Agalloch: The Serpent & the Sphere (2014)

Yesterday's post was on a Portland, Oregon band called Bewitcher in which I discussed how much of a metal hotbed the Northwestern city has become.  When one thinks of metal from Portland, Oregon though, mostly the first band to come to mind would be Agalloch.  The band has become the quintessential band that has come to define the scene and the so-called "Cascadian" black metal sound in particular.

It has only really been recently that I have gotten into Agalloch.  For a long time I kind of avoided them due to their being lumped in with groups like Neurosis and Isis and their post-metal leanings.  It did not help that the band was often embraced by the more hipster-leaning metal crowd.  And so, it took some time before I got around to checking out the band.  I am sorry it took so long.

There are a lot of post-metal moments, moments where the aggression drains from the music and what is left is some melodic guitar noodling and not much else.  But these are often juxtaposed against much heavier sections, and in moments like "Celestial Effigy", even though the post-metal noodling is the primary part of the song, the band keeps things ever interesting by combining it with blackened growled vocals.  Tracks like "The Astral Dialogue" are as close to the band's black metal foundation as it gets, but even that one is not immune from some post-metal musings.  Much of the album is somber and there is a heavy doom metal influence.  The various sound textures explored by the band come off as beautiful, yet hostile, a sound that reflects nature itself, something the band has sought to do from the very beginning.

The album seems to be a concept piece, which would not be unusual for Agalloch.  Sort of a universal creation centered around the idea of a great serpent eating its own tail: where something ends, something begins.  And the album itself follows suit with the final track "(Serpens Cauda)" leading back into the opening track when the album is played over again. 

This is Agalloch's final album and they went out on a high note.  It takes a few listens to begin to understand and it is certainly not as immediate as say, the album from yesterday.  There are a lot of layers to the album's sound and repeated listens inevitably lead to more discoveries.  That being said, it is an incredibly thought-out and dense release that wraps up the band's career remarkably well.

Agalloch: Ashes Against the Grain

Believe it or not, up until a few weeks ago, I had never heard Agalloch.  I had heard of them, but I never really checked them out.  I am not really sure why.  Perhaps it is due to the band's well-regarded status in the more hipster-oriented metal circles.  Alongside groups like Neurosis and Isis, Agalloch was one of the bands that made it okay for hipsters to enjoy metal.  Or maybe it was just that I never got around to it.  Whatever the reason, when I was recently at the used music store and picking up a couple of W.A.S.P. albums, I also decided to get my first Agalloch album.

The music on this album is very rich and textured.  I read an interview with the band recently in which they stated that they were heavily influenced by films, yes the hipster flag went up when I read that.  I would agree very strongly that Agalloch's sound is very cinematic.  The band would be able to easily make the transition to fully instrumental band.  It is extremely dramatic and does sound like something that would be playing in the background of some artsy film involving the forests in the Pacific Northwest.

Agalloch's music is clearly based in black metal.  But to call them a black metal band would be a gross oversimplification.  There is so much more going on here and the band definitely does not sound like a stereotypical black metal band.  For the most obvious reason, their music actually borders on the beautiful.  Agalloch have smoothed out the rough edges, improved the production value, and added layer upon layer of melody.  They have also allowed for the influence of folk music to shine through in parts.  The result is impressive, if not terribly aggressive.

I mentioned that they would be able to make the transition to an instrumental band earlier.  It is not as if the vocals are bad in any way.  The clean vocals fit the music quite well, and the raspier black metal vocals also sound surprisingly good.  I just think that this band could go that route without any real problem.  There are hardly any vocals on this album as it is.  Agalloch lets their music do the talking most of the time anyway.