So three listens in and I'm still not really sure what to think. I like the album and I really like a select few songs, namely Birth, Astral and Celestial. So far I think the first half of the album is much better. Dark Matters God even grew on me a lot. But the 2nd half is doing little for me and the acoustic pieces are worthless.

Not sure if this is even as good as Marrow tbh. Time will tell.

Album Rating: 3.5

great review

Album Rating: 4.5

Damn good review but you've had this for a 2 days now.

Album Rating: 3.5

it's inevitable wiz people have opinions on music set in stone after a few hours these days it's pretty hilarious

Album Rating: 4.5

And that's why I'm peacing-the-fuck-out of Agalloch threads until Kyle or Noctus post their opinions. I value theirs a lot more than anyone elses on the matter.

Album Rating: 3.5

The Wizhammer is looming, finish us off Wiz!

Album Rating: 2.5

I'm determined to find a way to like this...I guess it'll be similar to when I heard Marrow last year, which I resolved to accept as a relevant part of their discog regardless of a lot of antihype. I guess this is still a (postivie) form of prejudice, but if it works out, I'll be gaining from it

Album Rating: 3.5

I liked Marrow more than this on the first few listens. There's far between standout moments and sections but the middle of the album is good. I'll have to go with Vales Beyond Dimension as the strongest track, at least for now.

Album Rating: 2.5

Not many seem people seem to mention Vales or Plateau...any comments for someone with no real expectation of either? Also, I value your opinion somewhat just from your avatar

Album Rating: 3.5

plateau is a solid post-rock song but far too unspectacular to justify it's length. vales is catchy but too often it just takes off all the steam with calmer passages suddenly appearing. ok songs i guess but wasted potential.



also i think that pillars is really great. especially when the guitar kicks in at 3:30. that's just uber awesome. yeah the acoustic parts are kinda dull but fuck it i got this. one of those songs where the atmosphere of it sucks you in immediately

The only real worthless acoustic song is the last one I think, the album should have ended with Plateau.

Album Rating: 3.5

Great job man! And thank The Lord for a good review of this haha

Album Rating: 2.0

I hope this is like Alcest in the sense most people found it boring but I ended up enjoying it a lot.

Album Rating: 2.5

:] Thanks for the compliments, everyone! Just wish the damn ghost negging would stop, but whatever.

Album Rating: 2.5

I'm actually digging this quite a bit right now

My understanding is that Sputnik wont feature a review until within a few days of the release date, right?

If that's the case, what's the point of rushing a review for a release that's a week away and been streaming for just a few days?

Album Rating: 2.5

sorry but i didn't read this review (didn't neg either). i never bought into the whole "agalloch = winter" movement. i listen to them all the time. maybe its because i come from the southern united states where we don't get snow and don't get that extreme cold weather, but i just found the review to be alienating bc it appeared (i skimmed it) to be focusing on agalloch's supposed relationship with winter

Album Rating: 2.5

The Serpent and the Sphere, was not of its merit, but rather that the album would be unfitting with the time of season.

Also true, Captain.

Yeah, I have never associated music with certain times of the year or being indoors or outdoors. I just found out that people do that pretty recently.

Album Rating: 2.5

Ecnalzen: Never realized that was Sputnik's policy. In any event, this review wasn't rushed at all, I just put it out as soon as I was finished with writing it. It would be the same review if the album had been released for two years.



Emyay: Thanks for being honest. I also live in the southern US where it's hot nearly year-round so I get what you mean, however a huge part of why I love Agalloch so much was there uncanny ability to capture the music of Winter; of the cold, snowy, mountainy, foresty areas. However I didn't want to make that the focus of the review, I was trying to use it to eximplify how average and mediocre this album is. Sorry if my review didn't speak to you, hopefully if you decide to read it in full you'll see some of what I was going for.