Keys to a Vanishing Future

Falls of Rauros

"Key to a Vanishing Future" is an intended departure from the sounds explored throughout the […]
April 17, 2022
Falls of Rauros - Keys to a Vanishing Future album cover

"Key to a Vanishing Future" is an intended departure from the sounds explored throughout the band's back catalog, while still retaining characteristics inherent to the band. Never content to make the same album twice, the group has once again invited new influences into their aesthetic, this time including more explicit nods to Death Metal and Prog Rock while still drilling deeper into the Black Metal and North American Folk-Rock that makes up their core sound." The album contains six tracks.

"Clarity" leads off the album. It begins with clean and positive tones while vile bass notes hold down the background. Harsh vocals roll in and the song takes on a different quality. The chord progressions are odd and unexpected. The combination of harsh vocals with steady and smooth rhythms makes for an intriguing listening experience that I am not sure what to make of. "Desert of Heart" opens with more clean and pure tones while harsh vocals rage in the background. Meaty bass notes can be heard as it segues into darkness. The constant push and pull of both styles are hard to imagine, and I keep waiting for one to take over the other, but it never really happens.

"Survival Poem" is another tender song that flirts with elements of death...frail and beautiful death if that is even a thing. Following a harsh passage, melodic elements appear out of nowhere...warm and pleasing. I feel gutted but satiated at the same time and it's an odd feeling that I look to continue. "Known World Narrows" begins with thicky and meaty bass notes along with some clean guitars that just make you feel good. Harsh vocals and a sterile, frozen wind nip at your body, but you don't even seem to care. You plod on through the rough overgrowth and are losing blood, but your resolve is stronger. You grow weary but forge ahead, and nothing can break you.

"Daggers in Floodlight" opens with charming but somewhat solemn tones. Bass guitar keeps chugging away in the background while the guitars build these pretty melodies. Baneful tones enter after but the melody clings like the last bite of winter on a warm spring day. "Poverty Hymn" brings the album to a close. Beginning with harsh vocals and a heavier sound, beauty hangs on by a thread. As it begins to fade, it pushes forward hard with one last gasp of air, lasting through the end of the song. Beauty will always beat darkness, lest the world fall to despair.

I love the combination of styles here. At times, the beauty can be overwhelming, and the darkness all-consuming. Never fully committing to either the clean, melodic, and hopeful tones, but never abandoning the brutal and punishing tones, the album rides the fence throughout, offering the listener the best of both worlds if you will. It's that age-old adage that there can definitely be beauty found in death, you just have to open your mind and look.

8 / 10

Excellent

Songwriting

8

Musicianship

9

Memorability

8

Production

8
"Keys to a Vanishing Future" Track-listing:

1. Clarity
2. Desert of Heart
3. Survival Poem
4. Known World Narrows
5. Daggers in Floodlight
6. Poverty Hymn

Falls of Rauros Lineup:

Aaron Charles - Guitar, Vocals
Jordan Guerette - Guitar, Vocals, Keyboards
Evan Lovely - Bass
Ray Capizzo - Drums

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