October Falls is a project by Finnish M. Lehto. On this release, his debut, he plays a selection of instrumental guitar tracks, melancholic and calm in nature. The influence of stylistic predecessors like Ulver and Empyrium is clear, but October Falls aims for a slightly less bombastic result, and this lets the downcast atmosphere shine through nicely.

The tracks are all comparable, based on simple but catchy melodies on acoustic guitar, accompanied by touches of very subtle keyboard sounds, like piano and flute. Despite the rather simple nature of music, I think the concept comes forward quite strongly, and this short EP is a very nice soundtrack to solitary walks through the forest. This is also suggested by the artwork: black and white photos of nature, which are always tasteful. The final track stands out a bit, both because of its length and its melody, which is a bit different, and reminds me of acoustic material by Opeth.

In short, this is a nice EP that brings nothing truly new to the genre, but is still worthwhile, because this particular kind of melancholic acoustic music isn't done very often. Definitely recommended if you have a weak spot for this kind of music, like me.

O.S.