by Seth Garcia

Agalloch is one of those bands that just keeps getting better with time. They’re currently touring in support of their newest album, The Serpent and the Sphere. As a whole, The Serpent is certainly less heavy than some of their other material, especially their previous release, Marrow of the Spirit. Knowing this, a lot of people were skeptical of how this would translate live. I overheard several conversations from skeptical fans about how heavy the show would turn out to be–after all, Agalloch is a metal band and the people needed to mosh.

The night started out with the black metal duo Obsidian Tongue who, despite only playing a set of three songs, managed to seriously impress the audience. It only took one song for people to throw up the horns and begin toasting beers. Obsidian Tongue’s hometown is Boston, and they wanted to make the night a special one. Two of the songs they played had never been played live before, and for their last song, John Haughm of Agalloch provided the vocals. In the words of Obsidian Tongue’s frontman Brendan James, “this is a special night.” It certainly turned out to be one.

The next band to come up was Jex Thoth. The heavy metal outfit was led by—and named after—female vocalist and possible witch Jex Thoth. The band’s heavy riffing, constant organ solos and massive sideburns were all a wicked 70’s throwback. Thoth marched around in a motherfucking cape and lit little scrolls in effigy throughout her stunning performance. While I’m not so sure the band’s vibe fit into the night, they definitely wowed the crowd. Thoth was an expert frontwoman, and really managed to weave her spell over the place.

Then came the mighty Agalloch. The place was pretty tense with anticipation at that point. The audience was in luck though, because Agalloch crushed it. After the light guitar intro of “Serpens Caput”—during which frontman John Haughm lit a fire in a small pot—the band took up their axes and pounded out “The Astral Dialogue”, “Limbs” and a few other of their heavier numbers. The smoke from the fire threw the stage into a haze from which the band moved in and out. The NO MOSHING/CROWD SURFING sign hung hilariously behind the stage, doing absolutely nothing to stop both from happening immediately.

Their setlist largely drew from their new album but still contained a few treasures from the past. They even managed to pull out “…and the Great Cold Death of the Earth” from The Mantle, which was pretty special. They abandoned any acoustic movements in their songs; instead focusing their sound into a wall of heavy guitar riffs. Haughm even replaced the death whispers ever present in their music with full on black metal howls. They turned their meditative, folky doom into a powerhouse, and people went crazy for it. Guitarist Don Anderson was especially revved up, constantly throwing his instrument around without missing a single riff. His stage presence was contrasted against bassist Jason William Walton, whose stoic manner made him look like a complete badass.

By the time Haughm addressed the crowd with a hello, the moshers had already torn off all their shirts and were in full battle mode. After complaining about the heat, Haughm announced that “we’ll suffer together,” which I think summed up the ‘happy to be unhappy’ mood of the night pretty well.

Agalloch ended the show with “Plateau Of The Ages”, the monster closer to The Serpent and the Sphere. At that point, the place had gone into a frenzy. With each slow, perfectly-timed blast the audience descended deeper into chaos. With the pit completely dissolved, people had dropped to their knees, headbanging with their heads in their hands while others screamed and writhed about on the ground. It was awesome.

Overall, Agalloch showed themselves to be a killer live act. They proved their expertise by taking their songs—which are more intricate than you’d think—and really turning them into crushing numbers for the crowd. They may have been around for almost 20 years now, but these guys are without a doubt at their best.