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Agalloch - The Serpent & The Sphere



8 | 681 votes |
Release date: 13 May 2014
Style: Neofolk , Atmospheric black metal

Owners:

501 have it
85 want it


01. Birth And Death Of The Pillars Of Creation
02. (Serpens Caput)
03. The Astral Dialogue
04. Dark Matter Gods
05. Celestial Effigy
06. Cor Serpentis (The Sphere)
07. Vales Beyond Dimension
08. Plateau Of The Ages
09. (Serpens Cauda)
10. Omega Serpentis [Japanese bonus]
11. Sigma Serpentis [Japanese bonus]

The Best Melodic Black Metal Album Of 2014
Featured in "Getting Into: Agalloch"

Line-up
John Haughm - vocals, guitars, percussion, zither
Don Anderson - guitars, mellotron, backing vocals
Aesop Dekker - drums, percussion
Jason William Walton - bass

Additional musicians:
Nathanaël Larochette - acoustic guitars
B. Anderson - piano, throat singing
Veleda Thorsson - electric saw, waterphone
R. Sforcina - synthesizers, oscillation & wires

Additional info
Produced by Billy Anderson and Agalloch.

Recorded at Cloud City and mixed at Everything Hz by Billy Anderson. Guest appearance by guitarist Nathanaël Larochette of Musk Ox, who wrote and provided the album's acoustic interludes.

Staff review by
R'Vannith
Rating:
8.3
Agalloch have never favoured doom as forcefully as they have on The Serpent & The Sphere. So blatantly delivered, it would appear that this new resolve has completely shattered their ability and will to instil the expected level of atmosphere in their fifth full-length effort. But appearances can be deceiving.

Read more ››
published 13.05.2014 | Comments (39)

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Comments page 6 / 8

Comments: 221   Visited by: 1673 users
17.05.2014 - 18:15
Rating: 7
Erik M.

Written by angel. on 16.05.2014 at 21:16

Well because the sound had touched my feelings ?


Yeah, but "bursting into tears" just sounded a little extreme to me... especially because this album cannot evoke that kind of response for me.


Written by angel. on 17.05.2014 at 12:05

but I really like to know what do you mean by "honest piece of music " ? It's just being curious


I was wondering about that as well...
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17.05.2014 - 18:30
Rating: 7
Erik M.

Written by Ashesofman on 17.05.2014 at 16:41

The majority of America are christians and no matter how many of them believe, god will never exist. My point here is that the majority is frequently wrong and you shouldn't be concerned with the opinions of others to the extent of formulating your opinions. Declare your own opinion, don't invoke an imaginary majority. It doesn't validate your opinion and it makes you look insecure, like you need approval.

As far as my opinion goes, this album is almost their worst album. The abysmal Mantle is worse, and the mediocre AATG is only slightly better. Marrow and PF are their best albums, in that order. Ask John and he'll tell you AATG is "definitely the worst album we've ever produced" I disagree with him but there's the vocalist's opinion on the matter.

To the guy who said he thinks Agalloch is overrated on this site: what band isn't? Every album released averages an 8 here no matter how mediocre


As an atheist, I do think there's indeed no god (well, duh ), so I won't argue with you on this matter (except that no-one knows whether there's a god, but since religion came up with the idea, it's up to them to prove it, NOT up to irreligious people to prove that their god doesn't exist. For fuck's sake, you can't prove a negative... the fact that many religious people still don't understand this is extremely annoying). I understand your point, but when it comes to music it's hard to call anyone's opinion wrong (however, it's still possible). Sometimes I do compare my opinion to the general consensus that exists (not a strange thing to do AT ALL). For example, I very much dislike Viva Emptiness, while the general opinion is that it's an excellent album. Therefore, when stating my opinion, I tend to take into account the fact that so many people love it. You're right that one should form his/her own opinion on everything, but that is something I do at all times (so not just when it comes to music). Anyway, I don't care whether the way I state my opinions seems insecure or not (which I don't think it does, btw), I state my opinion how I see fit.
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17.05.2014 - 18:55
MechanisT
Account deleted
Written by Ashesofman on 17.05.2014 at 16:41

To the guy who said he thinks Agalloch is overrated on this site: what band isn't?


Well for one; Disillusion. If anything, I'd dare say they're quite underrated.
The thing is, I am not a fan of their music, and I'm guessing you are, so in your eyes the hype is absolutely justified, whereas in mine it's not, judging from what I have heard from them. It's kind of a pointless retort to make, if you think about it.
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17.05.2014 - 19:20
Ashesofman

You're entitled to that and I agree with you on the comment that I was criticizing. I guess all I wanted to get across to you is that your opinion holds more water when it stands on its own as opposed to when it hides in a crowd of similar opinions. I think there's value in comparative evaluation, as long as it's not the entire basis for the opinion. I feel like alot of people have jumped on the "MotS is Agalloch's worst album" wagon because of the internet consensus without really giving it the time of day and it's a pity.
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17.05.2014 - 19:31
Ashesofman

Written by Guest on 17.05.2014 at 18:55

Well for one; Disillusion. If anything, I'd dare say they're quite underrated.
The thing is, I am not a fan of their music, and I'm guessing you are, so in your eyes the hype is absolutely justified, whereas in mine it's not, judging from what I have heard from them. It's kind of a pointless retort to make, if you think about it.


Disillusion's "best" album has an average score of 8.8! All I'm saying is that everything gets overrated on Metal Storm, and that Agalloch's overrating is nothing out of the ordinary and that it's consistent with the generous rating trends on this site.
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17.05.2014 - 20:42
Rating: 7
Erik M.

Written by Ashesofman on 17.05.2014 at 19:20

You're entitled to that and I agree with you on the comment that I was criticizing. I guess all I wanted to get across to you is that your opinion holds more water when it stands on its own as opposed to when it hides in a crowd of similar opinions. I think there's value in comparative evaluation, as long as it's not the entire basis for the opinion. I feel like alot of people have jumped on the "MotS is Agalloch's worst album" wagon because of the internet consensus without really giving it the time of day and it's a pity.


Whether a certain band or album is overrated is subjective as well. If you really love a certain album, you won't easily say that said album is overrated. But if you hate an album most people like a lot, then you would say that. Mostly it boils down to comparing your own opinion to the general opinion which makes you say something is overrated or underrated.
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17.05.2014 - 21:20
MechanisT
Account deleted
Written by Ashesofman on 17.05.2014 at 19:31

Disillusion's "best" album has an average score of 8.8! All I'm saying is that everything gets overrated on Metal Storm, and that Agalloch's overrating is nothing out of the ordinary and that it's consistent with the generous rating trends on this site.


That's the beauty of it, isn't it? One can easily say that a score of 8.8 is less than what it actually deserves. How much of an outlandish opinion it is (if at all) is up to individual evaluation.
In the end, there are some here that are actually very overrated (Agalloch, I'm looking at you), whereas there're some which are severely underrated, and that's defined by my perception, as is your evaluation that more or less every band over here is somewhat overrated to some extent, which I just cannot agree with, if I got you correctly. If not, I'm struggling to see on which basis you're trying to criticize my comment.

PS. MotS was s**t to me from the first play and my opinion has changed very little, if at all. You can say I'm conforming to "general consensus" and I can reply back by saying you're just trying to "stand out from the crowd for it's own sake, even if your take on things matches with the general consensus". What difference does it make ultimately?
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17.05.2014 - 21:52
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted
Written by Ashesofman on 17.05.2014 at 16:41

The abysmal Mantle is worse, and the mediocre AATG is only slightly better

Not to poke the bear here, and to further off-topic this thread (once again) but you awarded the "abysmal" The Mantle a 7 and "mediocre" AATG an 8, so it seems to be the case that you yourself are a product of this overinflated scoring environment on Metal Storm which you claim to think exists.
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17.05.2014 - 21:54
Rating: 7
Erik M.

Written by Guest on 17.05.2014 at 21:20

PS. MotS was s**t to me from the first play and my opinion has changed very little, if at all. You can say I'm conforming to "general consensus" and I can reply back by saying you're just trying to "stand out from the crowd for it's own sake, even if your take on things matches with the general consensus". What difference does it make ultimately?


Your opinion of MotS being crap is hardly the general consensus. The general opinion is that the first three albums are better, simple as that. Just like the general opinion of AAtG and The Mantle being Agalloch's best albums, which I definitely agree with. Opinions on which is the best are pretty divided, but it's almost always either one of those two albums.
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17.05.2014 - 21:58
Rating: 7
Erik M.

Written by Ashesofman on 17.05.2014 at 16:41

As far as my opinion goes, this album is almost their worst album. The abysmal Mantle is worse, and the mediocre AATG is only slightly better. Marrow and PF are their best albums, in that order. Ask John and he'll tell you AATG is "definitely the worst album we've ever produced" I disagree with him but there's the vocalist's opinion on the matter.


The abysmal Mantle and mediocre AAtG? Lol, you might have a correct world view (judging from what you said about religious people being wrong, which is indeed correct), but it seems you don't recognize quality when you hear it, no offence.
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17.05.2014 - 22:00
Rating: 7
Erik M.

Written by Guest on 17.05.2014 at 21:52

Not to poke the bear here, and to further off-topic this thread (once again) but you awarded the "abysmal" The Mantle a 7 and "mediocre" AATG an 8, so it seems to be the case that you yourself are a product of this overinflated scoring environment on Metal Storm which you claim to think exists.


I didn't check his ratings, but his statements do NOT match his ratings then, which is rather strange. I always try to be as consistent as possible.
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17.05.2014 - 22:02
MechanisT
Account deleted
Written by Erik M. on 17.05.2014 at 21:54

Your opinion of MotS being crap is hardly the general consensus.


Face rested.
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17.05.2014 - 22:04
Rating: 7
Erik M.

Written by Guest on 17.05.2014 at 22:02

Face rested.


He's just pissed you bashed his favourite Agalloch album. He gave it a 10, after all. Pretty hypocritical from his end, because he was the one who said everyone should state their opinions regardless of what other people think or what the general consensus is, yet he criticized your opinion on MotS.

Edit: I re-read his posts and he doesn't really criticize your opinion, to be fair. I think he has a point about people jumping on the bandwagon in some cases, but saying everything is overrated doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I already explained why I don't necessarily agree with the overrated/underrated matter.
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17.05.2014 - 22:07
MechanisT
Account deleted
Written by Erik M. on 17.05.2014 at 22:04

He's just pissed you bashed his favourite Agalloch album. He gave it a 10, after all. Pretty hypocritical from his end, because he was the one who said everyone should state their opinions regardless of what other people think or what the general consensus is, yet he criticized your opinion on MotS.


Yeah, it's pretty obvious looking at his username anyways.
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17.05.2014 - 22:08
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted
Written by Guest on 17.05.2014 at 22:07

Yeah, it's pretty obvious looking at his username anyways.

Ah, I thought his name was a reference to a song from Huldrafolk (Wyrd album).
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17.05.2014 - 22:11
MechanisT
Account deleted
Written by Guest on 17.05.2014 at 22:08

Ah, I thought his name was a reference to a song from Huldrafolk (Wyrd album).


Looking at how he reacted to my little jibe at his favorite album, and the mish-mashy nature of his username, I'd be inclined to think he's an Agalloch fanboy of the highest order and nothing less than that.
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17.05.2014 - 22:40
Ashesofman

I'm criticizing your comment because you said something with a rating of 8.8 is underrated. I think you just made a mistake and you're trying to back pedal right now, but hey we can pretend it was a profound lesson in subjectivity if that's what you'd prefer. Whatever.
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17.05.2014 - 22:42
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted
Well if "abysmal" albums are getting 7/10 and "mediocre" records 8/10 these days then 8.8 could very well be underrated seeing as that apparently translates to slightly-above average.
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17.05.2014 - 22:54
Ashesofman

I rated the albums after making those comments for the record, and a little exaggeration doesn't change anything tbh. For the sake of argument, Mantle is abysmal in comparison to Marrow. The album is lightyears better. On it's own merits, it's okay but in the context of the discography, as their worst album, it is abysmal.
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17.05.2014 - 22:55
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted
I love back pedalling. Goes well with hypocrisy.

At any rate this lovely discussion is massively off-topic and this thread is drenched in it so people should probably just leave it and talk about the album at hand.
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17.05.2014 - 22:56
Ashesofman

And my username is a reference to Huldrafolk, but MechanisT listens to nothing but shit so he wouldn't realize that.
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17.05.2014 - 23:02
MechanisT
Account deleted
So true, so true. When will I ever grow the balls to listen to something more... kvlt?
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17.05.2014 - 23:04
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted
"djent" changes to "shit" and votes change from 7 and 8 to 1 and 2. I was wrong to suggest you were back peddling; you're doing some kind of multi-staged jig!
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17.05.2014 - 23:18
Ashesofman

I had to tweak a couple things, hopefully you're happy with the consistency now.
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17.05.2014 - 23:19
Rating: 6
Karlabos
Meat and Potatos
Written by Karlabos on 14.05.2014 at 23:17



This applies here as well.
Actually I posted it here on this same thread
----
"Aah! The cat turned into a cat!"
- Reimu Hakurei
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17.05.2014 - 23:24
Rating: 6
mz

Written by Karlabos on 17.05.2014 at 23:19

Written by Karlabos on 14.05.2014 at 23:17



This applies here as well.
Actually I posted it here on this same thread


you could insert it in your signature
oh wait, I shall do that
----
Giving my ears a rest from music.
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18.05.2014 - 19:58
Rating: 8
Opethian

Written by Erik M. on 17.05.2014 at 18:07

Written by Opethian on 17.05.2014 at 01:22

Its also safe to say that their really not a Metal band anymore


Not a metal band? This is metal, whether you like it or not.


opinions
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18.05.2014 - 20:00
Rating: 8
Opethian

Written by angel. on 17.05.2014 at 12:05

Written by Opethian on 17.05.2014 at 01:22
Its also safe to say that their really not a Metal band anymore.

what do you mean ? They're not metal anymore ?! How so ?
Written by Opethian on 17.05.2014 at 01:22
Its an Honest piece of Music and that is something that fans should take into consideration

I agree with the part suggesting fans to pay attention to this record but I really like to know what do you mean by "honest piece of music " ? It's just being curious


An Honest Piece of Music, Agalloch is playing what they want to play. Their not giving in to the Mass and doing a Neo Folk/Black Metal Dub Step record
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20.05.2014 - 23:00
Rating: 7
Erik M.

Written by Opethian on 18.05.2014 at 19:58

opinions


Nope, this is metal. That's a fact, not an opinion.
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20.05.2014 - 23:18
Rating: 7
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
Written by Erik M. on 20.05.2014 at 23:00
Nope, this is metal. That's a fact, not an opinion.

I haven't listened to this but what constitutes "metal" these days is becoming increasingly subjective (as per deadone's thread about what is metal these days). I know you like to categorize things in terms of black and white but in the case of Agalloch it isn't that simple.
----
"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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