After the extremely sudden split of Agalloch, or what essentially amounted to frontman John Haughm leaving the rest of the band, there was immediately talks of a new group forming. Now guitarist Don Anderson, bassist Jason Walton, and drummer Aesop Dekker, alongside ex-Giant Squid vocalist Aaron John Gregory, have formed Khôrada.
Walton explains in a lengthy joint Facebook post (below) that Agalloch didn't really end with everyone on the same page, and that the remainder of the band didn't want to let the split ruin its creativity.
“We didn’t want Agalloch to end—sure, there were definitely changes that needed to be addressed, but Don, Aesop, and I had every intention to tour in 2017 and spend the remainder of 2016 writing new Agalloch material for the 6th record. We don’t see why John splitting from us should stop us from playing and writing together. It wasn’t even an option.”
Anderson elaborates as well, saying that by no means will the new band be a direct extension of Agalloch or Giant Squid (who broke up in 2015).
"We respect the legacies of both Agalloch and Giant Squid too much to exploit them. Obviously, some of those sounds might creep in, but as far as intending to channel that style—no way. We all want to do something new.”
Gregory also states that the band has already started demoing new material, so now we wait!
