Jex Thoth, Agalloch @ Irving Plaza

“The snow, the bitter snowfall
You wish to die in her pale arms, crystalline, to become an ode to silence
In the soul of a mountain of birds, fallen”

What an amazing show! No, really! Probably the top show of this year so far! Absolutely amazing! Irving Plaza proves once again as one of my favorite music venues here in NYC – big, yet not too much, so it keeps the spirit of an underground music venue. Good sound, nice balconies and friendly staff, which is kind of rare for most of the places here!

The show started around 9 PM with female fronted-metal/psychedellic band Jex Thoth. I’m usually very skeptic to female-fronted metal bands, but I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by these guys.

The frontwoman Jessica came on the stage with really badass wicca attitude and powerful & interesting voice, that felt like a breath of fresh air compared to the predominantly operatic vocals in this genre. The band’s style is a mixture of atmospheric metal with psychedelia in a very refreshing way.

I also have to mention that Jex Thoth had a very good merch, with plenty of pretty options for metal chicks – I even got a top from it, cause it’s so rare to be able to buy a metal sleeveless top, without having to cut it and do other modifications to it, right? Frankincense, knifes and fire – her stage presence was intense, just like her voice and the audience appreciated the show. For one of its last songs Jessica went through the audience, which is always super cool!

I think Jex Thoth were a great choice for supporting band – they fitted very well the avant-garde metal staple, yet their sound is so totally different from Agalloch. The combination of hearing female before male vocals keeps the show diverse and interesting. If the female vocal is good of course, but this one totally was.

Around 11 PM Irving Plaza was totally packed waiting for legends Agalloch! Formed 1995 in Portland, Oregon from the remains of the band Aeolachrymae, Agalloch masterfully blend black metal with atmospheric textures, gothic doom, neofolk and post-rock touches.

Their unique sound rapidly gathered cult following and not only that – after the great debut “Pale Folklore” their recently released fifth record “The Serpent And The Moon” they never disappointed – their records are diverse, yet flawless, full of beautiful textures, dark vocals and mythological references.

Aggaloch opened with two songs from their new album – the epic “The Astral Dialogue”, followed by “Vales Beyond Dimension”. Right after the audience had the opportunity to listen to one of their most well-known compositions “Limbs”, “Ghosts Of The Midwinter Fires” from their previous record “Marrow Of The Spirit” and the beautiful “Dead Winter Days” from “Pale Folklore”.

The band’s setlist was a nice presentation of their new work, yet still a chance to hear some of their most epic stuff. In an almost two hour set we also heard “Celestial Effigy”, “…and the Great Cold Death Of The Earth…”, “Into The Painted Rain”. After a short and very noisy pause Agalloch came back, putting the audience in euphoria with their masterpiece “Falling Snow” and the final “Plateau Of The Ages”.