Review: Fallujah Masterfully Blend Chaos and Calmness on Xenotaph
Few, if any, American progressive/technical death metal bands blend vicious complexity, gripping melodies, and upliftingly spacey and vibrant segues as smartly and gratifyingly as Fallujah. For the most part, they’ve honed their techniques and improved their chemistry with each new release, too, meaning that 2022’s Empyrean was a welcomed return to form that proved immensely difficult to top.
Yet, that’s almost certainly what they’ve done with their sixth full-length studio sequence: Xenotaph. Very much continuing the group’s trademark sound, the album sees them increasing and perfecting their use of clean singing and transcendental segues amidst all of the requisite growls and hectic instrumentation. The result is an experience that longtime fans of the quintet (and style as a whole) should relish and that newcomers will find to be a great way to get into Fallujah’s fiery world.
Empyrean signified a momentous change in lineup for the band since it marked the introductions of lead singer Kyle Schaefer, bassist Evan Brewer, and rhythmic guitarist Sam Mooradian. As such, only original lead guitarist/backing vocalist Scott Carstairs remained, and while all of them carry over to Xenotaph, former drummer Andrew Baird has been replaced by Kevin Alexander. Judging by how consistently involving and poised the record is, though, it’s fair to say that this might be Fallujah’s greatest incarnation.
To be clear, Xenotaph sounds like a Fallujah album, but the foursome’s ambitious stylistic revision is significant and persistent. If a comparison should be made, it’s similar to how Between the Buried and Me’s The Great Misdirect and Coma Ecliptic were milder musically and vocally than their predecessors but still maintained plenty of beloved brutality.
In fact, the gentle cosmic prelude and perpetual sing-along hooks of opener “In Stars We Drown” gives a sublime indication of how frequently (and how well) the quintet mesh their calm and chaotic personas. The whole track is spellbindingly erratic and fascinating, with absolutely ferocious and awe-inspiringly inviting passages colliding and complementing each other from beginning to end.
The same holds true for virtually every song that follows. For instance, the hyperactive jazz fusion elegance of “Kaleidoscope Waves” and “The Crystalline Veil” showcases how playfully adventurous and multifaceted Fallujah can get while preserving their relentlessly violative core. Sure, some chapters – as Schaefer calls them – are majorly hellish (“Labyrinth of Stone”) or peaceful (“A Parasitic Dream”), but all of them strike an excellent compromise between the two extremes.
Xenotaph is a tremendous accomplishment that further validates Fallujah as a dominant force in the realm of progressive/technical death metal. Their ability to retain their essential elements in the process of pushing themselves and their audience to new places is quite commendable, meaning that even their oldest and most critical devotees will discover a lot to like here. What’s more, those hoping for heightened accessibility, beauty, and eccentricity alongside Fallujah’s angrier tendencies may conclude that Xenotaph is their greatest record thus far.
Fallujah’s Xenotaph releases on June 13 via Nuclear Blast Records.
