This new Fallujah album, Xenotaph, raises an interesting question: how do you analyze a band that almost always sounds like itself? It’d be like trying to rank, I dunno… Dan Brown novels. Or Tobey Maguire movie roles. For most of their career, the San Francisco prog death crew’s juxtaposed gnarly, technical heavy sections against more melodic, atmospheric passages — compelling stuff in the moment, but never quite truly memorable out of it. So, how should one rate these guys? And where does Xenotaph land?
A complicating factor in this conundrum is that Fallujah’s most interesting album to date has been the one that sounds nothing like them at all. (And which a lot of people really don’t like for that reason!) On 2019’s Undying Light, the band did away with much of the technicality in their songs and instead opted for a thicker, almost post-metal approach. It was a significant departure, but the style better suited then-new (and now-former) vocalist Antonio Palermo’s rawer, more savage roar — and at least in this jaded listener’s ears, the band handled the change in feel pretty gamely.
But two albums, one sonic course correction, and a few lineup changes later, Xenotaph sees the band pretty firmly back in their comfort zone. And… it’s fine? I guess? I dunno, man… I’m really having a hard time determining where this album (and this band) stands. These guys are good musicians! The songs are really engaging while they’re playing… I just find they have trouble sticking, long-term. Is it good? Is it bad? It’s definitely Fallujah, I can tell you that much.
Anyway. Xenotaph is album number two for vocalist Kyle Schaefer, and the dude deserves credit for his versatility. He’s got just about everything you could possibly look for in a progressive death metal vocalist’s bag of tricks. His roar just hits the spot, whether in guttural registers or shriller, higher-pitched fare. But he can also belt the shit out of a clean line — lead or backing — which is every bit as critical for what Fallujah are trying to achieve. Whatever “it” is, Schaefer’s got it.
He’s not the only one that sings to us, though. I’m not sure what combinations of effects Scott Carstairs and Sam Mooradian use for their lead tone, but good lord, their guitars often feel like second and third vocalists themselves. Sure, they can churn out riffs like crazy, too, but it’s their pristine leads — the somber, weeping line at the beginning of “In Stars We Drown”, the clean passages throughout “Step Through the Portal and Breathe” — that stick the most. If Andre Olbrich and Marcus Siepen played progressive death metal, they’d sound like Carstairs and Mooradian. (And for you non-power-metal-knowers, that’s a compliment of the highest order.)
At the end of the day, Xenotaph hits just about all the notes you’d expect from a Fallujah album. Time will tell how long it lingers after this release window, but hey… one way or another, the band deserves credit for their consistency. Final score? Fallujah / 10, would Fallujah again.
Keep it heavy,
—Dan
Xenotaph will be available June 13, 2025, via Nuclear Blast Records. For more information on Fallujah, visit the band’s Facebook page.