Fallujah has carved out quite a name for itself over its career. Starting off as a deathcore band, they pivoted towards a more atmospheric death metal sound with their EP Nomadic. Fallujah really found their groove on The Flesh Prevails which is probably their strongest record to date, and the one that is now associated with the “Fallujah sound”. Following this, they hit commercial acclaim with Dreamless as they leaned heavier into their more atmospheric elements. The departure of their vocalist and guitarist led to the much divisive Undying Light in 2019, which I reviewed here.
With another lineup change in the form of a new vocalist, and a vow to return to their roots, Fallujah returns with 2022’s Empyrean. Do they still have what it takes?
The record kicks off with ramping ambience, and then “The Bitter Taste of Clarity” kicks us in the neck with a riff that is probably among the heaviest they have ever written. A clear sign that they are taking no prisoners with Empyrean. Following hot on its heels are the two advance singles “Radiant Ascension” and “Embrace Oblivion” both of which showcase elements of the Fallujah songwriting goodness that found large success on The Flesh Prevails and Dreamless. By “Into the Eventide” it has become evident that Fallujah has learned from some of the missteps on Undying Light and spent a lot of time at the forge, hammering out the kinks, and figuring out what worked for them in the past, and adding new flair to their craft.
In my opinion, Fallujah is at its best when it weaves heaviness and atmosphere in ways that feel natural. One of my complaints with Dreamless was that they focused too heavily on the space between the heavy sections. Undying Light took that to new extremes causing the ideas and riffs in the songs to feel disconnected. The reason why tracks like “Carved from Stone” and “Sapphire” (from The Flesh Prevails) worked so well was that they laced catchy heavy guitar riffs and aggressive drum arrangements with soaring ethereal layers that elevated the tracks. The Fallujah magic is in creating space with the reverb/delay-laden melodic leads and layers, but having the crushing rhythms always a beat away, ready to rush in at a moment’s notice. Where they begin to lose my interest is when they create too much space for themselves and have overwrought sections of atmosphere which quickly get hamfisted.
Fortunately, Empyrean has plenty of heaviness and well-placed ambience that adds to the scenery rather than trying to strong-arm its way in. Tracks like “Eden’s Lament” get eerily close to Psycroptic with their tremolo-picked riffs, before settling into more expansive chord work more akin to what we are used to from Fallujah. There are some cheeky progressive syncopated chugs on “Soulbreaker” that add just enough spice to keep things interesting. “Soulbreaker” is probably Empyrean’s version of “Carved From Stone”, so an instant win for me! And nobody can claim with a straight face that the intro to the instrumental track “Celestial Resonance” isn’t straight up “Bleed” (Meshuggah) worship! However, “Celestial Resonance” gets scarily close to all the parts of Dreamless and Undying Light that I disliked most about the Fallujah sound: an overemphasis on the grandiose pomp of their atmospheric/progressive side. But seeing that this track is meant to be their instrumental megalude, it is easier to give it a pass.
A big part of why Empyrean is on the winning side of the spectrum is the addition of new vocalist Kyle Schaefer (from Archaeologist). His vocals have enough dynamics to please both the fans of the growl-ier side of things courtesy of longtime vocalist Alex Hoffman and the newer proggier (with clean vocal lines) featured on Undying Light by Antonio Palermo. While Schafer does throw in clean vocal sections, they are incorporated with extreme restraint and in registers that most prog-metal fans will find more acceptable. As with previous Fallujah releases, the beautiful vocals of Tori Letzler and Katie Thompson continue as tradition, and there is a sincere hope that these vocalists continue their relationship with Fallujah. New features include Chaney Crabb (of Entheos) providing vocals on “Mindless Omnipotent Master”, and guitar work by David Wu (of All to the Grave) on “Duality of Intent”. I am always a big proponent of musician features on records, and the more varied the roster the better!
The other notable addition to the Fallujah lineup is bassist Evan Brewer (most notably ex-The Faceless, among many other bands) who needs very little introduction to anyone who has been in the progressive metal/death metal scene. I believe the bass lines are more prominent on Empyrean due to his songwriting input. Drummer Andrew Baird continues to be among my favorite tech-death drummers and his work on Empyrean is superlative, to say the least. As a minor complaint, I feel cheated on the drum mix on this and previous Fallujah records, when it comes to the bass drum samples. I wish there was more click or snap to the bass drum sound. The bass drums devolve into a rumble on the busier arrangements, and I wish the mix allowed the bass drums to cut through a wee bit more to emphasize the speed and precision that Baird is bringing to the songs, especially when his snare cracks are absolutely delicious!
Guitarist and Fallujah titan Scott Carstairs is quickly becoming an industry into himself. I always considered him to be the new Michael Keene (of The Faceless) without all the wacky craziness that surrounds Keene. Carstairs chose to pull zero punches on Empyrean bringing out every rhythm chop he could muster and throwing in every delay, chorus, reverb pedal, and VST plugin he could legally procure into the songwriting process. Scott “charging by the whammy bar pull” Carstairs displays increased maturity when it comes to his leads and solos, dialing back the needless pomp and including more razor-sharp note flurries in his solos and it elevates every section when done so.
Fallujah’s Empyrean is a great return to form and recaptures a lot of what made The Flesh Prevails and Dreamless great. A sonic journey lulling listeners into a higher plane with masterful atmospheric songwriting, before hitting us with crushingly memorable riffs.