Turns out there are still some short comment archives that fit perfectly with my current Listening Notes format—and coincidentally, they contain six releases from artists whose names start with the letter A.
Not bad as installments for next month. Lol :v
Here they are:
A-Gnosis – Death to War (2024)
A solid core-driven album with atmospheric vocals and instrumentation, without abandoning modern traits such as electronic elements, chugging guitars, or proggy touches.
What surprised me is that I can honestly say this has become the most enjoyable pure post-hardcore album I’ve encountered so far in my journey through this genre.
AADM – AADM V – Spaghetti Western Post-rock Doom (2008)
Well, album titles don’t always reflect the actual content. Despite the “post-rock” tag, none of the tracks really touch that genre. Instead, it’s all about acoustic guitars with a Latin/country cowboy flavor, just like the cover art suggests.
The country style here feels rough, barren, and dark, successfully conveying a sense of desolation—especially with galloping rhythms that add a horseback-action vibe, like something out of an action or post-apocalyptic film. There’s a Four Horsemen kind of feeling, particularly in “Storm and Saddle.” Some tracks include vocals, but most don’t quite work for me except for “Prairie Justice.”
Personally, “Storm and Saddle” is the best track here.
Abolitionist – A Pernicious Truth (2023)
Energetic, as expected from punk rock, with tempo increases that lean toward hardcore in several tracks like “We All Know Better Now” and “Dead for Nothing.” Meanwhile, “Oregone” acts as a slower interlude.
Definitely worth checking out for fans of Green Day and The Chisel, though it’s not really my taste at the moment.
Agalloch – The Mantle (2002)
An album that blends all of the band’s main subgenres—black, doom, folk metal, and post-rock/metal—with a strong emphasis on folk acoustic guitar right from the opening. The tempo sits squarely in the middle, reflecting that “middle path” between all these styles.
All tracks feature a mix of harsh screams and clean vocals, except for “A Desolation Song,” which serves as the acoustic ballad closer. The variety of instruments forming the atmosphere is hard to separate unless you listen very closely, as everything feels perfectly veiled by the acoustic guitar.
Listening to Agalloch through this album feels very different compared to Saor (black/folk) or Kauan (folk/doom), since those bands focus on just two subgenres and present their reinforcing instruments in a more aesthetic and emotionally resonant way—for me, at least. Still, Agalloch deserves respect and will continue to be respected for existing earlier, forever being referenced when promoting music like that of those two bands.
That said, I do have standout tracks here: “Odal,” “I Am the Wooden Doors,” and “The Hawthorne Passage.”
Press F for Agalloch…
Anubis – The Last Again (2000)
There’s no clear profile of this band, but judging by their footprint on YouTube, they’re likely from the U.S. From the opening track, “It’s All the Same,” it already strongly reminds me of Creed. Overall, the sound feels like a mix of Creed and Deftones with grunge influences.
Personally, there’s no track that really stands out—this album mostly just triggers nostalgia.
Aswekeepsearching – Growing Suspicions (2014)
India. While widely known for Bollywood and intellectual achievements in science and technology, the country also has a post-rock flagship in Aswekeepsearching, aka As We Keep Searching.
The band seems unwilling to let go of Indian entertainment characteristics in their vocals, yet they still follow the unspoken post-rock rule: sparse lyrics drifting freely across the songs, crafted to be mellow and emotional.
“In Circles” is the most energetic track here, but the catchy banger title belongs to “Aakorxon,” which I first encountered through its inclusion in the Post-Everything I compilation by Post-rockMx. After that lone energetic peak, “Shimmer of Light” and “When Will They Talk?” form a deeply touching ballad pair.
The final two tracks are electronica remixes of “The Tattva” and “Aakorxon,” acting as emotional rechargers after nearly being drained by waves of melancholy—especially if you read the lyric translations. Oof…
Just like A Burial at Sea – Close to Home, Growing Suspicions deserves a spot in my favorite playlist—and hopefully, it’ll stay there forever.
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