Fallujah – "Xenotaph"

Where's Frank Zappa when we need his opinion on death metal?

Fallujah is another band that I hadn't checked out because I've seen the "-core" suffix in proximity to their name one too many times (i.e., more than zero times). Can't be too careful this entire fucking century so far. However, much like their colleagues in Job for a Cowboy, Fallujah have, apparently, evolved from being a deathcore outfit and into something much more.

Specifically, something much more progressive and tech-y – and probably also much more brutal. And much more meticulous in giving their albums some necessary space to breathe and mature before unleashing brilliant, monstrous madness.

Indeed, the group's 6th full-length opens with a huge, etherically spacy backdrop of almost new age-y proportions to a Gilmouresque clean guitar. Then a piano, then a gigantic lead guitar. Then, an equal parts violent and precise blastbeat, but in a clave rhythm. I'll mention as early as possible that I've listened to this album somewhere between 12 and 15 times, but this music is still so different and demanding that I can't focus properly, even after that many spins.

Just like anything else that's related to death metal, Fallujah bombard you with machine-gun kick drums and frenetic leads. The latter, however, soon reveals a feature that's had me drop my jaw and sometimes even laugh with disbelief during listening, namely the most impossible legato technique I've ever heard – at least in this genre. Add to this an extremely tasteful and original sense of melodies, and voilà: This dude may very well be my candidate for death metal lead guitarist of aforementioned entire fucking century so far.

This album oughta come with an instruction manual in how to listen to it. In fact, I'd bet Frank Zappa woulda dug it.

The growls are deep, but often alternate with clean vocals. In fact, sometimes a bit too clean. Or rather, sometimes, like with a lot of other (too) modern metal in aforementioned entire fucking century so far, the melodies are a bit too faggy. And yes, I just used that word in a derogatory manner. If you're offended by that, you're not a metalhead, and if you'd consider me a homophobe for that sole reason, you don't know me, and you're not qualified for having opinions. In fact, I shouldn't have to make any kind of disclaimer, because you all see how it's unnecessarily derailing the focus. But again: This fucking century, man...

It happens a bit much in "Labyrinth of Stone", which, on the plus side, also features some absolutely break-neck sick riffing. The variations are the only constant; it's equally impressive and intense. And it's not only the leads, but also the riffs, that are so impossibly legato. Makes me think of this one little Psycroptic ditty, name of "Carriers of the Plague". But this reaches manic heights. There's another riff that keeps on evolving and evolving. I can't make a lot of sense of this.

In much the same interplay between aggression and progression, that brutal blast in "The Crystalline Veil" frames some apparently irregular kick drum rolls. I'd say the mid-section sounds a bit like Tool, but again, I'm not quite sure what's the mid-section here, and what's not. We're not talking ABABCBB arrangements, but rather ABCDEFGHIJK. This is complex melodies, complex rhythms, complex harmonies, and complex structures at once – but with a typhoon of otherworldly brutality to boost. This album oughta come with an instruction manual in how to listen to it. In fact, I'd bet Frank Zappa woulda dug it.

"Step Through the Portal and Breathe" features the most intense riffing so far. I don't understand the way these guys are combining the song sections (i.e., the track sections – these aren't songs in a normal sense). I mean, I kinda do, given that I've listened to this album so much, but it's still mind-expanding. The time signatures are so uneven and irregular that I can't be bothered counting them. (Wait, is that a 5/4 plus a 6/4? Nah, whatever.)

It's cool when things are brutal – which they are most of the time. In fact, everything here is really cool. But how many albums do these guys have in them?

On the level of instrumentation, things are kinda the same all the way through, which also goes for the concept of constantly evolving song structures and riffs. As impressive as this is, then, you'd probably have to be enormously fascinated with progressive and technical (extreme) music in order to take away what the band intended.

And even as much as I am fascinated with progressive and technical music (and extreme music at that), I find myself missing some more limitations and dynamics past halfway. Only a few rhythms – if any at all? – are allowed to continue for a whole lot of bars before the band introduces either a new section or a variation so drastic that it might as well have been a new section.

By the concluding title track, I'm full. Even after all these spins. Can't contain anymore. It's cool when things are brutal – which they are most of the time. In fact, everything here is really cool. But how many albums do these guys have in them? And in fact, are they capable of doing a lot more than this nice handful of things here that they do so well – like, say, writing a hit?

Of course, writing hits probably isn't the big idea behind this band. But the point being, it would be interesting to hear Fallujah putting that whole concept of less being more into practice. Because at this point, they don't need to prove a single damn thing.

Rating: 4.5 out of 6

Genre: Progressive death metal
Release date: 13/6/2025
Label: Nuclear Blast
Producer: Dave Otero