Register Forgot login?

© 2002-2024
Encyclopaedia Metallum

Privacy Policy

Falls of Rauros > Patterns in Mythology > Reviews
Falls of Rauros - Patterns in Mythology

fucking great - 90%

johnaldenglover, July 21st, 2020
Written based on this version: 2019, CD, Gilead Media

Falls of Rauros champion a brand of modern black metal that focuses more on melody and harmony than brutality- this is not to say that this record is without caustic vocals, pummeling drums, and crazy tremolo picked riffs. The hallmarks of black metal brutality are just adorned with gorgeous clean guitar (at times), ambient legato tones, acoustic guitar, and all around smart fucking songwriting.

Its great to hear a band that can break out of the black metal cliches that we all know and love while still staying true to the genre. This inst shoegaze, and it isn't really "post black metal" either.

The album itself is epic. It literally sounds like being at two lights state park and watching the waves of the Atlantic smash against the rocks. The production style is not "necro" in the least bit- the clarity of the soundscape is quite impressive. The bass guitar is even audible (and playing interesting parts- not just tremolo picking root notes the whole time). The vocals are set just a tiny bit back in the mix, giving the illusion that they are cutting through fog and ocean spray before reaching your ears.

The album ebbs and flows, bringing the listener in and immersing them in a complete emotional experience. I can't recommend this enough.

the most beautiful thing I've heard - 40%

RapeTheDead, December 6th, 2019

This band is an extremely trying subject for me. As a known Agalloch worshiper, I’ve been recommended to check these guys out a few times over the years, and I would, and I would listen and think to myself “gee this sure does sound like Agalloch” and never came back to it. I could never really explain it, because they have everything that my favorite atmospheric folk/black bands have, they execute it with strong musicianship, their sense of melody is very good…and I just don’t like it! So Patterns in Mythology comes out, it’s making the rounds again, I’m seeing positive reviews, I get recommended to check this band out AGAIN so let’s finally nail this thing down once and for all.

Falls of Rauros is an exceptionally pretty band. Gorgeous, even. The delicate acoustic passages slide in and out of your ears with such smoothness and consonance that it’s impossible not to feel a bit dreamy. The tremolo riffs never grate on you too hard, being these airy, triumphant melodies that seem to soar above the clouds. The transition riffs, sustained chords and fade-ins and fade outs have this effortlessly beautiful elegance. The production is balanced and doesn’t give anything too much dominance over anything else, (although the vocals are buried as per usual for the style), so everything is nice and crisp and seamlessly flowing. Sounds perfect, right? It is. That’s the problem.

I never thought I’d say this, but…Patterns in Mythology is too beautiful. The problem is that I never know where the climax is supposed to be, because it sounds like the climax is always happening. Let’s say a song starts off with an acoustic passage- sounds nice, gives you the feels a bit, all is well. Then the big distorted riff crashes in, wow, this is powerful, damn, alright, cool. Then a higher-register melody crashes in and you realize the song is building to an even bigger emotional climax, because this riff is even more uplifting…and then the riff after that even more so…and then a slow riff will kick in, and you’ll think that’s the big climax, but then sometimes they just keep on going into ANOTHER gorgeous, hypermelodic tremolo riff…it’s like being force fed candy until you vomit all over yourself. There’s this constant bombardment of rich harmonized leads, tremolo melodies that just seem to climb higher and higher up the fretboard, and then weepy, syrupy, melancholic beauty to break up the different sections. By the first track I’m doing okay though already starting to get weary, but two or three tracks in I’m ready to tap out because it’s just too much sugar. I know, that’s pretty rich coming from a dude like me who regularly listens to Alcest, but man, even Neige knows how to put a modicum of grit into a riff. I'm not even sure if anger if an emotion this band is capable of. It’s partially just a sugar bombardment, it’s partially how the songs are written - because everything feels like the climax, in turn, nothing is. The overwhelmingly lush and positive vibe does seem subdued by the extreme metal characteristics of Falls of Rauros, and you get the feeling these guys are gonna be the next band to drop the metal influences and write a post-rock/folk album. That’s probably what they should do, anyway.

From what I can tell, a typical folk/black fan should really like this, but then again I thought I was a typical folk/black metal fan. The surface feeling of these songs is otherworldly, and for all I know there’s just irrational, intangible reasons why I can’t get into this band and otherwise they’re fine to check out. Have a listen if you must, but after two or three listens you might find yourself wondering why the riffs don’t seem to stick, even though you always think they sound nice.