This is thesonofthemorning signing in and starting to do his reviews for this. I was originally to start and join in on the review of the new X-men movie such as tinyoceans and themightychewbacca had, though since I managed to miss the logical deadline and appropriate time scale to review the movie in I'm going to skip over reviewing that and jump to what i do best, being overly judgemental about music and i thought i would start on a relatively recent album. Enough of the personal blurb though. Time for an album review that is now a month late (expect more albums review on a much more regular basis and it will mostly be new albums). Agalloch for anyone that doesn't know are a incredibly eclectic band in the world of extreme metal that manage to fuse Neo-Folk, Black Metal, prog and just general atmosphere that most Shoegaze and Dream Pop bands couldn't even dream of creating. When Agalloch announce a new release, it is always highly anticipated by the Extreme Metal world. Agallochs previous efforts have always had very key influences and new experimentation to add the trademark that keep them apart and unique as Agalloch releases, they always manage to have similar traits which agalloch have been famous for though, namely the incredible dreamy atmosphere that John Haughms song writing always manages to possess and even more impressively maintain being fresh through the lengthy career of the band. It is even more impressive considering they are an American band (to escape any people thinking that i have a lesser opinion of American bands and musicians, i don't and i love an incredible amount of American bands, Dreamy atmosphere in Extreme Metal has always been more of a trait of European Bands though). Agalloch on this new album "The Serpent and The Sphere have seemed to have taken a step back in being newly innovative and experimental and have seemed to have went for a more straight approach. As a band Agalloch have always been a slight loose cannon when it comes to what the key influences are from album to album and incredibly this has never created for any disappointing efforts and has only ever been making fans ever more eager for every new release, on this album they are still experimental if compared to most other bands that exist in the world, for Agalloch though, they have seemed to of calmed and brought back the amount of the new experimentation that they always strive to do and have instead, gathered and managed to create what appears to be a much more new form of innovation for them, this albums is more a gathering of the key elements and influences of the bands previous releases and through retouching on the sound and elements of every previous album. They have managed to create what i think is the grand masterpiece of Agalloch. This album collects the Black Metal elements of Pale Folklore, The Neo-Folk and more ambient elements of The Mantle, the innovative song writing structure and style of Ashes Against The Grain and the even more Dreamy and almost shoegaze experimentation that was added to the Agalloch tapestry on Marrow Of The Spirit, through mixing these elements and tying up the elements of every album rather than experimenting and embarking on the journey to new sounds and influences, they have managed to create what I think is the pinnacle sound of Agallochs career. I think the most noticeable change they have on this album is the noted revival of the more Extreme Metal oriented elements which was actually continually disappearing on the latest previous releases. On this album they seemed to have went back to the more Metal oriented roots which is very big relief considering how many bands that have a similar amount of experimentation and dreaminess in the metal world have effectively discarded the metal elements from any new releases as if its going out of fashion (Alcest, I'm looking at you) and as much as I love shoegaze and ambient being key influences in these bands and even to such an extreme that they write out the metal elements from any recent music (Anathema did a brilliant job of that), its a breath of fresh air to see that instead Agalloch have embraced the metal elements on this album. The producer of the album is Billy Anderson of Sleep and Neurosis production fame. The production is crystal and almost noticeably digital and yet still manages to very impressively maintain the atmosphere and delicateness of the Agalloch sound, for a producer that is famed for producing mostly Doom and Sludge bands and creating such sonically destructive and crushing albums that could make any venue a pile of rubble (Sleeps album Dopesmoker always has that effect), he really knows how to handle the very light and delicate elements of Agallochs sound and make them shine through the entire album, i think this incredible production is actually a a major factor of what makes the album brilliant. Some Key songs on the album are the intro track "Birth and Death of the Pillars of Creation" which has an almost Funeral Doom feeling to the atmosphere and tempo of the track, it makes for a great atmospheric kick start to the album and is so beautiful, haunting and dark that i have a feeling that it bring a grown man to his knees in tears. The instrumentation has such depth through the entire song which keeps you hooked and focused to every note of the song, though it still gives every instrument room to breathe which is very impressive considering the very doom oriented guitar tone the song has which to most bands sound would manage to swallow any room for other instruments and make minimal (which can be sonically pulverising and incredible for many bands such as Conan, though would destroy Agalloch's sound), on this album though, they still manage to give every instrument its own space even when the guitar tone is so sonically deep and large, for this album, it really is the best introduction you can ask for. Another key song on the album for me is "Celestial Effigy" which is a personal favourite for me and is a portrait of classic Agalloch. This song is possibly the lightest and the most delicate of the metal oriented songs on the album, The song is so powerful and yet still incredibly delicate and gives you a feeling that it has a personal grip over you through the entire song, John Haughm's vocals are so raspy and yet still beautiful, he has an almost whispered style of screaming that is so haunting and really makes this song even more special. The instrumentation of the song takes a more Prog oriented turn and incorporates some King Crimson-turned bleak Folk influence which to me keeps me even more intrigued through the entire song, through so much technicality, it still manages to have such an incredibly dreamy atmosphere that really steals your heart. I think the only slight criticising comment I can make it on  how the album has 3 interludes which i think is personally slightly too much, these interludes are strictly acoustic guitar by Musk Ox's Nathanaël Larochette, though the interludes make for a brilliant entrance into the songs that follow them and really make the album have such a magic and beautiful flow to it, this album is that brilliant I even have to turn slight criticism of it into a compliment. This album to me really is a staple in the vast career of this band. This album really collects every element from every era and reincarnation of this bands sound and manages to show how far this band has come since Pale Folklore and how expansive a sound they can have and i think this really is an album that has been in the making for years through the amount of growth the band has went through. I really think this is the pinnacle album for Agalloch and is a testament to how innovative and creative you can be and how much musical depth you can have in metal. This album really is an emotional Journey that captures your heart and has such power that most modern albums can barely touch, this is the band that is really taking Black Metal to new levels and always has been more than any other band that is still relevant and i think will continue to do this for many years and many more releases.

That's pretty much the story of how my parents met, and had me. And they're great, really they are. Fun, hard working and surprisingly handsome. Mom has some serious crows feet and Dad's not exactly Hollywood, but I'm pretty sure he used to be. There are all these photos of him in Mom's books – she stashes photos in her favourite novels, it's kinda cute. Well, they used to be really handsome, anyway. And somehow, they made me. My aunt told me they tried for a long time to have kids. Maybe it's not so picture perfect production line, but it's dull either way. All we do is school and work and monopoly and save and save for god-knows-what. Well, apparently it's a holiday to some dull, ugly, beach town four hours up the coast. There's a roller-coaster and some rides on the beach; stalls with people selling shirts and fridge magnets and jewellery and ice cream and corn dogs. But we're not there. We're probably not going anywhere near there.