Description
20th Anniversary release of Agalloch's classic early recording, remastered and equipped with extended artwork in a nice package.
"The song "Of Stone, Wind, and Pillor" is significant for a couple of reasons. First, it's one of our oldest songs having been written by John after the From Which of this Oak demo and was the oldest song in our live set. Second, it was the first time we became a "band." John played everything on the demo while I only provided guitar solos. But this song featured me on second guitar and Jason Walton on bass. So, this is the first time in our recorded history that we appear as a "band." I place that word in quotes because at this time John was still playing drums.
The original idea for this EP was a 7inch featuring only the title track, "Foliorum Viridium," and "Haunting Birds." This plan, however, fell through. And so these songs sat on the shelf for some time while we recorded the Promo 98 demo and finally our debut Pale Folklore.
After Pale Folklore came out and was well-received our label The End Records wanted to quickly put something else out. They asked if we had any extra material that might make an EP. We had recently recorded a cover of "Kneel to the Cross" by Sol Invictus for a very limited and obscure Sol Invictus Tribute 2CD called Sol Lucet Omnibus released on Cynfeirrd. We knew the cover would receive limited exposure on the tribute, so decided to include it. Finally, Shane Breyer composed a new piece titled "A Poem by Yeats." All of this material combined to make what is now known as the Of Stone, Wind, and Pillor EP.
Both "Kneel to the Cross" and the title track made regular appearances in our live set. "Of Stone..." translated well live and seemed to be a fan favorite. We continued to develop it live. I converted the middle melody into a two-hand tapping melody I felt sat better with the chord changes. Aesop added rhythmic accents throughout. It was a song we enjoyed playing live. Our arrangement of "Kneel to the Cross" would go on to influence how we arranged much of the acoustic guitars on The Mantle. Revisiting this EP now, I am still proud of it and think it flows well despite having been pieced together."
- Don Anderson on behalf of Agalloch, 2021
