Irish act Altar of Plagues was formed in 2006. Terms that are most frequently used to describe their sound include black metal, ambient and progressive or post metal, though it seems no one description can sum up the acts massive sound. The act themselves consider black metal to be the genre to which they are most attached, but on the contrary they have also been quoted to take influence from acts as diverse as Emperor, Bjork, and Arvo Part. The bands untraditional aesthetic and approach to their music has led to Altar of Plagues appealing to a wide variety of listeners and this may be seen by the diverse range of acts Altar of Plagues have toured with, including Isis and Mayhem, as well as having appeared at festivals that focus on ‘extreme’ metal and festivals that encourage experimentation and diversity.