Fallujah “Xenotaph”

Album opener “In Stars We Drown” opens with an ethereal synth, cinematic style build before clean guitars and piano echo through the mist of the production quality. Soaring guitars pierce through the mix, creating an otherworldly aura before Kyle Schaefer’s clean vocals come rising up. Clean harmonies turn gritty and harsh into growl vocals as Kevin Alexander’s drumming picks the tempo and heart-pumping energy up on the track. As Sam Mooradian & Scott Carstairs’ guitar playing brings in the complexity in the arrangement, along with the heaviness, the song goes on full progressive death metal. A unique dynamic in pacing, contrasting growl and clean sections, and bombastic chugs. With an almost abrupt end before going into the next track.

“Kaleidoscopic Waves” opens with blasting drums and a driving bass undertone by Evan Brewer. As the drums beat you into submission, the musical dynamics continue to keep the listener on their toes. To a verse section with a driving bass lead and clean vocals, to a high-octane, brutal and technical drum and guitar combo. As Fallujah almost toys and teases the listener on where the direction and structure of the music is going to go before switching it up. Schaefer is on point vocally on the track. Cleans soar and are mixed well in the production, and his growls have such presence and power when delivered with the commanding rhythm section behind him. Mooradian & Carstairs take turns shredding on lead, all while Brewer & Alexander keep the pulse and intensity of the track going beneath the soaring leads. This was a standout track and Fallujah at their finest. It was also my favorite track on the album.

Double bass and rising guitars lead off “Labyrinth of Stone”. Guitars are precise and manic at certain points. A showcase in the sound of modern technical death metal in acts like Eschaton, Inferi and Cytotoxin. Alexander is a machine on the kit. With precise blasting and double bass, especially leading into the chorus of the track. I LOVED the clean vocal transition with the machine-gun like double bass and heavenly guitar solos that transition into the piano piece near the halfway mark.

“The Crystalline Veil” and its beautiful strumming clean guitars and synth layering and atmosphere draws comparisons to the album’s opening track. Before the heaviness comes in way earlier and just goes for the jugular right out the gate. Alexander and the rest of the band just go full-speed in their playing and proficiency while Schaefer’s vocal gymnastics go top-tier as lead guitars just fly across the fretboard with every solo and riff. The almost djent-esque section at the halfway mark really shows off Schaefer’s clean harmonies, before being pulled down to the depths with his gravely harsh vocals.

“Step Through The Portal and Breathe” continues the soaring leads and atmospheric and airy production of the album. Mooradian & Carstairs truly shine on the album, delivering such technical precision as they fly across the fretboard in all the palm-muted goodness. I was instantly headbanging along and stank-facing the entire time throughout the song’s complex and dynamic almost seven-minute runtime. Brewer’s bass lead was also a nice touch as well on the track. Though a long runtime, the song never got boring or had me checking how much longer the track was left. Which is a sign the band can keep the listener involved and intrigued in where the song is going and when it reaches its conclusion. So many shifts and unique arrangements, both musically, vocally and overall, the song is a true example of how good Fallujah is musically. “A Parasitic Dream” brings the pacing down to a slower pace in it’s opening moments, with lower guttural growls, almost hiding in the depths of clean guitars. Before a hybrid of growls and cleans rise up and the guitars bring the intensity with manic, start/stop pacing. There might be a small example of a bit too much “wall of sound” production, which sometimes buries Schaefer’s vocals near the closing minute of the track, but it is a minor thing that maybe might just be a nit-picking thing just to me.

“The Obsidian Architect” opens with a very djent-infused riff and eerie and ominous synths behind the down-tuned chugging and upbeat drumming by Alexander. Diverse in the tonality of the song compared to the rest of the album so far, with blast beats over an uneasy spoken word peace and building, cinematic soundscapes. Before delivering a chugging, brutal and sonic punch to the throat short breakdown. Then, the drums and guitar turn on the gas and go faster and harsher, all while delivering the progressive death metal traits of start/stop pacing, chugging-djent like rhythms, combined with metalcore leads and tech death leads. The album closing title track also continues the creativity and perplexing arrangement of the band’s sonic attack. With almost post-metal background guitars, blitzkrieg of blast beats and double bass, before switching it into a head-spinning riff and drum combo. Potentially the album’s most “proggy” song, it just doesn’t let up. With each member getting moments to shine and showcase throughout the over seven-minute runtime. Complex in the arrangement and vast in scale, the song just has a peak and valley effect. Moments of Schaefer’s vocals going from ear-piercing and throat destroying highs and lows, to cleans that tug at heartstrings and show empathy and remorse in delivery. The entire band is just firing on all cylinders, not giving the listener a chance to recover throughout the talented musicianship of the band themselves.

Fallujah is a band that seems to continuously evolve with each release throughout the band’s career. To see the band come from the sound of their debut The Harvest Wombs, to such a cinematic pacing, instrumentation, writing and lyrical subject matter like this album and their previous album Empyrean is a true audio journey of evolution and growth. Xenotaph will be one of those albums that will truly showcase the band’s musical knowledge and skill in true form. Potentially, in my opinion, could be the band’s best album today. As soon as the album closed, I wanted to spin it again just to get washed away in the waves of technical death metal that I love with this band. I also wouldn’t be surprised if this ended up on a lot of end of year lists. Highly recommend this album for not only fans of the band, but also a good introduction to new fans to check out one of technical death metal’s most talented acts.

SCORE: 5 / 5

You can purchase Xenotaph on the band’s Bandcamp or stream it on the band’s Spotify when it comes out June 13th.