As a reviewer, I feel a nostalgic sense of accomplishment and contentment when I realize that I have been doing this for long enough to review multiple records of a single band — to be critically close to a band’s evolution over the years, lineup changes, and, most importantly, new music. I have been a fan of this California progressive/technical death metal band from a time near its inception. From its deathcore roots with The Harvest Wombs, their major leap in rethinking their sound via the Nomadic EP, the seminal standard-bearer The Flesh Prevails, and its successful follow-up Dreamless. Then the record that could have derailed it all, the misstep that was Undying Light that I reviewed HERE. A textbook lesson in learning from past mistakes and righting the ship resulted in a victorious return to form in Empyrean, which I sang the praises of HERE.
A long tale of my relationship with the band via critical reviews, to which I am glad to continue with their upcoming release, 2025’s Xenotaph.
The two released singles, “Kaleidoscopic Waves” and “Labyrinth of Stone” pick up where Empyrean left off, with the trademark dance between technically jagged guitar parts with soaring ambience and an interplay of clean and harsh vocals. Everything that made Fallujah distinct from the slew of competent technical death metal bands out there. At the time of writing this review, their latest single, “Step Through the Portal and Breathe” is another example of the current masterful iteration of their chosen flavor of technically proficient yet progressively catchy songwriting chops. This one spends longer in the dreamier ambient sections, with longer drawn-out mid-paced guitar chords, with delay and reverb-laden leads, typical of the Fallujah sound.
A major gripe I had with Empyrean was directed at Fallujah’s tendency to linger a tad bit too long in their dreamier sections and overstay its welcome, where their best work is in the more aggressive sections. Fortunately, Xenotaph strikes a much better balance and resembles The Flesh Prevails more in that regard. This record truly feels like a culmination and cumulation of all the lessons, influences, and tropes from each of their records. Those keen of ear can hear parts on this record which could have easily found a home on The Flesh Prevails, Dreamless, or Empyrean, marrying the grandiose sounds that they love to play with, without completely losing their death metal teeth.
However, much of the record feels “efficient and safe”, an accumulation to be sure, but not treading too much new ground. A stark contradiction to this critique is the penultimate track, “The Obsidian Architect”. By far, the freshest track Fallujah has written since “Venom Upon the Blade” (Nomadic EP) and “Carved from Stone” (The Flesh Prevails), “The Obsidian Architect” throws a uniquely dark and futuristic synthwave-y section along with industrial-metal sounding heavily processed vocals that lend a touch to Fallujah’s established sound that I wish they explore more in future records. Not to mention that for a song close to the end of the record, “The Obsidian Architect” is a tech-death belter, with plenty of aggressive riffs, pummeling drums, and an assault of death metal vocals. Not to be outdone, the title track “Xenotaph” ends the album on a triumphantly strong note, leaving the listener with a sense of satisfying closure. A more straightforward Fallujah-banger, the title track perfectly encapsulates this new era of the band’s songwriting.
Speaking of songwriting, the lads in Fallujah have honed their songwriting chops to an exact science in Xenotaph. Founding member and main-brains Scott Carstairs continues to be the songwriting lodestone atop which the band has built several records. His whammy-infused hyper delay-reverbed meandering ambient solos are quintessential to the band’s identity. Fellow guitarist (and now full-time member) Sam Moordian is a welcome addition to the Fallujah machine, bringing plenty of staccato chops with an almost Psycroptic-esque ferocity. The presence (or lack thereof) of bassist Evan Brewer is suspect, and the bass takes on a more supportive role in Xenotaphi without his trademark level of distinctive flourish. Yet, to keep up with the dizzying guitar riffs is a win unto itself, even if it means simply following along on the bass. New to the band is drummer, Kevin Anderson la Palerma, following the departure of long time drumming juggernaut Andrew Baird. His drumwork successfully picks up where Baird’s left off, leaving no apparent skill gap. It will be interesting to see if he continues to work with the band on future releases, and if he has stronger input in the songwriting process.
Vocalist Kyle Schaefer continues to bring his unique blend of clean vocals and various kinds of harsh vocals to Xenotaph. Notably accent is the guest spots of long-time female guest vocalists that had become their own expected addition to the sound. Schaefer handles all vocal duties on this record. While his low-register growls punch with the best, I personally gel less with his barked mid-range vocals, and his scream cleans. Personally biased against mainline clean vocals in my tech-death, this could be an artifact of my own bias, but there is no doubt that Schaefer is pulling out all the stops and giving us all he’s got with every Fallujah release.
Xenotaph continues to up the ante set by Empyrean and is another victoriously strong addition to the Fallujah catalog. The band knows what they are about, and they sharpen their sound with every release. While they could venture a bit more innovatively in their next record, more of this sound will still be appreciated by the fans and newcomers alike.
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Overall Sound9/10 Amazing'Xenotaph' continues to up the ante set by 'Empyrean' and is another victoriously strong addition to the Fallujah catalog. The band knows what they are about, and they sharpen their sound with every release.
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Songwriting & Lyrics8/10 Very GoodSpeaking of songwriting, the lads in Fallujah have honed their songwriting chops to an exact science in Xenotaph.