[Reaper16]

13. Agalloch – The Serpent & the Sphere


It’s strange when your 13th favorite album of the year is also one of your most disappointing albums of the year. See, Agalloch is my favorite band in the world. Their last three albums – in 2002, 2006, & 2012 – were each my #1 favorite albums of those years. This album, while certainly a strong metal release, doesn’t live up to that standard. Whereas in their previous albums Agalloch focused on one aspect of their complicated sound to emphasize (blackened Doom metal or the intersection of folk & post-rock or straight-up post-rock or black metal), this album sees the band trying to fully synthesize all those focal points into one cohesive vision. The problem is that in doing so the band sounds a tiny bit derivative of their earlier work. The song structures here are familiar. It’s a complacent-sounding album from the band. Now, with all that negativity said, here’s why you can ignore all that and enjoy this frequently-breathtaking album for what it is: the album’s structure is elliptical, which mirrors the lyrical concepts; it has a smart, patient pace; “The Astral Dialogue” and “Dark Matter Gods” are ferocious songs & new Agalloch live staples; “Pleateau of the Ages,” the album’s soaring climax, is one of the best Agalloch songs ever (its only flaw being that it literally hits some of the same notes as the climax of their previous album, Marrow of the Spirit). This album is probably better than my disappointment is allowing myself to see. If you haven’t spent time with Agalloch before then you’ll probably be blown away.