This is the fifth album from US death metal band Fallujah.
Fallujah have a storied list of releases at this point, (The Flesh Prevails, Dreamless, Undying Light, Empyrean), all worth getting your teeth into. After the slight dip in quality that was Undying Light, Fallujah returned very strong with Empyrean. All of which means I have been interested to see what the 42-minute Xenotaph brings us this time around.
If you are unlucky enough to be unfamiliar with Fallujah, Xenotaph is a modern death metal album that blends a few different influences together. Technical death metal is apparent in its DNA, as is atmospheric colour, alongside an increasingly progressive edge. Empyrean added a dollop of deathcore dynamics too, which have been carried forward into this new record in places. All taken, Xenotaph merges these component parts together well, resulting in an enjoyable contemporary death metal album.
These new songs are very much recognisable as Fallujah, only refined into an updated version of the band fit for their new album. In this way, Xenotaph can be seen as a decent progression in sound; an evolutionary step, rather than a leap, bridging old and new. Think of it as a refresh of Fallujah’s earlier era, enhanced by the tools and tricks developed by the band since.
Compared to past work, Xenotaph has an increased emphasis on melody and clean singing, while also diving deeper into technical and progressive waters. Fallujah’s preference for rich atmosphere is still a part of their sound, but offset here against a song-based approach that delivers more stadium-friendly hooks than ever before. Fallujah have beefed up the melody in their sound, adopted a greater amount of clean singing, and juxtaposed this against a jagged technicality. The latter powers the aggression with sharp force, while also lends an intricacy to many other aspects of the music. I should also say that Xenotaph boasts a good selection of meaty riffs too – frequently technical, but also direct.
Across the the album the playing is impeccable, and I really like the recording as it lends a surgical clarity to the music, but without that overly polished sheen that can plague modern metal acts. The songwriting and performances are on point across the board. Xenotaph is a very enjoyable record and any fan of song-focused modern progressive/technical death metal should be able to find much to like here.
Fans of Alkaloid, Allegaeon, Changeling, The Faceless, Obscura, Obsidious, Rivers of Nihil, Soreption, The Zenith Passage, etc. should lap this up.
Wonderbox Metal 