Yet in those endearing frailties and rawness _The Malediction Fields_ finds extra character, which is often the mark of the truly chosen -- the likes of Katatonia's _Dance of December Souls_ or In the Woods'... _HEart of the Ages_, for instance. While ultimately _The Malediction Fields_ falls short of such classics, it nonetheless finds itself in fine company.

_HEart of the Ages_ serves as a good reference for the atmospheric, pensive kind of blackened metal on offer, as does some of Agalloch's catalogue. There is plenty of clean singing, slow drumming and strummed background melodies; yet the guitars refuse to abandon their underground buzz, and when the music surges and the black vocals emerge, they can be as fierce as any -- and suitably desperate on occasion. The somewhat distant sound has an interesting kind of depth to it, neither polished nor under-produced, and the whole thing just works somehow.

While it would not be difficult to criticize _The Malediction Fields_ for its similarities to other albums or the occasional wavering of its quality, that seems less important than the overall impression it leaves. In that regard, it is blissfully unencumbered by modern clichés, emotional, accomplished, and well deserving of a place among my favourite albums of 2009.