Late last week we decided to start running a series of posts on long songs that actually warrant the time required to consume them. All of the songs we have in mind are quite recent releases from quite interesting bands. Our first installment was a 16+ minute song by Hull. Today, we’ve got one that’s almost 12 minutes long. It’s called “The Watcher’s Monolith” and it will appear on the forthcoming album by Oregon’s Agalloch.
Agalloch is a blazingly talented underground band with a global cult following that seems to care very little about self-promotion. They create their music with devotion to detail, they release it when they’re ready and not before, and they’re constantly exploring. If by chance you’re not familiar with Agalloch, they’re not easy to shove into a genre pigeon-hole, in part because the music has evolved so significantly over the course of their discography. To varying degrees, they incorporate elements of black metal, folk metal, pagan metal, progressive rock, and — well, maybe you get the idea.
Agalloch’s new album, Marrow of the Spirit, will be released on November 23 via Profound Lore Records. This will be the band’s fourth full-length release, and of course it’s highly anticipated in certain circles (including the somewhat oblong circle here at NCS). In the run-up to that release, Agalloch’s John Haughm granted an interview to Stereogum, and in conjunction with that interview, Stereogum debuted “The Watcher’s Monolith” two days ago. In a word, it’s awesome. (more after the jump, including the song . . .) Continue reading »