One of the Better Times of My Life

As I'd mentioned, Tom M, Matt and I made the trek to London by train last Thursday, March 26th, to see Portland, Oregon's Agalloch at the Camden Underworld. I first discovered the band from recommendations and praises from friends back home. In the fall of freshman year, I picked up their then-newest release, 2006's Ashes Against The Grain, and was blown away by the cold atmospheres, brilliant melodies, tasteful composition and the mixture of various genres I enjoyed. This band's sound harnesses the power of the natural environments of the Pacific Northwest. I can listen to them anywhere and teleport my mind home.

I discovered a few months ago that my buddy Aesop-- who I know from the music download blogosophere for his amazing, varied blog Cosmic Hearse (WARNING: NOT NECESSARILY SAFE FOR WORK) has been drumming for the band for over year and is a permanent member at present. He was down to hang out and talk music, and I was stoked because the guy seriously has an encyclopedic knowledge of most genres I enjoy, be it death metal or obscure '70s rock. Add to this that Fen, whose new album The Malediction Fields is already in my top albums of the year, were opening, and the show quickly became the most excited I'd been since seeing Carcass' first US reunion tour last September.

Tom unfortunately forgot his ticket for the show at the guys' flat, so he had to catch the train after Matt and I. Once we arrived at Camden Town after tubing their from Liverpool Street, Matt and I dropped our stuff off at a hostel he'd booked, only a few blocks from the venue. After that? FALAFEL! There's a really good falafel place situated right next to the Camden Underworld, and I indulged for my first of three times in less than 24 hours.

I converted Matt, too.

Happy boy.

Eventually, we met up with Tom and got in line a little late for my liking...and as a result we-- and many other people-- missed a hefty chunk of Fen's set. I met up with Aesop and had just begun to converse when I realized Fen were playing and apologized for having to cut things short. "Go, go!" he chuckled. "We'll talk, man."

The last two songs I caught of Fen's were fantastic. The stage at the Underworld is pretty small and the venue, while not too cramped, is plenty intimate. Good sound for all bands throughout the night, and Fen were playing tightly.

Fen's The Watcher.

Next up were the German Dornenreich ("realm of thorns"), who sounded remarkably full for only being a trio of guitar/vocals, violin and drums. The drummer did some great off-time/folky stuff too.

Dornenreich: German for "muscular posing with awkard facial expressions."

Then, the moment Matt, Tom, myself and several hundred others were waiting for. Agalloch, being not only humble but also on a shoestring budget and touring minimally to acommodate guitarist Don Anderson's collegiate teaching job, had no roadies and set up the entirety of their gear before performing. Oh man. I was cautiously optimistic, especially after reading the reviews on the TrueMetalSeattle forums and the band members themselves openly admitting they don't have much time to rehearse (presently, they all live in different states!). So I remained positive, but wasn't holding my breath.

Then Jason Walton hit the fog machine, John Haughm (vocals/guitars) looped guitar drones and lit incense at the front of the stage, and the band ripped into a chronological set beginning with "Hallways of Enchanted Ebony," from their debut record Pale Folklore. And then "As Embers Dress the Sky." They didn't miss a beat. Aesop slammed. Jason pedaled bass notes steadily kept it all steady and together. Don was incredibly energetic and nailed his leads. And despite internet rabble about his live vocal struggles, Haughm's singing was one-hundred-percent SPOT ON, clean and growled alike. So you can imagine the excitement when he announced the next song in the set was "In the Shadow of Our Pale Companion," from their second record, The Mantle, which is some of the band's best and most epic songwriting. They went straight into "I Am the Wooden Doors," from there, then once again looped guitar drones and quickly switched axes to play the drop-tuned Ashes Against the Grain stuff-- "Not Unlike the Waves," "Limbs," and "Bloodbirds," then returning to The Mantle for an encore of "The Lodge."

This shot pretty adequately represents the crowd response throughout the night.

But the fun didn't stop there. Long after the audience had filed out, I got falafel again and met up with Aesop and Jason outside. When the band went to go to a pub with a few other friends and The Watcher from Fen, Aesop beckoned us to come with him. After much wondering, the group of us settled on a rock bar. I had some great conversations and laughs with Don, Jason and Aesop.

Aesop and myself: blog buddies!

A stoked Don, a satisfied Asa, and an uncharacteristically
gruff-looking Jason.

I briefly conversed with Haughm as we all walked back toward the Underworld for the band's bus curfew. He proved to be just as down to earth as the other members and told me about a zine he'd done the design work for. It turned out Aesop had a spare copy with him and he gave it to me. Awesome. Haughm's work with earthy tones never fails, whether in zine form or in Agalloch's record art.

All in all, one of the best music-related experiences I've ever had. Thanks to the Agalloch dudes for not only being fantastic musicans, but also kind people.