music to listen to while having sex as raindrops inexorably pound the earth.