This MCD follows 1999's excellent "Pale Folklore" debut album. I'll go ahead and mention right away the only thing that bothers me on this CD: The last song has nearly 4 minutes of silence at the end, leading to a few seconds of... something, not music. With this you end up with a little less than 24 minutes of music on the CD. Anyway, one thing I can never forgive is adding useless silence like this (even if it were to lead to a full hidden track.) There goes one quarter point in the rating. Don't do that! ;)

Ok, now on with the music. Those who have enjoyed Pale Folklore will most likely enjoy this as well, as it is pretty much in the same vein. Dark, maybe a little bit more depressing that Pale Folklore, with lots of piano and acoustic parts, the music is very slow-paced and deep, very relaxing. Also included is a cover of Sol Invictus' "Kneel to the Cross" which is a bit more lively than the rest of the CD - this is not a criticism toward the other songs, this song just happens to be a lot different from the usual Agalloch material.

The short length is a bit of a let down, since Agalloch's music is something one would most likely want to listen to for hours. For those who have Pale Folklore, I strongly recommend this MCD to help wait for their next full-length album. For others new to the band, I'd recommend starting with Pale Folklore to get a better (longer) appreciation of this band's excellent music. Hell, just get both!