Austin Lunn, the musical mind behind US one-man black metal project Pancopticon travelled to Norway back in 2011 to study zymurgy, in preparation for the opening of his very own brewery; named Hammerheart and based in Minnesota. While there, pals from Falls of Rauros visited and, after falling in love with their Nordic surroundings, the group decided to release a split inspired by the countryside they had spent time in.
‘Unavailing’ and ‘The Purity of Isolation’ are what Falls of Rauros brought to the table and are used to open the record. There’s not much in the way of traditional black metal to be heard on either of these songs, but this is typical of the ‘Rauros sound and they stick firmly to folkier influences. Both tracks, on this split, from these guys are songs that fans of Agalloch will certainly enjoy. Leaning towards melancholic tones instead of aggression, this split begins with a relaxed and serene atmosphere, before we are guided into the four Panopticon songs that make up the rest of this opus.
Before the black metal purists and cry-babies throw their toys out of the pram and decide to brand this as “untrue” or “false black metal”, take a moment to listen to Panopticon’s half. Making a complete u-turn away from Falls of Rauros, and his most recent work, tracks such as ‘One Cold Night’ are raw, with little production work, making them deliciously evil sounding. Sure, titles such as ‘Can You Loan Me a Raven’ are textbook cheesy goth, but they more than make up for it with frenzied homages to the Norwegian second wave of black metal.
Whichever side of the fence you occupy, regarding black metal, it is undeniable that this split possesses something for everyone; whether you’re a nature worshipping hippy, that lives in the woods and plays Wolves in the Throne Room on repeat or a Mayhem fanatic clad in corpse paint and spikes, there will be a song on this release that you can listen to and enjoy.
(8/10 Angela Davey)
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