I think it’s safe to say that if you’ve been keeping your ear to the extreme metal ground you remember Fallujah’s The Flesh Prevails. And chances are you harbor good memories about that album. Can’t blame you as The Flesh Prevails, in the parlance of our times, was a motherfucker. It was my pick for 2014 album of the year and that was a year with stellar recordings from At The Gates, Machine Head and plenty more.
So here we are, less than two years and a record label later, with a new Fallujah offering, Dreamless (Nuclear Blast). With the new (and likely more beneficial) Nuclear Blast contract serving as catalyst, Fallujah did not let the quick turnaround and spotlight affect their output.
And if the initial trio of singles, ‘The Void Alone,’ ‘Abandon’ and ‘Scar Queen,’ were any indication you were breathing a little easier. These signaled from the onset Dreamless was meant to be a cut above The Flesh Prevails. But were they up to the task of delivering something above and beyond The Flesh Prevails? That 2014 collection was what from elevated the San Francisco natives from underground darlings to persons of interest in the music industry.
As it turns out, Fallujah have the ability and savvy in spades to match their towering vision. ‘Face of Death and ‘Adrenaline’ are immediate indicators that they plan on living up to their recently acquired atmospheric metal designation. Much like another surging Bay area act, Deafheaven, the core of Fallujah is in extreme metal, but they like to play with mood, tempo, and high drama as much they shred. Throughout tracks like ‘Lacuna,’ ‘Abandon’ and ‘Wind for Wings’ you’ll find beautiful vocal passages from Tori Letzler and Katie Thompson that serve as sonic contrast to Alex Hoffman’s powerful, albeit occasionally monochrome growls. The true showcase for atmosphere here is the title track, ‘Dreamless’ with contributions from the aforementioned Letzler and Thompson plus a haunting solo from Tymon Kruidenier formerly of Cynic.
But behind all the beautiful and gloomy moments lies some of the most technical death metal being produced today. ‘Scar Queen’ and ‘Wind for Wings’ make much rhythm room for Robert Morey’s elastic bass lines and Andrew Baird’s cacophonous fills and speedy feet. Guitarists Scott Carstairs and Brian James shred and channel Paul Masvidal on numbers like ‘Prodigal Son’ and ‘Adrenaline.’ ‘Amber Gaze’ has Fallujah briefly abandoning the atmospherics in favor of their harsh and calculating Harvest Wombs days.
Dreamless successfully follows up on the well garnered hype of The Flesh Prevails by delivering well-informed technical/brutal death metal that is encased by haunting samples and the occasional melodic left turn. I can already predict that Fallujah is destined to become one of those bands the elitists will love to hate. However to dismiss this band over something as petty as uninformed public opinion is straight up foolish.
9.0/10
HANSEL LOPEZ
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