Agalloch - The Serpent & The Sphere review

Band: Agalloch
Album: The Serpent & The Sphere
Label: Profound Lore Records
Genre: Atmosphere Doom / Folk / Post Black Metal
Country: US
Release Date: 12th May 2014

The mindless masses can take their catchy, vacant 3 minute / chord pop songs and cavorting, half-naked non-entities who will be all but forgotten in years to come. I however, will enjoy the sprawling, evocative soundscapes to be found on this, the latest album by the mighty and all but untouchable, Aaglloch.

This band never fail to impress and to satisfy - their eerily beautiful masterworks effortlessly transport you to another place. There are very few bands who have this ability - and strangely most of the others are from Finland, but I digress - to evoke a very real feeling of otherwordliness, to transport your mind to a frozen wasteland or a bleak, haunting mountain range in deepest, darkest winter and Agalloch employ their blend of faultless, perfect melodies, nature sounds and crushing Post Black Metal heaviness to do just that. Remember too, that unlike many of their peers, even their acoustic tracks on this album are not meant as interludes or as intros to the next song, but instead are tracks in their own right.

If you want to enjoy this album properly, I recommend that you pop on some headphones, lie in a darkened room and let Agalloch / your imagination do the rest. Every chord, every cold, crushing riff and every drum beat has its place and purpose. Even the vocals, ranging from ethereal whispers and clean singing to the tortured roars and Black Metal rasps (being one of the only "extreme" things about the band) are used sparingly and always to convey a sense of atmosphere. This music is dense and deep to the point of being near impenetrable to the casual listener, but give it your time and full attention and you will reap the rewards.

This is a band that truly understands the power of music, the connection it has with the soul. Music really doesn't get much better than this: Neofolk, Post Rock and elements of Black Metal are melded to create a masterpiece. The lyrics speak of desolation, of depression and of winter and loss, which only adds to the beautiful darkness of this record. 

I don't really want to recommend a single song for you to listen to as I think that this should be listened to, digested and appreciated as the whole it has been lovingly crafted to be. You wouldn't take a Monet and merely focus on a square inch of it would you? Rather, you would admire it, take it in and judge it as a finished, complete work of art. The same applies here. That said, I think the track "Dark Matter Gods" is a good starting point for those not familiar with the band (a link to the song can be found at the bottom of the page).

Simply put, Agalloch are a changeable beast and don't follow the rules or established conventions of the Metal scene. Instead they wander there own cold, lonely path and the bottom line is that no matter how pretentious and wanky my words might be (and are, obviously), they still can't even begin to do a piece of work like this justice, so just go and buy this. Now!

Recommended for fans of bands such as Moonsorrow, Nest, October Falls, Kampfar and so on. 

Total Playing Time: 59:45

Overall: 9.5/10

Tracklist:

Birth and Death of the Pillars of Creation
(Serpens Caput)
The Astral Dialogue
Dark Matter Gods
Celestial Effigy
Cor Serpentis (The Sphere)
Vales Beyond Dimension
Plateau of the Ages
(Serpens Cauda)