Vigilance Perennial

Fourth album for Maine-based band Falls of Rauros. I found their debut rather dull, without the expression of the musical ideas they obviously wanted to express, and their second was much better. In fact, I find I like The Light That Dwells in Rotten Wood more now than I did when I reviewed it. I missed their third album, and now this is their latest, and it finds them veering a little off the path.

Falls of Rauros always had a lot of Agalloch in their sound, and that influence is still there, but they have become more progressive, more experimental, and incorporated a lot more Post-Metal into their sound. There are still some lovely melodies and bits embedded in this work, as on the second half of "Labyrinth Unfolding Echoes", but overall I find this album is rather disjointed, and the compositions don't really flow together and create a whole. The arrangements often sound too proggy or too folky, and the thread of the song gets lost in a lot of noodling. This is not terrible, but in their slow progression from their debut, I think this band has progressed a bit too far.