The Serpent & the Sphere

The Serpent & the Sphere
Studio album by Agalloch
Released	May 13, 2014
Studio	Cloud City Sound, Portland, Oregon Everything Hz, Portland, Oregon
Genre	Black metal, doom metal, neofolk, folk metal
Length	59:46
Label	Profound Lore
Agalloch chronology
Faustian Echoes (2012) The Serpent & the Sphere (2014) ""Alpha Serpentis (Unukalhai)" single (2014)

The Serpent & the Sphere is the fifth album by American metal band Agalloch. It was released on May 13, 2014 in the U.S., followed by releases on May 16 in Germany and and May 19 in Europe.^[1][2]

Track listing

^[3]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Birth and Death of the Pillars of Creation"	10:28
2.	"(serpens caput)"	3:06
3.	"The Astral Dialogue"	5:11
4.	"Dark Matter Gods"	8:36
5.	"Celestial Effigy"	6:59
6.	"Cor Serpentis (the sphere)"	2:58
7.	"Vales Beyond Dimension"	6:48
8.	"Plateau of the Ages"	12:26
9.	"(serpens cauda)"	3:12
Total length:		59:46

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	84/100[4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AbsolutePunk	8/10[5]
The Austin Chronicle	[6]
Exclaim!	10/10[7]
Metal Hammer	6/7[8]
Metal Storm	8,3/10[9]
Pitchfork Media	8.3/10[10]
Slant Magazine	[11]
Spin	8/10[12]
Sputnikmusic	2/5[13]
Tiny Mix Tapes	[14]

The album received mostly positive reviews. Michael Toland of The Austin Chronicle described the album as "one boot in balmy progressive folk and the other in frigid black metal" with "some of its prettiest, most haunted acoustic textures and heaviest, raspiest roars". Kim Kelley of Spin stated that the band's "blackened sound" is "more pronounced than ever" while describing the production as "impeccable: Agalloch have never sounded so rich, so full".

Personnel

Agalloch

• John Haughm – guitars, acoustic guitar, vocals, whisper, percussion
• Don Anderson – guitars, piano, keyboards
• Jason William Walton – bass
• Aesop Dekker – drums

Guest musicians

• Nathanaël Larochette (Musk Ox) – acoustic guitars

References

1. "Some news...". Agalloch. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
2. "...and for the Europeans...". Agalloch. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
3. "AGALLOCH – Complete Work On New Album". Profound Lore Records. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
4. "The Serpemt & the Sphere". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2014-05-14.
5. Jenkins, Jake. "Agalloch – The Serpent & The Sphere". AbsolutePunk. SpinMedia. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
6. Toland, Michael (June 27, 2014). "Agalloch". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
7. Walschots, Natalie (2014-05-12). "Album Review". Exclaim.ca. Retrieved 2014-05-14.
8. Müller, Robert (June 2, 2014). "Review zum Album THE SERPENT & THE SPHERE von Agalloch". Metal Hammer (in German). TeamRock. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
9. R'Vannith (May 13, 2014). "Agalloch – The Serpent & The Sphere review". Metal Storm. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
10. Currin, Grayson (2014-05-16). "Agalloch: The Serpent and The Sphere". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
11. Sweeney, Joe (2014-05-09). "Agalloch: The Serpent & the Sphere | Music Review". Slant Magazine. Slantmagazine.com. Retrieved 2014-05-14.
12. Kelly, Kim (May 14, 2014). "Agalloch's Blackened Folk Metal Soothes the Soul on 'The Serpent & the Sphere'". Spin. SpinMedia. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
13. Ward, Kyle (2014-05-11). "Agalloch. The Serpent and The Sphere". Sputnikmusic.com. Retrieved 2014-05-20.
14. Embling. "Agalloch – The Serpent and The Sphere". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved February 28, 2015.