Fallujah - Undying Light (Album Review)

Fallujah - Undying Light
Release date: 15/3/2019
Label: Nuclear Blast
By: K. Andersen

Fair warning: this first part is a tad long, and while at first it may seem like a lot of personal bullshit, I promise you that it is indeed relevant to the review. I hope you manage to slog through it and
If not, then you can skip down to the part that says, “Now onto the album itself”.

I have been a fan of Fallujah for years, ever since I first heard their debut “The Harvest Womb”. It was an album that at the time swept me off my feet and left me sitting in my chair, dumbfoundedly thinking “holy shit.. what just hit me”. From then on, I was hooked.
Three years went by before Fallujah’s sophomore album “The Flesh Prevails” landed in my mailbox and I admit that i could hardly abstain from tearing the package to shreds in order to get to the treasure inside.
After playing the CD back-to-back twice in a row, I was in awe. This was an album even better than its predecessor, not by a little, but it surpassed it by miles. They had managed to take all the things that made the debut stand out, in a sea of death metal, and refined it.
To this day, "Sapphire" remains my favourite tech-death track ever made.

Then came “Dreamless” in 2016, with which they once again cemented themselves as utterly unique within the scene. Both “The Flesh Prevails” and “Dreamless” incorporated copious amounts of synth (programmed by now ex-vocalist Alex Hoffman) and it created a immensely eerie and dreamlike sound, that since has defined Fallujah for many of its fans. I’m not exaggerating when I say that Fallujah has probably been the biggest influence on my taste in music in the last decade. Since hearing that first album, technical death metal has been my go-to genre and both of their follow up albums, have remained in my top-played albums over the years.

Now to the reason that I’m pouring all this superfluous information on to you through text.
Fallujah recently released their fourth album “Undying Light”, and with all of the beforementioned information in mind, there’s no doubt that I was excited and had great expectations. Fallujah had so far managed to both live up to, and exceed, my expectations with every album.

I was aware that their previous vocalist had left the band om amicable terms which gave both me, and other fans I’ve talked to, cause for mild concern. Fans will always be worried when lineup changes happen, and I chalked it up to being just that. I considered (and still consider) myself a fan after all.
Then singles from the coming album started dropping and the concern quickly grew. The singles sounded vastly different from the sound that had dominated most of the band’s repertoire up and until now. The sound had moved from dreamy, eerie, horizon-breaking soundscapes to a more introvert, darker and gloomier sound. In a way even the cover-art reflected this, even though i didn't realize until looking at it again when i began writing this review.
Now, it is VERY important for me to state that this is not necessarily a bad thing. Growth and exploration of sound is a part of every bands journey, and bands/artists should never compromise with the vision they have, in order to please fans. That’s how Justin Biebers are made.

Fallujah

Now, to the album itself:
From the very first song, there is no doubt that in spite of the changes, Fallujah remains Fallujah.
the opener “Glass house” starts out with a soulful and haunting lone guitar that is quickly joined by a downtempo drum beat. The first part of the song culminates in a break, that then sends us headfirst into the violent torrent of sound so iconic to Fallujah.
As soon as the vocals come on, is when you start really noticing the differences. Antonio Palermo, who had to pick up the heavy mantle left behind by Hoffman, has a very different style. Where Hoffman varied between the deeper growls and high-pitched screams, Palermo’s vocals seem much more akin to the sound found in hardcore vocalists. 
As the album progresses the difference in sound from the other albums become more apparent, but not in a way so many of us feared. As mentioned earlier the sound may have changed but the songwriting is still phenomenal and there are many moments in which the “Fallujah feel” is still ever-present, albeit slightly different. “The Ocean Above” which marks the halfway point on the album, serves as a prime example of this “Fallujah feel” with its incorporation of whispered clean vocals and a huge tempo-drop in the middle of the song that paves way for a dreamy guitar-driven passage. It then builds back up to a frenzied agony that matches extremely well with Palermo’s style of vocals that just emanates pain. In those moments there is no doubt that Hoffman leaving, is not the end of the band, or its sound. 
There are other such moments, such as the track “Ultraviolet” that drags you down into an almost claustrophobic current of pounding drums and melodic bass riffs and keeps you in its grasp until the last lingering notes.

The change in sound on this album doesn't really come from the change of vocalist in itself, but from the unfortunate issue that Hoffman programmed all the synth, and to be honest that lack, IS tangible on the album.
At times the attempts at using the guitars to emulate the same feel, end up feeling slightly hollow and the melodic variance that permeated the previous albums were largely due to the synths ability to be much more than a guitar.
While there are gems in the tracklist, there are also songs that feel bland and the album as a whole doesn’t drag me into a trance as the previous albums have.That doesn’t mean that this is a bad album, to be honest it is probably a lot better than other albums released this year, but the bands heavy reliance on the synth on the previous albums stands in stark contrast to the now claustrophobic and introverted – but still masterfully crafted – soundscapes on “Undying Light”. Again, this doesn’t mean bad, just different. This contrast has sort of set them up for a rough start with the new lineup, because this album will for sure take some spins before people realize that this is still Fallujah.
This is still absolutely sublime musicianship, the new vocalist is without a doubt skilled and the songwriting remains intricate and detailed. They have just gone inward instead of outward in regards to their sound, and that might - understandably - turn some fans away from this album.
Personally, this album was not what i had hoped for or expected, but at the same time i see a lot of what i know and love about Fallujah in it, and the more i listen to it, the more i look forward to seeing the band explore this new realm of sound.

We give this album:

Out of 6

Favourite tracks: The Oceans Above, Ultraviolet, Glass House
Tracklist:
1. Glass House
2. Last Light
3. Ultraviolet
4. Dopamine
5. The Ocean Above
6. Hollow
7. Sanctuary
8. Eyes Like the Sun
9. Distant and Cold
10. Departure

Facebook: www.facebook.com/fallujahofficial/
Bandcamp: fallujah.bandcamp.com/