| | Full Review | Ratings (829) |
Give your Rating |
| 0.0 | zxlkho | May 5th 14 |
if this album is boring, i want to be bored more often
9 Bumps | Bump |
| 5.0 classic | Amebix | May 5th 14 |
This will be remembered as their Magnum Opus, in a few years this will be the reference for blackened folk metal. It is just too much to handle for the standard black metal jerks!
2 Bumps | Bump |
| 2.5 average | Curse. | May 5th 14 |
I like their previous records (which I admittedly haven't revisited in years), but holy shit
this is a slog to sit through
2 Bumps | Bump |
| 0.0 | Aids | May 14th 14 |
if you think this is bad then honestly you have no business f-word-ing with Coldplay in the first damn place yknow?
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | joitp | May 11th 14 |
Definitely a grower, getting close to becoming my favourite Agalloch release
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | Ignimbrite | May 8th 14 |
Well, I have no fucking clue what album you guys have been listening to.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.5 superb | Bergtatt | May 6th 14 |
The earthiness of Pale Folklore, hypnotic isolating ambiance of Our Fortress Is Burning, cosmic dynamics, restraint, maturity... playing Devil's Advocate got boring about 10 years ago, but I really do enjoy this album, and can already feel these insidious roots growing deeper.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | InFiction | May 6th 14 |
Is everyone here on drugs? This rules. Classic Agalloch.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 2.5 average | Dakota West Foss STAFF | May 5th 14 |
Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills. Repetition kills.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.0 good | SAPoodle | May 5th 14 |
This is Agalloch sounding like a watered down version of Agalloch. "The Astral Dialogue" is
pretty sweet and the opener is a nice return to their earlier doom influences but overall
this is just a chore to sit through. Vanilla as fuck.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 2.0 poor | Athom EMERITUS | May 5th 14 |
Never before has an Agalloch record sounded so Agallochy.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 1.5 very poor | its fkn snowing | October 10th 21 |
an album of lullabies. perfect for getting your kids to sleep. alright plateau of the ages is nice
Bump |
| 3.6 great | Erwann S. STAFF | March 14th 19 |
It clearly has its own atmosphere, but its shadow over my memory is much paler than all previous albums.
Bump |
| 3.5 great | Alabaster Jones | May 4th 17 |
After the release of the career-encompassing and career-best Marrow Of The Spirit, it seemed as if Agalloch didn't have anywhere else to go musically. That notion would prove true with The Serpent And The Sphere, and though it's not a bad album by any means, it's certainly more of a rehash than anything else they had done in their careers. It sounds like The Mantle; many acoustic sections surrounded by slower, doom-influenced post-rock and some faster-paced atmospheric black metal passages. The fact that it's so reminiscent of The Mantle means that the songwriting is pretty predictable, though there's several instances of lovely melodies and refrains that help give the album some needed personality. The acoustic interludes are actually pretty beautiful, and though they might not add all that much, they're still professionally done and help spruce things up a slight bit. It probably would've been better for their discography for this to have been the first Pillorian record, but things will go as they do.
Bump |
| 1.0 awful | EasterInTheBatcave | June 29th 16 |
The first, and hopefully only, big disappointment of 2014. The Serpent and the Sphere is a tedious and mostly uneventful listen whose moments of occasional excellence only serve to highlight how good the record could have been had the band not surrounded them with such boring ones. The album is confusing structurally, and the lack of clean vocals is disappointing, as it robs the record of much dynamic potential. I suppose the three dull instrumental guitar cuts were meant to appease this, but that's just it: they're dull. The production is subpar too: the exclusively harsh vocals are hard to decipher. An enormous letdown.
Bump |
| 0.0 | TheFourthCircle25 | March 1st 16 |
Once again, this album doesn't live up to the originals. There's something about this style that, while it is still great, just keeps the band from going in the direction that many people want them to go. Still a great disc, and in many ways better than MOTS, but still not quite where I want the band to be.
Bump |
| 2.5 average | zaruyache | October 2nd 15 |
This has everything an Agalloch album should have, organized like an Agalloch album should be, but it just doesn't work. For some reason it's like a mimic of the band, lacking the soul of the original. By all rights this should be another great Agalloch record but for some reason it just doesn't move me at all.
Bump |
| 3.0 good | CrazyFool84 | February 14th 15 |
This still has the Agalloch sound, but before reading the general consensus here, this one had all the tell-tale sounds of a band that simply has no new ground to tread. The Serpent and the Sphere isn't a bad album, and really shouldn't come off that way to fans of Agalloch; the real disappointment here lies in the redundant nature, that feeling that he band has hit a wall and maybe it's getting time to pack things up and call it a career. At this point, if Agalloch is going to put another album out, it'll be make or brake for the band, which is not a place I really imagined seeing this band in. A once refreshing sound has sadly become stale.
Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | maninthebox | December 31st 14 |
Serpent and the Sphere: I hate to say it, but Agalloch disappointed me with this release. A band that released such amazingly unique genre defining efforts such as ?Pale Folklore? and ??The Mantle? seemingly merely copies themselves on this release while not really treading any new ground. Still the fact that this so called disappointment is still in the top 20 on my year end list is a testament to just how good Agalloch are. Tracks like ?Dark Matter Gods? and ?Vales Beyond Dimension? are epic beyond compare while Plateau of Ages truly sends the album off in a post rock infused kind of style truly befitting of this band. So in the end is it a misstep for these black metal legends? Yes. But does Agalloch miss a beat in the process? I?d say no. Best Songs: Dark Matter Gods, Celestial Effigy, and Plateau of the Ages
Bump |
| 0.0 | Sowing STAFF | August 26th 14 |
It's different from what we're all used to hearing from Agalloch, but this is still a very well constructed black metal album with plenty of atmosphere to get lost in.
Bump |
| 3.0 good | Minomol | June 12th 14 |
Welp. Dark Matter Gods is a track that saves this album from being completely irrelevant.
Bump |
| 2.8 good | Trey STAFF | May 18th 14 |
I've never been a big fan of these guys, and now I'm even less of one. This is aimless and without the few redeeming qualities that occasionally made them tolerable.
Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | BRAman22 | May 15th 14 |
After more listens, I can say that the interludes are quite nice in the context of the album. Also, after further listening, and seeing Agalloch live, I've realized that there are some pretty solid songs on here. One thing that I will say though, is that, while a good song, Plateau of Ages goes on a bit longer than it should, being the longest song on the album.
Bump |
| 2.5 average | kopfschuss | May 13th 14 |
I began with my first couple of listens optimistic, identifying riffs and segments of tracks that I liked. However, when considering the album as a whole or even particular tracks as a whole, it's clear how much of a mess it is.
Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | Evreaia | May 6th 14 |
An amalgation of Agalloch's earlier, more acoustic work (Pale Folklore) and their latest work (marrow). TS&TS is an album that tries to please both older fans, as well as newer ones. The result is an album that fails to create its own identity in the bands extensive discography. Yet despite all it does wrong, it does two things right.
Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | lobstah | May 6th 14 |
Wow, this is actually an amazing album. Second listing bumped up my rating from 3.5 - 4.0.
Bump |
| 3.5 great | Asmodeuss1990 | May 5th 14 |
GET HYPED. EVERYONE AUTO 5 AND PREPARE FOR THE CIRCLE JERK.
Bump |
| 3.5 great | Bard0 | July 4th 24 |
| 3.5 great | Verdr | March 20th 24 |
| 3.5 great | YRI | October 21st 23 |
| 4.0 excellent | TheGuy | June 6th 23 |
| 3.0 good | Spec | April 19th 23 |
| 4.0 excellent | Halez | March 22nd 23 |
| 3.5 great | haxxiy | March 4th 23 |
| 2.0 poor | Timmy | January 11th 23 |
| 2.5 average | El Olam | October 27th 22 |
| 3.0 good | Bren80 | October 3rd 22 |
| 3.5 great | Kinski | September 12th 22 |
| 3.0 good | Blurbs | January 20th 22 |
| 2.5 average | JoneHK | December 6th 21 |
| 3.0 good | phylyps | September 11th 21 |
| 4.5 superb | Jerrad | August 24th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | quetzal | August 3rd 21 |
| 3.0 good | CYCO27 | April 10th 21 |
| 2.5 average | yayafa | February 1st 21 |
| 3.5 great | Zac124 | November 16th 20 |
| 4.0 excellent | Hyper | November 16th 20 |
| 3.5 great | remi | October 28th 20 |
| 4.0 excellent | hsb | October 27th 20 |
| 3.5 great | Maniac! | September 26th 20 |
| 4.0 excellent | Taran | August 25th 20 |
| 4.5 superb | Zaleb | July 18th 20 |
| 3.0 good | Suyan | June 27th 20 |
| 4.5 superb | yoil | December 31st 19 |
| 3.0 good | JOK | December 3rd 19 |
| 3.5 great | benkim | November 4th 19 |
| 2.5 average | noahfor | September 30th 19 |
| 3.0 good | Elros | September 5th 19 |
| 2.0 poor | ian b | July 22nd 19 |
| 3.5 great | josh | June 26th 19 |
| 4.5 superb | Chuck | March 30th 19 |
| 3.5 great | ArvidL | March 15th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | Hybza | December 31st 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | ARDCWE | November 2nd 18 |
| 5.0 classic | Radex | September 30th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Akifexx | September 27th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Sunnyvale STAFF | September 13th 18 |
| 2.5 average | TrivirT | January 5th 18 |
| 3.0 good | dermox | December 28th 17 |
| 3.5 great | orakst | December 22nd 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | RAGG | December 2nd 17 |
| 3.5 great | lyu103 | October 31st 17 |
| 3.0 good | mingrav | September 17th 17 |
| 3.5 great | mRA | August 31st 17 |
| 3.5 great | YeeHaw | July 11th 17 |
| 2.0 poor | Pon EMERITUS | April 28th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | emmny | March 10th 17 |
| 3.5 great | chanson | February 10th 17 |
| 3.5 great | bSmith | February 8th 17 |
| 2.5 average | Pillbox | January 8th 17 |
| 3.5 great | Rodstar | December 20th 16 |
| 3.0 good | Swarm | November 29th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | GxTxK | October 23rd 16 |
| 3.5 great | SB129 | October 2nd 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | IceMole | August 18th 16 |
| 3.0 good | Ma1ze | August 7th 16 |
| 1.5 very poor | bbgames | July 28th 16 |
| 5.0 classic | Ianman | July 18th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | Absobae | June 14th 16 |
| 2.5 average | Wolfe | June 1st 16 |
| 3.0 good | Snide | May 14th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | Rdawg | May 9th 16 |
| 3.0 good | Crave | May 1st 16 |
| 2.5 average | Diatom | April 10th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | bobby72 | March 10th 16 |
| 3.0 good | Horsey | February 15th 16 |
| 3.0 good | Xerian | February 14th 16 |
| 2.0 poor | TAJ | January 7th 16 |
| 2.5 average | 8genre | January 5th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | Cyroth | November 29th 15 |
| 4.5 superb | Vail | November 21st 15 |
| 4.0 excellent | mEyck97 | November 14th 15 |
| 3.0 good | btati | November 12th 15 |
| 3.5 great | czed | November 8th 15 |
| 3.0 good | Madana | November 1st 15 |
| 3.5 great | fll | October 15th 15 |
| 2.5 average | trve | October 10th 15 |
| 2.0 poor | Runeii | August 31st 15 |
| 4.0 excellent | IrishC | August 23rd 15 |
| 3.0 good | Ciszx | July 13th 15 |
| 4.0 excellent | Sebe | July 5th 15 |
| 2.5 average | swoen | May 17th 15 |
| 3.0 good | Bawub | March 17th 15 |
| 2.5 average | JSPRG | February 26th 15 |
| 3.0 good | Jeclub | January 17th 15 |
| 4.0 excellent | mikep87 | January 14th 15 |
| 2.5 average | DANcore | December 24th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | argonaut | December 15th 14 |
| 3.0 good | Kriss | December 14th 14 |
| 3.0 good | Digis | November 30th 14 |
| 2.5 average | dosia | November 15th 14 |
| 2.5 average | jtswope | November 9th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | arf | November 5th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | Escain | October 31st 14 |
| 2.5 average | PFNPJ | October 30th 14 |
| 3.5 great | ariich | October 3rd 14 |
| 3.0 good | Mikesn EMERITUS | September 29th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | Eligiuss | September 22nd 14 |
| 3.0 good | Marxman | September 13th 14 |
| 3.5 great | goss19 | September 7th 14 |
| 3.0 good | Laymi | September 2nd 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | Pherin | September 1st 14 |
| 3.0 good | Prole | August 23rd 14 |
| 2.5 average | GodL1ke | August 15th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | Dunpeal | August 6th 14 |
| 3.5 great | heck | August 6th 14 |
| 2.0 poor | JS19 | August 3rd 14 |
| 3.5 great | fdrc | August 3rd 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | cb123 | August 2nd 14 |
| 2.5 average | Emyay | July 28th 14 |
| 3.5 great | Surtur | July 27th 14 |
| 5.0 classic | bastni | July 18th 14 |
| 3.5 great | Ayil | July 5th 14 |
| 3.5 great | Dargor | June 30th 14 |
| 2.5 average | ZairoN | June 29th 14 |
| 2.5 average | Hati | June 18th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | Cal665 | June 17th 14 |
| 4.5 superb | alarm | May 31st 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | shanks | May 30th 14 |
| 3.0 good | Thor | May 28th 14 |
| 3.0 good | Warpt | May 24th 14 |
| 3.5 great | Niels | May 24th 14 |
| 4.5 superb | Photon | May 24th 14 |
| 4.5 superb | Ware | May 20th 14 |
| 3.0 good | Nacen | May 19th 14 |
| 3.0 good | ILJ | May 17th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | Gbhill | May 17th 14 |
| 4.5 superb | Wizard | May 17th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | Garm | May 16th 14 |
| 3.5 great | Nud | May 15th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | Kole | May 14th 14 |
| 4.5 superb | Rogn | May 11th 14 |
| 3.5 great | ngk44 | May 10th 14 |
| 3.5 great | ti0n | May 8th 14 |
| 2.5 average | adr | May 7th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | leycec | May 7th 14 |
| 3.5 great | tg103 | May 6th 14 |
| 3.5 great | Cappa | May 6th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | Veldin | May 5th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | Tyrael | May 5th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | Adam | May 5th 14 |
| 3.0 good | Scoot | May 5th 14 |
| 3.5 great | N2B3J | May 5th 14 |
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