ALBUM REVIEW: Key To A Vanishing Future – Falls Of Rauros

March 21, 2022March 17, 2022 Will Marshall

We are born into the world without consent, and all the successes and failures of the past are foisted upon us without asking. Such is the starting point and backdrop for FALLS OF RAUROS’ sixth album, Key To A Vanishing Future. Originally founded as a two-piece back in 2005, they have since expanded their line-up to a fully collaborative outfit and, along with it, their sonic palette. That broadening was a deliberate effort with Key To A Vanishing Future; it was to be a new chapter for them. With that in mind, it’s still a record very much rooted in their black metal beginnings, but the folk music elements, as well as detours into more traditional heavy metal territories and more are certainly present and ebb and flow through the album.

Opening softly, Clarity seeps in with clean guitar and drums before distortion creeps in and the song gradually crescendos with the introduction of more layers including tremolo picking. Bells, symphonic flourishes and more signal the change in moods, blending the two together with a seamless transition. These shifts and progressions are clearly influenced by progressive metal and are never jarring; even when blast beats make sudden appearances, it’s in a way that makes sense in the context of the song.

Fortunately, the band are more than capable of keeping up the quality throughout. Second track Desert Of Heart is an emotional piece despite its name; melodious, yearning leads and soaring blackened sections elevate the song from merely the folk metal of old, with its roots in black metal, to something far more enthralling. Its midway lull into folky territory, replete with serene melodies and atmosphere, with even a segue into an arrestingly beautiful guitar solo, underscores this and acts as a counterbalance to its other more ferocious moments.

Survival Poem throws yet another curveball; synths and an atmosphere that treads doomier pastures open, before segueing into frostbitten fury that’s far more reminiscent of the second wave than the usually more progressive or melodic black metal that characterises much of the rest of Key To A Vanishing Future. Where Survival Poem goes for doomy folk, Known World Narrows opens with spaced out prog and the bass takes the lead during its opening moments. What these tracks show, as does the rest of the album, is that FALLS OF RAUROS are far from a one-trick pony, or a band that has plenty of influences but no idea of what to do with them.

Instead, it’s abundantly clear through its 44-minute runtime that this is a band that has a very clear picture of who they are and where they’re going. Key To A Vanishing Future dares to make the bold statement that humanity ultimately has both an unwanted legacy and an expectation placed on it, and the music lives up to such lofty ambitions. Sweeping vistas of sound conjure images of outstanding natural beauty as well as the frailty of existence and nature’s capriciousness, whilst all the while being an enthralling examination of its themes.

Rating: 8/10