''Pale Folklore'' is the debut studio album by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

metal band Agalloch. The album was released on June 6, 1999 by The End Records. It featured an eclectic mix of acoustic folk reminiscent of Scandinavian bands such as

Ulver Ulver (Norwegian for "wolves") is a Norwegian experimental electronica band founded in 1993, by vocalist Kristoffer Rygg. Their early works, such as debut album '' Bergtatt'', were categorised as folklore-influenced black metal, but the band h ...

; doom and

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

-esque riffs; growled, clean, whispered, and shrieked vocals; and a production style and atmosphere that borrowed heavily from black metal. The lyrical themes focused mainly on depression, nature, folklore and the

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

. It featured the roots of a

post-rock Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation with ...

influence which was greatly expanded on with Agalloch's second studio album, ''

The Mantle ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''.

Track listing

Personnel

;Agalloch *Don Anderson – guitar * John Haughm – vocals, guitar,

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

*Jason William Walton –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

*Shane Breyer –

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;Additional *Produced by Ronn Chick, John Haughm and Shane Breyer *Engineered by Ronn Chick *Artwork by Dennis Gerasimenko and Sergey Makhotkin *Band photography by Aaron Sholes

References

{{Authority control 1999 debut albums Agalloch albums The End Records albums Profound Lore Records albums