Key to a Vanishing Future

Hard to believe that New England foursome Falls of Rauros have been a constant unit for nearly 20 years with no major personnel changes as far as I can tell. Their output of six albums, a compilation cassette and some smaller releases over the years may not seem much and the pandemic lockdowns over 2020 – 2021 must have affected their ability to work and play music together. But these guys came storming back in 2022 with Album No 6 "Keys to a Vanishing Future", in which they survey what legacy we are leaving future generations of humans, and find that that legacy is not one we'd wish upon our enemies and friends alike. A legacy of global environmental destruction, warfare and the degradation it causes to individuals, nations, cultures and ecosystems alike, the toxins left behind, not to mention demented ideologies in which lies are considered truth and truth is considered falsehood: what a burden our descendants will have to bear. FoR ponder what future humans might experience and how they will react to this heavily poisoned chalice that they will have to inherit.

The last FoR album that I heard, "Believe in No Coming Shore", saw the band moving into melodic post-BM with progressive tendencies. Here on "Keys …", FoR continue with their post-BM / progressive rock direction, adding some death metal vocals and perhaps influences from blues, jazz and other genres, all coalescing into music of quite complex structures and rhythms. The six songs on offer are fairly lengthy, about six to eight minutes long, and all packing in at least two layers of guitar melodies and riffs along with percussion that rarely settles into one routine for long and various keyboard effects, ambience and melodies. Opening track "Clarity" is typical of this song structure: there is surely some irony in giving music with many changes and shifts in melody, rhythm and mood a title like "Clarity"! Harshness, rugged tremolo riffs, moments of amazingly clear space within the lead guitar solos, hard-working bass lines, synth wash, bells and varied percussion make their appearance in a tight and dense package of some seven minutes.

The second track "Desert of Heart" is quite an emotional and heartfelt song though the screaming can be hard in tone and strained. From here on, though each succeeding song is dense and complex, it does have its own distinct personality: "Survival Poem" has its doomy moments and duetting black and death metal vocals, "Known World Narrows" mixes bluesy lead guitar melodies, folk, space ambient and sometimes heavy thrash metal in a melange that amazingly remains orderl; and "Daggers in Floodlight" is a depressive piece of post-BM / progressive metal that still spits aggression in parts. All this shows a band in full control of its many musical influences and inspirations, and a clear idea of what to do with them all and where it wants to go. The moods on all songs may change constantly, almost bewilderingly so, though they do follow a natural path suggesting awareness of an immense heritage, the reactions and emotions it invokes, perhaps the depression that follows, and maybe a realisation that this odious burden, unavoidable as it is, must be dealt with, even reduced or made bearable. This seems to be the message of closing track "Poverty Hymn" with its defiant attitude, clashing percussion and black and death metal vocals reaching sheer breakpoint.

Though the album is not long, it can seem very lengthy and exhausting with the long and dense songs it offers. "Keys …" does repay repeated hearings, each hearing revealing something new in each track. The music's sonic range is limited to guitars, bass, drums and ambient synths yet the songs are expansive and have a very spacious if black and brooding feel. Possibly some tracks could have been tightened up a little, with a bit less instrumental music, and they would still remain complex in structure and mood. The FoR musicians have clearly put much hard work, thought and care in each and every song, and passion bleeds out from every moment in each song.

For a band that has lasted as long as FoR have, with their original four musicians back in 2005 still working together, I'd have thought they would have broken into the alt-mainstream metal scene by now. They certainly don't go in for writing simple catchy black metal pop that would gain them instant but fickle short-lived fame. Circumstances such as the recent lockdowns have surely played a part in keeping FoR in the background more than they should be – but maybe the band just prefers to get on with exploring and experimenting with ideas in keeping with its style and themes, aware that it's just a matter of time before everyone eventually catches up.