Fallujah – Xenotaph

Written by on 20-06-2025 at 20:10.

A cenotaph is an empty grave, monument or tomb erected in honor and memory of one or more deceased persons whose bodies are buried elsewhere or that cannot be found. Well-known cenotaphs dedicated to the memory of a group include the Menin Gate in Ypres, the Tyne Cot Cemetery in Zonnebeke (both Belgium), the Whitehall in London (UK) and The Memorial Cenotaph in Hiroshima (Japan). Fallujah, from San Francisco, gave a creative twist and interpretation to the word and wrote it with an X: Xenotaph. The quartet thought it fitted the lyrical concept of the new album: a science fiction story, set in a reality after death.

Frontman Kyle Schaefer, who found inspiration for the story in Frank Herbert’s novel Children of Dune, among others, had this to say about it: “Each song on Xenotaph represents a chapter or section of the whole, starting with Kaleidoscopic Waves, a tale of the main protagonist in a post-death wake state meeting the ‘guide,’ who may be angelic in appearance but is intently malevolent.” Vague? Far-fetched? Science fiction is not for you? Don’t make the mistake of immediately dismissing Xenotaph because of this.

Prior to the album, the quartet released three singles: Kaleidoscopic Waves, Labyrinth of Stone and Step Through The Portal And Breathe. These showed that the band not only continues the musical approach of Empyrean (2022), but that they developed even further. Progressive technical death metal determines the musical playing field. Exciting riffs, playful shadings, dynamic structures, jazz accents in the guitar work, playful soloing (Step Through The Portal And Breathe), an alluring, atmospheric glow, frequently built-in intermezzos (closing  and title track Xenotaph), polyrhythmic drums, crushing death vocals and a surprising amount of contrasting harmonious vocals (The Obsidian Architect) create a very varied and emotional sound. What emerges are compositions with a frivolous structure, but plenty of coherence, in which complexity and variety predominate without (even for one beat) degenerating into a tangle of loose fragments.

And now that the full album is here, it turns out that these three songs are no exception to the whole. There was a lot of tinkering involved. “We spent many hours trying out different arrangements and had a goal from the beginning to keep the song structures fast-paced and dense with tons of different parts in each song.”, says guitarist Scott Carstairs. But all the hard work pays off. Xenotaph sounds like a return to the warm, atmospheric soul and frivolous technicality of albums like The Flesh Prevails (2014) and Dreamless (2016), without resorting to using recycled ideas and riffs from their own work.

Labyrinth of Stone and Step Through The Portal And Breathe showed all their splendor as singles, but in the context of the album they really come into full bloom. The album has been elaborated down to the finest detail and has a smooth, clear production. In addition to the band itself, Dave Otero (Cattle Decapitation, Archspire) and Mike Low (Vitriol, Aborted) are responsible for this. In addition, and perhaps the most impressive detail of Xenotaph, the album contains a wonderful flow and is therefore so much more than a collection of separate songs. It is a wonderful to listen to and is like a book that you do not want to put down, in which you become completely entangled after you have read the first chapter and of which you are only satisfied when you know the ending to the story. The big difference with a book is that I generally only read it once, while this Xenotaph will be played again and again.

“Fallujah are in a perpetual state of evolution” can be read in the promo text of the album. And this really is not a lie. On Xenotaph, Fallujah colors their progressive technical death metal very richly and returns – even more than on Empyrean – to the atmospheric approach of yesteryear. If you are looking for an album that intrigues from start to finish, is rich in detail and has a lively structure and is also pleasant to listen to, Xenotaph is the album for you. Make sure to note it down for a spot in the year list. You will not encounter much more interesting progressive technical death this year.

Score:

90/100

Label:

Nuclear Blast , 2025

Tracklisting:

  1. In Stars We Drown
  2. Kaleidoscopic Waves
  3. Labyrinth of Stone
  4. The Crystalline Veil
  5. Step Through the Portal and Breathe
  6. A Parasitic Dream
  7. The Obsidian Architect
  8. Xenotaph

Line-up:

  • Evan Brewer – Bass guitar
  • Scott Carstairs – Guitar
  • Sam Mooradian – Guitar
  • Kyle Schaefer – Vocals

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