Written by:	D.T. Metal
Published:	July 13, 2014
Event:	Agalloch: Serpens In Cvlmination Tour 2014
Location:	Gothic Theatre, Denver, CO, USA
Galleries:	Agalloch - Gothic Theatre, Englewood USA - 8 Jul 2014 by D.T. Metal (19)

I was out of town two years ago when Agalloch played in Denver the last time, so when I first saw that they were scheduled to play at the Gothic Theatre in Englewood, CO (a suburb of Denver) I was actually rather surprised. Are they really that big? Would the thousand plus capacity venue be largely empty?





But, I had the distinguished pleasure to see them perform at this year's Maryland Deathfest and my doubts about a possible Colorado attendance issue went away. Ignorance is bliss, the word had spread over the years that Agalloch is a band not to be missed, and by the time I arrived at the venue a substantial line had already formed to enter the venue.

The one-man-project Thrones actually opened for Agalloch at the Colorado gig and while this was not my cup of tea, kudos to Joe Preston for doing his own thing and making music. Apparently he was also the driver for Agalloch and performed only at the last couple tour stops; with Colorado actually being the last date on their run.

Then, accompanied with the soothing sounds of "(Serpens Caput)" and holding a lit candle, John Haughm stepped out of the dark and onto the smoke filled stage to light some incense, which he put into some small cauldrons right up front. Surreal moment to say the least, but very fitting for the music Agalloch plays nevertheless.



After the intro they followed promptly with "The Astral Dialogue" off their latest release The Serpent & The Sphere and people really got into their new material. So much that during the second (or third?) song a small group of people started a mosh pit Odd, but I guess these days' people will mosh to just about anything. Thankfully they either came to their senses or the stern and disapproving looks by us up front deterred them from continuing and the pit stopped as promptly as it had started.

Agalloch played an assortment of new as well as old songs and their arrangement within the set made for a very pleasant, and at times dreamlike, listening experience. John Haughm was in top form, not only on guitar, but his raspy voice carried the tunes with such emotion - again, surreal. Emotion? Hell yes. It is very easy to get lost in trance during some of Agalloch's tunes.



About an hour into their set, while standing in the back of the venue by the bar so I could take it all in from a different perceptive, the promoter told me that the band originally was scheduled not to play a full set because their drive over to Denver was long and exhausting. Bummed out I was happy to hear that the initial info to the promoter changed a couple of times during their performance.

Somehow Agalloch got a 'second wind', fueled by the awesomeness of the crowd. A song into their encore, John dedicated a song to a guy who has/had a record store in Montana and drove all the way to Colorado just to see them. He explained that said dude handed him Slayer's Hell Awaits back when he was a (music)hungry teenager and the rest was history. "Normally the set would be over by now, so enjoy the next 30 minutes ? buddy, here is "Of Stone, Wind, And Pillor" just for you". Amazing! And after this one they played one more song, "Plateau Of The Ages" I think, but could be wrong.



What an awesome night that was and I can't wait for the mighty Agalloch to return to my neck of the woods, but hopefully I won't have to wait another two long years.