Nathanael Larochette - Old Growth (2023)

Seven years since the release of his ambitious debut double-album Earth and Sky (2016), Musk Ox/The Night Watch guitarist and Agalloch collaborator Nathanael Larochette returns with his second full-length Old Growth, a moving collection of solo acoustic compositions recorded live (often by candlelight) in a woodland cabin on the shores of White Lake, Ontario. Deeply inspired by the acoustic realms of legendary records like Agalloch's The Mantle, Opeth's Morningrise and Ulver's Kveldssanger, Old Growth is a woodland meditation capable of entrancing minimalist folk enthusiasts and metal aficionados alike. To take the project even further, Nathanael Larochette teamed up with Norwegian composer Martin Romberg of Raven Music Editions (Emperor/Ulver/Myrkur) to publish a complete guitar tablature book in hopes of inspiring guitarists to explore the art of fingerpicking. In a world where noise has become synonymous with life, the fragile instrumentals of Old Growth offer a private soundtrack to the quiet truths within, reminding us of our place in this vast forest of existence.