The last album from Portland, OR’s Agalloch — 2010’s Marrow Of The Spirit — felt like an apex for modern American heavy metal, a peak reached after years of climbing. In its wake the band (and the scene) should have had nowhere to go but down, but instead, Agalloch just went out. Where Marrow explored visions of earthbound mortality, The Serpent & The Sphere contemplates the vastness of the universe alongside concepts of eternal recurrence. It’s heady stuff, and the album demands some dedication. But it’s not all Sagan and Schopenhauer; The Serpent & The Sphere also finds Agalloch straight-up kicking ass harder and heavier than ever before. –Michael [LISTEN]