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Agalloch
Of Stone, Wind and Pillor


4.0
excellent

Review

by dUSK USER (15 Reviews)
April 7th, 2006 | 53 replies


Release Date: 2001 | Tracklist


To begin with, it should be noted that although Of Stone, Wind And Pillor was released in 2001, two years after the release of their debut album, Pale Folklore, it was actually written before that. Listening to the EP, it's pretty obvious it was written at around that time, as a lot of it could have easily gone onto their first album. However, Agalloch waited two years before they got around to releasing this beauty on the 28th of May, 2001.

The first three of the five songs on the EP are new versions of songs seen on their two prior demo releases. I haven't heard how they orignally sounded, but they've certainly done a good job with them. The albums opener, and title track, was my gateway to Folk Metal and I've been hooked since. The acoustically strummed intro is quickly leads to a dark, ambient sounding atmosphere, which compliments the more agressive aspect of the band beautifully. The vocals are great, not because they are technically brilliant, but because they are blend so well with the rest of the music.

Foliorum Viridium and Haunting Birds are both instrumental tracks, and I find it difficult not to think of them as one individual song. The transition between the two is very smooth, making it seem like one song with two parts. Foliorum Viridium consists only of layered keyboards, a piano, and possibly some very distant operatic vocals. It's a very soothing song, making use of long drawn out notes. Haunting Birds then enters with some cleanly picked acoustic guitar. A second guitar then enters, and the two progress through the song, adding various ideas as it goes along, whilst being accompanied by a powerful sounding bass drum. The whole song sounds very much like something that could be heard on Ulver's Kveldssanger.

The fourth track, Kneel To The Cross, is a cover originally done by a group called Sol Invictus. It opens by chanting "Summer is a coming, arise, arise" whilst keyboards rise in the backgroud. This goes on for a good minute and a half, before quickly fading out and the band enters. There's a deep, slowly strummed distorted riff, highlighted by an acoustic guitar playing in the background. Vocals are clean and very well sung, if not a little repetative though. There's some nice harmonies happening as well. Again, Agalloch have created a great atmosphere. The church bell in the background towards the mid point of the song is nice touch. Although I haven't heard the original version of this song, I'm prepared to go out on a limb and say that it's a great cover.

A Poem By Yeats is the albums final track, and is pretty ambient sounding. It's soft, driven by keyboards and a combination of sung and spoken vocals, with a little piano thrown into the mix. The songs title describes exactly what the lyrics are, ie; A Poem By Yates. The poem is called The Sorrow of Love and was written by William Butler Yeats. It's a great closing song, but the final four minutes of silence is pretty unecessary, as there is only some weird radio transmission kind of noise at the end.

Pros
- The EP generates an awesome atmosphere
- Very accessible, particularly to those just getting into Folk Metal

Cons
- Lack of new/original material, but that's being pretty picky.

Overall, the EP is great. The dark, gloomy atmosphere Agalloch have managed to create here is pretty impressive, and there isn't really any faults with this release that I can see. I recommend it to any fan of Agalloch's other work, or Folk Metal in general.

Minor Details

Album Info
Label: The End Records
Playing Time: 28:00
Release Date: May 28th, 2001

Line Up
Guitar: Don Anderson
Vocals/Guitar/Drums: John Haughm
Bass: Jason Walton
Keyboards/Piano: Shane Breyer



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user ratings (338)
3.7
great


Comments:Add a Comment 
Med57
Moderator
April 7th 2006


1002 Comments


I checked out Agalloch (precisely because they seem to be the answer to most threads in R&M) and was quite disappointed. Given the praise they get, I was expecting something that stuck with me for longer, but it didn't happen. The Mantle is the only full album by them that I've heard, so I can't really comment on this specifically though.

dUSK
April 7th 2006


94 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

[QUOTE=Jom]I dig your review structure a ton. Awesome review.[/QUOTE]



I stole the idea for the Minor Details at the bottom from TojesDoLan. I thought it looked awesome in one of his reviews, so I replicated it.

Txus
April 8th 2006


75 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

outstanding review man. I love this album as all the other Agalloch albumsm, they are my dope of each day as most of you have noticed already.



Great job Mac.

Neurotoxin
April 16th 2006


90 Comments


Their cover of "Kneel to the Cross" is twenty times as good as the original, and I'm a huge Sol Invictus fan.

Unreal
October 9th 2007


229 Comments


this is pretty average compared to their over stuff

Crysis
Emeritus
October 9th 2007


17640 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

If anyone knows where I can buy this album provide me a link plz.

Hawks
March 27th 2008


93615 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

I want this really bad. I've been looking for it for a while and i cant find it anywhere. Anyone know where to find it?

Digging: Black Curse - Burning in Celestial Poison

slep
May 31st 2008


1604 Comments


The title track is awesome, but I'm just bored with everything else.

Shrapnel94
July 13th 2009


2213 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Been trying to get into this band, but seeing as I already have this i should just listen to it before anything else.

BallsToTheWall
July 13th 2009


51592 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Is good.

Digging: Fulci - Tropical Sun

Shrapnel94
July 13th 2009


2213 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

is it totally kvlt?



EDIT: its totally kvlt.

Crysis
Emeritus
September 29th 2009


17640 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

The first three tracks on this are just awesome.

Eakflanderyof
September 30th 2009


5898 Comments


Their cover of "Kneel to the Cross" is twenty times as good as the original, and I'm a huge Sol Invictus fan.


Yes it is.

Wizard
September 30th 2009


20564 Comments


Still need to find this.

Crysis
Emeritus
October 1st 2009


17640 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

If you're looking to get a physical copy of this Karl be prepared to shell out. I've been tracking this each time it shows up on ebay and every time it sold for over $100. I resorted to downloading it.

Meatplow
December 15th 2009


5523 Comments


This is my first taste of Agalloch, only reference I had beforehand is the cover of Kneel To The Cross. It's pretty good, I prefer Sol Invictus though ;]

The rest of the songs on here are decent, this could grow on me.

Crysis
Emeritus
December 15th 2009


17640 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Agalloch grows on you like a beanstalk

Motiv3
May 19th 2010


9175 Comments


another excellent ep, this and white ep isnt too far off their album quality.

Crysis
Emeritus
May 21st 2010


17640 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

"Haunting Birds" is a brilliant instrumental.

EnCrypt.
July 6th 2010


882 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Yup this is fantastic



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