The Serpent & the Sphere

The sound of my winter doldrums.

Agalloch proves time and time again that they are the masters of atmosphere. I got into them with The Mantle which is a great album, but in my opinion the last two albums were even better. I'm not sure which album I prefer, The Serpent & The Sphere or Marrow of the Spirit. Marrow has maybe a little more "power" and emotion to it in some songs, but I felt that the atmosphere in Serpent is perhaps a little stronger. They are both amazing albums in which to get lost in solitary activities such as hiking in the mountains or forests. When I first downloaded Serpent to my iPod, I took off on a 35-mile mountain bike ride deep into the mountains behind my house. It had been raining for 4 days straight and the woods were foggy, damp, and isolated. There were times where I wasn't sure whether the sounds I was hearing were coming through my earbuds or from nature itself. The album was so perfect for that day, I'll never forget it. These guys are amazing live as well. I was lucky enough to see them in a tiny bar in my hometown -- found out just beforehand that the singer and bass player are actually from here. Buy this album and see them live -- you will not be disappointed.

Listened to this album dozens of times since I picked it up. It rivals Ashes Against the Grain in my mind as one of the band's great "flow" albums. The individual songs are all very good, but when listened to in its entirety from start to finish everything comes together to make the sum greater (even more so than the last album Marrow of the Spirit). Agalloch continues to be one of my favorite go-to metal bands for when I'm in the mood for a mixture of slow atmoshere and aggressive beautiful dark music.

Agalloch, tope 5 favorite band ov mine made a stinker ov an album. Ugh so bummed. Dark Matter Gods and Celestial Effigy are the only 2 songs i liked. A lot of the guitar work sounded forced into songs or sounds like they were still learning the parts, so a lot ov the songs sound messy. It sounded like they tried to mesh The Mantel and Ashes together but in the worst way. This is coming from a HUGE Agalloch fan, =(

To me...not as catchy or as memorable as The Mantle. Not as powerful, emotional, or "nature-infused" as Marrow of the Spirit. Great background music for when I'm working on something. Tracks bleed together and are hard to distinguish from one another. It's a nice album. It's...OK by Agalloch's standards.

Exceptional follow up to Morrow the Spirit. Go get this now!

Yeah, it's no "Marrow of the Spirit", but albums like that come around once a decade. And while their last album will always be one of my favorite albums of all time, it is exhaustive to listen to, and is really emotionally draining. "Serpent" offers a step forward, but a safe step. It offers more songs that I can listen to individually, and "Dark Matter Gods" is an amazing piece of guitar work. So, if you're looking for a completely perfect album, this probably isn't quite there, but it's close. If you love Agalloch and have listened to every EP and full-album, then this fits in nicely.

I don't see this being topped in 2014. One of Agalloch's finest moments, and that says something.

I'll be honest, when I first listened to this album I didn't much care for it. And I'm an Agalloch die-hard whose cherished all previous albums. What I'm getting at is don't be scared if this doesn't immediately grab you, it took me a good 3 or 4 times all the way through just to get a grasp on this thing. Once it begins unveiling itself, you see their "serpent" theme of the CD's structure unfold rather well, and while there's plenty to enjoy about this album, I hate to say it isn't *quite* up their with say The Mantle or Marrow of the Spirit. This takes an overall darker, sometimes disjointed, and sometimes slower approach I'd say compared to how their previous works flow, yet like other Agalloch albums you'll still be finding reward with concentration and patience. For anyone interested in Agalloch this is a no-brainer purchase, yet at the same time don't hold the expectation you'll be hearing their best material ever or something like that here, but if you do think so then awesome! 8.4/10

I can't say enough good things about this band. They have quickly become one of my all time favorites. Every album is an adventure within itself. The Serpant & the Sphere continues this like the next chapter of a great book. Great musicianship and creativity really shine on all their albums and this is no exception. Continue the journey.