One of the two bands that rose from the ashes of Agalloch has just released the second single for their upcoming album Salt, which will be released on the 20th of July. Former Agalloch members Aesop Dekker, Don Anderson and Jason Walton teamed up with ex Giant Squid member Aaron John Gregory for this new project.

So, have you guys given the second (and first) single a listen? What do you think of it?

I'm personnaly quite enthusiastic about the release. I liked the first single, Ossify, a little better than this new single entitled Glacial Gold, but I get a good general feeling through my first few listens.

I'm quite happy to recognize Don Anderson's guitar work in all it's subtleness and attention to details. Khôrada, in my opinion, are not getting lost in the various influences they took from the music that inspired them. I like how they mix elements of post-metal with more atmospheric and progressive doom elements à la Pallbearer while retaining elements of the very avant-garde sound that Agalloch had, keeping the unique touch of the different musicians involved.

http://www.noisemag.net/avant-premiere-un-morceau-du-premier-album-de-khorada-ex-agalloch-en-ecoute/

I love Aaron but his vocals are just godawful.

Same. I can't listen to this.

I'm honestly not as intrigued by this as I was hoping. It's good in the sense that it's a lot like SubRosa's output but with less strings, a more mid-tempo pace, a tolerably gothic but admittedly less compelling and expressive vocalist, and some stellar guitar work. I'll probably pick it up but of the two post-Agalloch projects, I do honestly favour the folky, mid-tempo black metal of Pillorian quite a bit. Obsidian Arc was basically the sixth Agalloch album and while that is probably disinteresting to some, it's a definite plus for me because I'm a total Agalloch fangirl.

"Ossify" is definitely the better song. It has more of the band's signature touches. "Glacial Gold" feels more like a SubRosa demo or b-side.

Doom is not my cup of tea, but I like this. Guitar tone reminds me of HIM's Venus Doom. Thanks for sharing!

Pillorian is nice and definitely more similar to Agalloch, starting with the musical genre. But I'm quite happy to recognize the touch of all the other guys in Khôrada, especially when it comes to the guitar work of Don Anderson.

The third single, Seasons of Salt is out, and it has black metal drumming mixed with the unique post-rockish doomy Anderson riffing.



I'm enjoying this and looking forward to the album release more than I was expecting Pillorian's work. Pillorian is more familiar, but Khôrada is more different, it has more of an artistic vision. I don't know if I'm going to love the record or if it's going to stick with me like Agalloch's first three records have, but I'm definitely looking forward to hearing the whole thing.

Damn weird topic title. Like you're asking the MA hivemind for the socially acceptable opinion to have.

Going to bump this, has anyone got to hear the entirety of "Salt" yet it is excellent and very different from Agalloch. Though the quintessential Don Anderson guitar work is on point and fantastic. I also am getting more and more used to AJ vocals they are starting to grow on me. Cheers!

Well, I gave it a full listen. I enjoyed it, but I don’t like it as much as Pillorian. I think it’s just a stylistic preference. The vocalist’s clean vocal choices sometimes sound like a less trained Serge Tankian.

I found the album much more exciting than Pillorian, which was basically a more black metal Agalloch without the things that made Agalloch great. Khorada is definitely more Giant Squid than Agalloch, but really is its own thing. I understand why Aaron's vocals are so divisive, but I generally really dig them. I wouldn't say this is his best vocal performance (The Ichthyologist easily takes the cake), but he generally does do a good job even if you can tell he's still adapting to performing with this kind of music. All of the preview songs were great and Wave State is insane. Have mixed feelings on "Water Rights", lyrics are too overtly political, it has by far his worst vocal performance of the album and the song just kind of comes off as disjointed.

You can tell there is some growing pains in developing their new sound, but overall I thought this was thoroughly dope. Very out of left field and the songwriting in some songs is quite ambitious but they pull it off. The best thing is you can tell it's only going to get better from here.

I like it so far. It's definitely more Giant Squid than Agalloch though. Lots of people aren't keen on the vocals, which is understandable. If people were expecting Aaron John Gregory to start singing like John Haughm, they'll be very disappointed. Thumbs up from me.