Wow, interesting. I love Agalloch and this can be their return as a full band. Who will play drums?

They'll have Hunter Ginn on drums

Yes, that was necessary.

Here's the Metal Injection article that just came out. Looks like there will be a small handful of shows. https://metalinjection.net/news/reunite ... -september

I'm not going to hold my breath for new material. I'm just going to appreciate that they're doing this. There's a saying - don't be sad that it's over, be glad that it happened.

I just might have to get on a plane for this. Or if they do North American shows at all - I'll gladly go back to Portland just for this.

Excuse me while I go cry.

Good thing I already had my ticket before that announcement. With bands like Darkspace, Disillusion, My Dying Bride, Bethlehem among others already confirmed, this is just the icing on the cake.

The lineup looks great indeed - I don't know if I can pull off a flight to Germany this year considering some other things I already have planned, but it's tempting as hell. Never been to Europe...

Huh, I thought the other members had cut ties with John after he outed himself as an antisemite.

Massive news, really delighted to see them back together. Agree that this is something to celebrate and appreciate in and of itself, but at the same time can't help but wonder about the possibility of new material at some point down the line. Such a special band.

Well, he did say he was sorry I guess

Sounds like he regrets the dumb shit he said.

Hopefully, this comes to the U.S.

John's not a nazi. He's an edgelord, and a bit of a fucking goof sometimes, but he's not a nazi. Aside from his initial apology, he also has done interviews since then where he admitted he needed to work on his self-awareness, even if the edgy part of his personality will always be there to some degree.

I also love this quote from Don, and couldn't agree more with it. I love the way he put it.

Always wanted to see them life before when they was active, so this is killer news.
Might actually go to this festival, booked a hotel just now,haha!

Damn!

Not going to lie, I saw them live and it was super boring.

Agreed. They are one of my favorite bands ever, and I was lucky enough to catch them a few times, and they were massively disappointing. They are quintessential headphone music; stripping back all those layers to just two guitars in a live setting doesn't work, and John's live vocals are just plain bad:

Fantastic! I got into Agalloch only after they broke up, and they have turned out to be one of my favourite bands of all time. I live a couple of countries away from Germany, but it might be worth taking the trip if this is a limited set of shows rather than the beginning of a full reunion.

I saw them twice and they sounded great and performed phenomenally both times. Blew me away.

I saw Agalloch a total of three times, and it was always amazing! They are a solid band live, and I loved meeting the guys, especially Don Anderson. He's a very smart person, and also quite welcoming and humble.

I hope they will play more then just a few shows. It would be amazing to catch them live again!

I have also seen them three times and this makes me extremely happy to see if for nothing other than it seems like they’ve buried the hatchet. I don’t think that fest is doable for me but it sounds really cool, playing in a cave? That’s awesome.

They buried the hatchet a few years ago. Not sure about Aesop, but he, Don, and Jason have all been seen in pictures together on John's Instagram since all of that went down.

This is great news. I hope this is a rekindling of something new down the road, or perhaps even a new tour. I always felt that Agalloch should do an unplugged show for a live DVD one day, and I'd like to cling to this pipe dream as a possibility eventually.

Yeah, it's hard to keep up with whatever happened between John and the other guys if you didn't actively try to stay informed on the subject. They've made some interviews and addressed the subject over the years. But with the band being disbanded, it's not like the media really made a big fuss out of these discussions, and it's easy to see how a lot of people didn't know that John had reconcilled with Don, but also that John apologized for the edgy shit he said in the past.

Anyway. I'm not expecting much out of this, but if they could tour a bit more, I'd love it. And if they ever felt like reforming, it would be absolutely amazing, although I'm not really expecting it to happen.

When I met Don Anderson the second time, he was looking at me with a tired and slightly dopey smile (maybe just exhausted, but maybe a bit high too) and I was telling him how much his band meant to me and literally right in the middle of my sentence, he's just like "ohh..." and bends down and hugs me. I was like "Oh! We're hugging!" and probably sounded like a complete goof, but I swear I fucking felt loved in that moment. Don Anderson is such a swell fella. The other guys were cool as hell too.



Yeah, Aesop and John aren't friends unfortunately. I get the impression that both are cool dudes on their own, but personality-wise they just don't mesh, even with John's apologies in consideration.

An unplugged show would be fucking amazing - The White EP in full? Sign me the fuck up.



Pretty much where I stand. I'd of course love a tour, new music, etc. but considering how much effort it likely took to get the guys (especially John) to THIS point, I'm not gonna hold my breath and will just be grateful for whatever does happen. The fact they're playing music together again is just so heartwarming after the messy way the band ended. I'll catch one of these shows. I'll find a way.

On that note, here's a cool clip from Jason's instagram from a few days ago. His ambient project Moonbladder played a gig where John opened playing his solo material, and this is a clip where Jason is joined by both Don and John.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CrHoi7lprka/

Does anyone even want Aesop back? He was such a poor stylistic fit for the band, as John has publicly stated in recent years. Punk drummer in an artsy metal band never made any sense to me.

I caught them live back in 2015 in Glasgow and while they were ace there seemed something missing. I did have a great time at the show though and I'd be very glad to see them again. Really cool that they're playing as as group again!

Personally I thought Aesop's contributions fit well, and that he added a good energy throughout the records he was on. Perhaps a drummer with a different background would have come up with different ideas, but his performances are what we've got and I find them enjoyable.

I actually always thought Aesop was an iffy fit for Agalloch as well. I wouldn't say his performances necessarily hurt my enjoyment of the albums he was on, but I much prefer the drumming on Ashes Against the Grain compared to the albums that came after. I guess he added an interesting dynamic to the group, but to me he was always the member who was least essential to the band's sound.

In terms of the reunion, it's cool to see them back together and playing shows. I'd be surprised if we didn't see a full-fledged tour and a new album. There's a lot of hype behind Agalloch - and rightly so in my opinion. Regardless of what John has said or done, the first three Agalloch albums will always be some of my favorite records of all time.

This is how I feel. I wasn't aware he had apologized or discussed what happened at length with the band, but I've also met Don a number of times and he seems like a very honest person with a ton of integrity so if he vouches for John then that's all I need. Those first three albums are some of the most incredible releases in the history of metal and nothing will ever change that.

I don't think I've ever been so excited about music news. Hope this leads to a new album. I enjoyed Khôrada (id didnt' last long), Pillorian and Haughm's 1865//1895: CAST.IRON.BLOOD., .but they can't be compared to Agalloch (plus, their bands didn't last long).

They are one of your favorite bands of all time (in your own words), but you couldn't be bothered to even Google if they reconciled before making a fool of yourself? That's pretty low effort fandom.

What a fool I am! Not regularly searching through news archives on bands that broke up years ago. Sorry, dad, I'll try to fanboy harder next time.

It's okay. I guess I can't really fault you for being ignorant.

Agreed, I've seen them twice and it was always a great experience. Hoping I can get to one of the other shows they mentioned.


These guys have been doing some interviews together in the last year, so I can't say I'm completely blindsided but this is a phenomenal development. In particular the Screaming Bloody Oranges podcast they did about Of Stone Wind and Pillor, also this interview: https://www.heaviestofart.com/post/the- ... h-agalloch

That's a great interview, and yeah it's amazing to hear them be together and talk about their band.

Here is a written one. It's amazingly detailed about The Mantle in particular, and how the concept of the songs are tied to Portland and their own experiences, and what influenced them.
https://www.heaviestofart.com/post/the- ... h-agalloch

LET'S FUCKING GOOOO
Agalloch is the band that made me realize that I like Black Metal.
I personally think it's going to be a "proper farewell show", I could be wrong though

Don't forget about Marrow Of The Spirit, though!

Meh. There are some good songs on Marrow, but the production is terrible and it's nowhere near as cohesive an album as the first three.

I prefer Marrow over Pale Folklore.

Same here. Marrow has excellent songwriting, and I have come to appreciate the production style more with repeated listens. It's almost experimental compared to the general sound of the other albums. I wish it had more clean singing though.