''Marrow of the Spirit'' is the fourth studio album by American

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

band

Agalloch Agalloch () was an American extreme metal band from Portland, Oregon. Formed in 1995 by frontman John Haughm, they released five full-length albums, four EPs, two singles, one split single, two demos, four compilation albums and one live video ...

, released on November 23, 2010.

Production

''Marrow of the Spirit'' marked a change in record labels for Agalloch. Their first three albums and EPs were released by

The End Records The End Records is a record label in Manhattan that specializes in rock, heavy metal, indie, and electronic music. Early years (1998–2005) The End Records was founded by Andreas Katsambas in Pasadena, California, with the goal of helping sm ...

, but after their contract was completed with the release of ''

Ashes Against the Grain ''Ashes Against the Grain'' is the third album by American metal band Agalloch, released by The End Records four years after the critically acclaimed ''The Mantle''. It has been described as incorporating post-metal, folk metal and black metal. ...

'' in 2006, the band opted not to renew it. ''Marrow of the Spirit'' was released by

Profound Lore Records Profound Lore Records is a Canadian independent record label founded in May 2004, which "began as the 'hobby-like venture' of a few friends but, over the past six years, the label has evolved into a one-man enterprise, shaped a distinct 'aestheti ...

, which had also released the first two Agalloch albums on vinyl in 2005. It was the first album to feature

Aesop Dekker Aesop Dekker (born October 1, 1970) is an American musician. He is best known for being the drummer of the bands Hickey, Ludicra, Agalloch Agalloch () was an American extreme metal band from Portland, Oregon. Formed in 1995 by frontman John ...

(of

Ludicra Ludicra is an American heavy metal band from San Francisco. They originally formed in 1998 as a quartet and later expanded to five members. In 2011, the band announced on their official website that they had disbanded,Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

with Steven Wray Lobdell producing.

Release

On October 29, 2010, the track "The Watcher's Monolith" was released on the music website

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...

, accompanied by an interview with

John Haughm John Haughm (born September 14, 1975) is a musician and artist from the United States. He is most known for being the founder, guitarist, and vocalist of the band Agalloch, and later Pillorian. He is also a designer who has created packaging and ...

. The track "Ghosts of the Midwinter Fires" was released on November 1. The full album was released on November 23, 2010.

Reception

The album was named one of

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

's Top 50 albums of 2010 and listed at No. 1 on ''

Decibel The decibel (symbol: dB) is a relative unit of measurement equal to one tenth of a bel (B). It expresses the ratio of two values of a power or root-power quantity on a logarithmic scale. Two signals whose levels differ by one decibel have a po ...

'''s list of the 40 best albums of 2010. ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' listed ''Marrow of the Spirit'' as the best metal album of 2010.

Track listing

Personnel

;Agalloch *

– vocals, acoustic and electric guitars *Don Anderson – acoustic and electric guitars *Jason William Walton – bass *

– drums ;Guest musicians *Jackie Perez Gratz – cello on "They Escaped the Weight of Darkness" and "To Drown" *Steven Wray Lobdell – backing vocals on "The Watcher's Monolith" *Jeffrey Neblock –

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

on "The Watcher's Monolith" and field recordings on "They Escaped the Weight of Darkness", "The Watcher's Monolith", "Black Lake Niðstång" and "To Drown" *Nathan Carson – Moog MG-1, Moog Opus-3,

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...

and

glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone. The glo ...

on "Black Lake Niðstång" *Veleda Thorsson – petrified bone, glass and metal sheet percussion on "To Drown""Marrow of the Spirit" CD ;Artwork *Mark Thompson – cover art *Veleda Thorsson – photography *John Haughm – design

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marrow of the Spirit 2010 albums Agalloch albums Profound Lore Records albums