Agalloch - Whitedivisiongrey (2011)

Released in early 2011 and limited to just 500 copies, 'Whitedivisiongrey,' the two disc compilation from Agalloch essentially serves as a re-release of two old EPs titled, 'The Grey' & 'The White.' Personally I own both of these EPs and bought them when they were originally released in '04 and '08, but the appealing digibook edition, which also came with some exclusive bonus tracks was hard to resist.

'The Isle of Summer' kicks off 'The White' in style with lightly strummed melodic acoustic guitars alongside some brief electric guitar as well. 'Birch Black' is one of the strongest songs on this EP with hastily plucked acoustic guitars and invigorating electric guitar and heavy bass, plus with percussion assistance from Markus Wolff of Waldteufel, while 'Hollow Stone' is highly atmospheric and cold sounding ambient piece. 'Panthiest' is similar to the opener although this particular song features some non-word vocals and is considerably longer as it slowly builds to epic proportions over its seven minute length.

'Birch White' is a very simple and straightforward neo folk song very much in the vein of Of the Wand and the Moon. The whispery vocals, warm acoustic guitars and accordion make this a real treasure to be hold even if it is typical of the genre. 'Sowilo Rune' is truly the highlight of this EP however with its beautiful melodious acoustic guitars, heartbreaking piano and light synth work. John Haughm whispers lightly over the music in the beginning, but his vocals fade quickly as the melancholy and beauty wash tragically over you, whilst, 'Summerisle Reprise,' which is basically the first song, but just played on a piano instead of acoustic guitars closes out the original EP. There's also an assortment of samples from 'The Wicker Man' spread throughout the EP too, which eventually lead me to buying the movie. I still remember watching the movie for the first time and getting a kick out of how much that movie influenced the neo/dark folk scene. A great film, might I add!

The final and exclusive track on this disc is a cover of, 'Haunting Birds' by Finnish folk band, Nest, renamed here as, 'Haunted Birds.' At almost triple the original length, this track is in the familiar Nest style, which essentially consists of nature samples, light percussion, highly atmospheric synths and elaborate kantele, which is a traditionally plucked string instrument of the zither family native to Finland and Karelia. I was and have always been a big fan of the original and likewise a huge fan of Nest, so its quite amazing to hear this cover, especially since Aslak Tolonen always creates such unique, atmospheric and exquisite music.

The second disc is the two track, 'The Grey' EP, which features a re-worked version of the song, 'The Lodge' that originally appeared on the bands second full length album, 'The Mantle' back in 2002. The other track is a remix of 'Odal' by Jason William Walton (Bass guitar) under his other band 'Nothing.'

The re-worked version of ‘The Lodge’ was at the time something really different for the band as it was their first foray into post rock/metal song structures. Although I've always enjoyed it, this version doesn’t seem to bare too many similarities to the original since it’s a lot faster and about eight minutes longer. Not to mention this version has only electric guitar and fast drumming, whereas the original was mostly acoustic guitar and had only some light percussion in the background. Overall it’s really quite a pleasing song that builds and builds as it progresses and it was a regular in their set list around that time too. This song also marked the first appearance of new drummer C. Greene, who stuck with the band until '07 when Aesop joined.

Finally three exclusive songs can be found afterwards. 'Nur.Noch.Asche (Allerseelen Shadow Remix)' is a remix of... well, I have no idea which Agalloch song, but features fast acoustic guitars, random weird industrial sounds, samples and some odd synths for a little over four minutes. 'Dunkelgrauestille (Allerseelen Pale Companion Remix)' is no less weird, in fact sort of similar and again bares no resemblance to the original, which is, 'In the Shadow of Our Pale Companion.' Both are odd, but strangely appealing at the same time, but what else would you expect from Gerhard Halstatt. 'A Desolation Song (TWC Aleutian Mix)' closes out this release with a nearly thirteen minute variation of, 'A Desolation Song.' Again, very little if any fragments of the original can be found as this acoustic song is changed into a kraut rock/ambient sort of piece, which is comparable to artists like Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze and Steve Roach. Even though its different it sure is an impressive piece of music that happens to close out this compilation perfectly.