According to Google Maps, the fastest driving route between Portland, Maine, and Portland, Oregon, stretches nearly 3,200 miles and would take around 46 hours to traverse, so let's give it up for Falls of Rauros, a black metal band that'll be far from home when they play Panic Room tonight. To be clear, Falls of Rauros isn't just praiseworthy because they have a working van. The quartet offers an excellent and highly accessible take on black metal, mixing in substantial chunks of post-rock and folk, and recording music in a way that's clear and punchy, not obscured by distortion and lo-fi pretense like so many others in the genre. Touring the west with Falls of Rauros is Wayfarer, a like-minded band from Denver whose take on black metal is progressive and thunderous. BEN SALMON