There are very few albums that I have yet to obtain that I would consider an absolute must have. On the top of that list for the longest time was Agalloch's magnum opus: The Mantle.Needless to say, this has now been rectified.
When I first heard this album 20 something years ago, it was one of the few albums that redefined what metal is capable of. On The Mantle, Agalloch plays a relaxed style of blackened acoustic music.
The acoustic guitar is far and above the most important instrument on this album. It guides the melodies and provides the backbone of nearly every song on the album. Be it the incredibly atmospheric Odal, or the massive In the Shadow of Our Pale Grey Companion - the guitar leads the songs, and it was what instantly took me in with the album.
Even when the acoustic guitar is absent, like on the majority of I Am the Wooden Doors, the acoustic guitars still lay their mark in interludes. I can't stress how important the acoustic guitar is to the album - almost more so than any other instrument, including the electric guitar. The Mantle is not The Mantle without this instrument.
Of course having excellent instrumentation is only one part of what makes this album so special. The other is the incredible pacing and flow of the album. There is a central theme to The Mantle that repeats throughout the album. It's introduced right away in A Celebration for the Death of Man and then revisited several times, culminating in an epic closure of ...and the Great Cold Death of the Earth.
Two thousand characters is not enough to encapsulate how outstanding this album is. No other band has ever done anything like this, and Agalloch would never again reach these heights. One of the best releases ever, in any genre.
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