John Haughm


John Haughm is an American musician and artist. He is most known for being the founder, guitarist, and vocalist of the band Agalloch, and later Pillorian. He is also a designer who has created packaging and merchandise for several record labels and bands, including every project in which he has performed.

Early life

John Haughm was born in Ellensburg, Washington, and grew up in Butte, Montana, where he played in several metal bands as a teenager, some of which were with future Agalloch bassist Jason William Walton.

Career

Agalloch and Sculptured (1996–2016)

Haughm and Walton moved to Portland where they met Don Anderson, guitarist of Sculptured, and found that they had "tremendously similar taste in music and cinema". Haughm founded Agalloch in January 1996, and had a brief stint in Sculptured, performing as the drummer on Apollo Ends.

Pillorian (2016–2019)

After Agalloch split in 2016, Haughm formed Pillorian with Stephen Parker and Trevor Matthews. This band was much more aggressive musically and more active as a touring act than Agalloch. They released Obsidian Arc in March 2017 and performed 100 shows in support of the album, including two American and two European tours between spring 2017 and summer 2018.
In February 2019, Haughm was criticized by his most recent former Agalloch bandmates for posting an antisemitic comment on Facebook while paying tribute to the late Swiss actor Bruno Ganz. Both Parker and Matthews left Pillorian, leaving Haughm as the band's only remaining member.
Pillorian disbanded on February 28, 2019. In his apology letter, Haughm stated that his own comment was "insensitive, juvenile, reprehensible, and thoughtless to say the least." Haughm also signaled that Pillorian, despite having a second album completely written and ready to record, was retired as a band. In January 2020, an interview with Don Anderson indicated that he and John had mended their friendship and that Haughm regretted making the comment.

Post-Pillorian and Agalloch's reunion (2019–present)

Currently, Haughm is focused on solo and collaborative projects outside of the heavy metal genre. In 2023, Agalloch reformed to play a few select shows and festivals.

Discography

With Agalloch

Solo

  • +46° 17' 36.30", -124° 4' 20.13"
  • 122012 & 042911
  • +37.717364 // -117.247955: The Last Place I Remember
  • 1893 demo
  • a river of IRON flows where once the gallows stood
  • 1865 // 1895: CAST.IRON.BLOOD.
  • The Scars Maketh The Man
  • Whiskey & Rust
  • To Thine Barbed Wire Noose Be True
  • 46°59'15.9"N // 120°32'15.4"W: The Devil’s Coil
  • To Thine Barbed Wire Noose Be True
  • No Matter What, I Will Not Send You Into The Darkness Alone - Live in Australia
  • The PCC Cascade Sessions EP
  • V/A Spectral Echoes
  • ''V/A Haunters Of The Silence Soundtrack''

Collaborations

  • w/ Mathias Grassow - Mosaic
  • w/ Daniel Menche - Orthrus
  • w/ Mathias Grassow - Auræ
  • w/ Mathias Grassow - Opalus
  • w/ Sutekh Hexen & Funerary Call - ''P:R:I:S:M''

Film scores

  • OUTCALL:Initiation
  • ''Haunters Of The Silence''

With Sculptured

With Pillorian

  • A Stygian Pyre
  • ''Obsidian Arc''

With Art of the Black Blood

  • Deficit Omne Quod Nasciture
  • ''The Woodcut Demonstration''

With BEAST

With Allerseelen

  • Terra Incognita
  • Venezia
  • ''Frühgeschichte I. Schwartzer Rab''

With Nest

  • Trail of the Unwary
  • ''Within A Decade''

With Nothing

  • ''Nondescript: Ouroborus Vermiform''

With Nostalgia

  • ''Echoes from the Borderland''

With Obsidian Tongue

  • ''A Nest of Ravens in the Throat of Time''

With Andy Winter

  • ''Incomprehensible''