The United States isn’t really the primary exporter of Black Metal. There are plenty of good bands in the country, but they’re awash in a sea of mediocre acts. Not to mention, there’s really only one prominent scene in North America, that being Cascadian Black Metal. Outside of the Pacific Northwest, the most prominent areas for the genre seem to be SoCal and the SF Bay Area, which is fitting because Washington and California are the two best states in the country, as I’m sure my cohort will agree with me. However, there are a few good bands on the inferior coast, one of which is Falls of Rauros from Maine. The fact they’re from Maine should not be surprising, as Maine would be a top contender for “Diet Washington” if Oregon didn’t exist. Unfortunately for Oregon, Acadia National Park is better than Crater Lake National Park, therefore making it the third-best state in the union. Sorry, but I don’t make the rules; they just materialize in my head, and I write them down for the whole world to follow. 

It’s so rare for me that a Black Metal album manages to incorporate its influences outside of the subgenre in a manner that feels cohesive. This is especially true for records in the genre that lean in a more folk-oriented direction; often it feels like the softer acoustic guitars and harsh distorted metal exist in two separate universes that are being forcibly smashed into one another until they both implode in on themselves. We listen to a lot of Black Metal on my home planet, so I can say with unparalleled confidence that coming across novel and impressive fusions with any kind of folk music is getting increasingly hard to come by. So imagine my giddy, excitable laughter when I finally hear some Black Metal that melds its acoustic influences with some level of tact. In an effort to round out their harsh sound, the Maine band, Falls of Rauros, ends up putting together one fantastically beautiful record that successfully bridges the gap between different worlds with The Light That Dwells in Rotten Wood, released in 2011 by Bindrune Recordings.

Beginning with “Earth’s Old Timid Grace,” we’re hit not with plumbing blast beats or distorted tremolo-picked guitar like we would hear on most Black Metal records; instead, we’re greeted with some pleasant acoustic guitar playing that sounds like it’s being accompanied by an acoustic bass as well. The track lets the notes ring out as if we can hear the sounds of their instruments bouncing off the trees of the forest and reverberating for miles, disturbing flocks of easily startled birds in its path. As it progresses, it isn’t long before we become privy to both a full drum kit and some electric guitar embellishments that, with a bit more reverb and overdrive, really escalate the track to act as an effective build-up to the next song, “Banished.”

The light metallic tings of the crash cymbal and a wave of amplifier feedback make the transition as smooth as possible from one song to another while giving us an indication of the change. It’s not long before the track really begins to pick up with its inspiring main riff and powerful solo, the likes of which are not often seen in the genre. The expressive, banshee-like screeches also help to sell the forest-echoing atmosphere of the record. About halfway through the song we start to get a break in the structure as the distortion gets stripped away in favor of a cleaner guitar sound. The bass becomes so much more prominent in the mix, and the heavy pounding on the tom drums makes you feel like you’re in the middle of a drum circle. Eventually the toms give way to this march snare as the track begins to build up again with more added layers of guitar lines to the track. It all comes to an amazingly awe-inspiring climatic peak as it ties itself back to the main riff of the song. It’s this switch in structure that feels like we start to get a whiff of other influences in the band’s music, outside Black Metal and Dark Folk, and that’s Post-Rock. The repetitive building up to an ultimate zenith as if the listener just climbed a mountain during the song’s runtime is emblematic of Godspeed You! Black Emperor influence. 

The next song, “Awaiting The Fire or Flood That Awakes It,” begins with some intimate guitar strumming as if the person playing the instrument was right next to you. You can hear their fingernails scratching the steel strings and every passing strum of their hands as the notes leave the reverberation chamber into the night only lit up by the stars and their nearby campfire, which will soon be embers. Soon we’re met with a melancholic acoustic riff that pairs well with the strumming. Percussion comes in as we hear the thunderous hits of the bass drum and church bell gong; all of this set dressing creates a perfect atmosphere for the ensuing lead guitar to come in with an absolutely roaring riff that kicks the track into high gear. Not without getting blood-pumping drum fills that really cue the listener in for something special. We get more shrieked vocals that sound like they’re coming from a monster deep in the woods paired with an absolutely thrilling lead guitar that takes you aback by both its sheer simplicity and its ability to convey a level of despair that complements both the vocals and also the record’s more solemn acoustic moments. 

A lot of what can be said about the next really heavy track, “Silence,” really rings true for the songs already discussed. It starts with some lead and rhythm acoustic guitars to set the mood, eventually coming in hot with driving metal guitars that simultaneously have a real cathartic impact that metal should have, but also carry a certain atmosphere that is maintained through the entirety of the record. Even the interlude tracks, “Nonesuch River Chant” and “The Cormorants Shiver on Their Rocks,” uphold the level of ambience in the record despite their lack of metallic influence. They’re just as acoustic and absolutely stunning as they are mysterious and sorrowful.

It really is impressive just how amazingly gorgeous this album sounds without compromising too much of what makes Black Metal really tick. There’s plenty of “atmospheric black metal,” much of it I love just as much or almost as much, but to have a black metal album be beautiful and still preserve its harsh demeanor is something quite special. The genre gained traction in the underground from deeply disturbed and misanthropic Norwegians, who despised the society they grew up in, and instead of finding real solutions to the world’s problems, their outlets were murder, church burnings, and National Socialist ideals. That isn’t to say that all Black Metal is reflective of that outlook; much of it remains apolitical and murder-free, but to turn a style with such a gruesome and vile history into something that can be so stunning helps me to realize that maybe genres aren’t as fixed as what we narrowly perceive them to be. This album doesn’t change the dynamic for the style in any groundbreaking way; it didn’t help to start a new scene or micro-genre, but it did do something rare, not just for its genre but for a lot of music. It’s as pretty as it is harsh, it’s as inspiring as it is depressing, and it’s as in your face as it is enigmatic. Can one piece of art make you feel everything that any other piece could? I think so, but the answer as to which is never going to be the same for anyone else. I can’t say this album will have the same effect on you as it did on me, but this hit me like nothing else has. I hope you can find a record that makes you feel the same.

If you would like to support the band, you can purchase The Light That Dwells in Rotten Wood digitally from their Bandcamp page. You can also stream the album on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music. If you would like to know more about the lurid history of black metal the book Lords of Chaos by Michael J. Moynihan and Didrik Søderlind is known to be incredibly insightful however I have not read it as of yet, so I can’t endorse the book in earnest. I can recommend however, the YouTube documentary: Ten Years Of Mayhem | Black Metal Documentary by Resonant Peak, who lists an exhaustive list of sources in the video’s description.