“A choice presented by a universe suspended in time.”
When it comes to modern-day technical death metal, few bands have managed to remain as exciting and consistent in the scene as Fallujah. Initially, Fallujah would begin with a more deathcore influenced sound on their debut album, The Harvest Wombs. While this was an already popular choice at the time, they managed to stand out from their constituents by presenting this with a precise and proficient edge that was more befitting of a veteran act that had been in the scene for a decade rather than four short years. Not content to be just another run of the mill tech death outfit, Fallujah would seek to further separate themselves from the rest of the crowd with subsequent releases such as Nomadic, and albums The Flesh Prevails and Dreamless. These string of projects in particular saw Fallujah abandoning the relentless onslaught of riffs and occasional breakdowns that the tech death genre had been known to contain and instead substituted ambient breaks and brief clean choruses to add a profound sense of sonic scope. Unfortunately, however, Fallujah would experience a slight misstep with their following album, Undying Light, by creating a rather straightforward record that uncharacteristically left most listeners wanting more. Luckily, their 2022 iteration, Empyrean, saw a return to the atmospheric tech sound that many had come to love and cemented Fallujah’s remit to full strength. It feels very appropriate given the tumultuous road in which Fallujah has travelled that their latest chapter, Xenotaph, is a culmination of everything that has made them exceptional and then some.
For their new album, Xenotaph, Fallujah find themselves injecting more progressive elements into their sound than ever before. Rather than filling each track with highly technical riffs, variance in time signatures with oscillating pace dominate Xenotaph such that one would be led to believe Fallujah could be more associative with progressive death metal rather than its tech death counterpart. This new ethos allows for songs on the album to display subtle intricacies that listeners might not normally catch on to.
Right away we are treated to our first taste of this increased presence of prog elements in Fallujah’s sound in the form of the opening track “In Stars We Drown”. Following one of the only dedicated atmospheric keyboard sections on the record, a more restrained structure of progressive death metal elements like mid-paced time signatures become omnipresent. It’s abundantly clear from the early onset of Xenotaph that Fallujah have no intentions of making the same album twice.
This tenor is expanded upon in later songs such as “A Parasitic Dream” and “The Obsidian Architect” that largely follow the same formula with the nuance of adding in longer tech segments. These aspects are presented in more abundance to show off just how skilled Fallujah are at writing prolifically prog infused tech death. Even the album’s closer and titular track showcases this with a much longer runtime that never seems to overstay its welcome. Xenotaph has the mold of a record advocates of this genre will thoroughly enjoy.
Those looking for more of a classic tech death-sounding exhibition are not left wanting, either. “The Crystaline Veil” and final album single “Step Through the Portal and Breathe” largely eschew a good portion of the more proggy elements of Fallujah, instead opting to show off a more technical side of the band with songs that prove just how proficient they are at writing complex riffs that do not need atmospheric synths or epic clean sung choruses layered overtop to be engaging.
If there is any critique when it comes to Xenotaph in terms of listening experience, the album’s length may be the only qualifier. While this record feels like a mostly complete auditory endeavor, it certainly feels as though it ends too soon and could use one or two more tracks appended to its runtime given that compared to its contemporaries, Xenotaph is a rather short outing.
Xenotaph is yet another stellar addition to Fallujah’s discography that shows their steadfast intent on keeping listeners engaged with an ever-evolving sound. Challenging the notions of what a technical death record can sound like in the modern age is no small feat, and Fallujah have done so in an immensely satisfying fashion that is sure to leave us all craving more.
8/10
Xenotaph is out this Friday, June 13, via Nuclear Blast Records and you can order it here.