FALLUJAH

At one end of the death metal spectrum, bands compete to be as brutal and disgusting as possible. This, of course, is a noble endeavor. At the other, the genre is becoming increasingly sophisticated and progressive, as bands like FALLUJAH chase sonic and compositional perfection. In truth, "Xenotaph" is an album with roots in both the extreme and the elegant: a consolidation of the Bay Area band's well-established reputation as erudite virtuosos with both beauty and brutality at the heart of their sound.

Having reached an apex of excellence on 2023's "Empyrean", FALLUJAH take everything several steps further on their sixth album. Produced with the kind of meticulous attention to detail that separates the heavyweight from the half-baked, at least in the world of tech-death, "Xenotaph" has more in common with recent albums from ALLEGAEON and RIVERS OF NIHIL than it does with any straightforward, technically complex DM record of recent times. The sound of a band reveling in their own vivid imaginations, this is wonderful and bewildering in equal measure.

The magic begins almost immediately. After a sonorous and elegant intro, replete with angelic clean vocals, "In Stars We Drown" erupts in true '90s death metal fashion, haughty and majestic. Those clean vocals are woven throughout the song, but vocalist Kyle Schaefer's abominable growls keep everything tethered to the extreme, even as guitarist Scott Carstairs meanders through djent-like soundscapes and oases of prettified calm on his way to a blistering solo. FALLUJAH still rip with the same intensity as they did back in 2011 when "The Harvest Wombs" introduced them to the world, but the intricacy of these songs, and the profoundly progressive outlook that created them, are more prominent than ever before. Within three minutes, all bases are covered: the effect is startling, and the melodies instantly memorable.

It is an overall approach that has made FALLUJAH far more accessible, without sacrificing any of their what-the-fuck complexity. Songs like "Kaleidoscopic Waves" and "Labyrinth of Stone" pull off many of the same tricks, but at greater length. The latter, in particular, leans heavily into the jazzy textures and enigmatic changes of mood and pace that have long made FALLUJAH stand out from the tech-death crowd. But again, every individual part is in service to the whole, and the ensemble performance required to nail it is nothing short of miraculous. Similarly, "The Crystalline Veil" is a prog metal song with death metal elements, but it is the expert employment of quiet/loud dynamics, and the smooth-as-silk clean vocals that burst from unexpected breaks in the aggression that elevate it beyond the tech-death norm.

Melancholy pervades these songs, too, another dividing line between FALLUJAH and many of their peers. As a dense barrage of riffs ebbs and flows, allowing all manner of melodic light to shine through, "Step Through the Portal and Breathe" is a study in poignant pugnacity, with poetic but mystifying lines like "Time has left its mark / In a true disconnection of the head and the heart" adding a cerebral dimension to an already ingenious piece of music. The closing title track is most impressive of all: a seven-minute sprawl, it dazzles with technical density but disarms with monstrous swathes of symphonic bombast and a nimble ensemble performance that crushes the old-school way. There is no denying that FALLUJAH are clever bastards, but soul and emotion are bubbling away, close to the surface and fundamental to the band's refined artistry. Put more simply, "Xenotaph" is a transcendental tour-de-force.