LUMIKUURO

I'm not sure what nefarious possibly pre AI machinations led me to KAUAN, since post metal is hardly my area of focus, but once I became aware of these Finnish imposters I was intrigued, since their name coincides with the title of the accomplished debut album by authentic FInns TENHI. Both bands share some similarities of melancholy mood and even more in the non-metallic guitars and pianos and the raspy vocals, but the main difference is that KAUAN incorporates doom metal riffs, post rock passages, a dash of ambient electronica, and, at least on this debut, raw growly vocals, to varying degrees, and is perhaps paradoxically more symphonic than TENHI. In other words, folk is just one of their aspects (and obviously not the one that explains why they have twice as many monthly spotify listeners than TENHI), albeit a filter through which KAUAN can legitimately be scoped by those so inclined.

Apart from the placid and brief opener, the album gets progressively less metallic as it unfolds. The title track itself is the high point, dispensing with some of the tentativity of its predecessor, and opting for bone shearing symphonic-backed growls with offsetting hypnotic keys. The last few numbers are much more mellow with some clean vocals but do not suffer for the reduced contrasts. The third is an acoustic version of the first, which exploits strings and brass and is no less impactful.

For all its shifty alterations, this is a very consistent debut and, while it might not quite possess an iconic number for KAUAN, 6 subsequent albums might have something to say about that from a group that's in it for the long haul.