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Fallujah - Dreamless review




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Reviewer:
9.2

199 users:
8.11
Band: Fallujah
Album: Dreamless
Release date: April 2016


01. Face Of Death
02. Adrenaline
03. The Void Alone [feat. Tori Letzler]
04. Abandon
05. Scar Queen
06. Dreamless
07. The Prodigal Son
08. Amber Gaze
09. Fidelio
10. Wind For Wings
11. Les Silences
12. Lacuna

The Flesh Prevails marked an extraordinary change in Fallujah. Soaring leaps and bounds beyond the confines of genres and all preconceived assessments of the band's potential, Fallujah created a true masterpiece that fused atmosphere, heaviness, and technicality seamlessly. Had Fallujah crafted a successor that mimicked The Flesh Prevails perfectly, no one would have complained, but The Flesh Prevails itself proved that this band has no desire to rest on its laurels. Dreamless diverges enough from its predecessor to demonstrate the band's further development, but nevertheless lives up to the impossibly high standard that Fallujah set back in 2014.

Though "Face Of Death" continues the thread of The Flesh Prevails without a second thought, dropping blistering tech death riffs over a spacey background, "Adrenaline" immediately strains the boundaries of the careful coalition of styles Fallujah employed on the last album. "Adrenaline" explores just how aggressive and schismatic Fallujah can be without abandoning its devotion to elegant atmospheres. By "The Void Alone" and "Abandon," Fallujah starts to incorporate different textures entirely, aided by the ethereal vocals of guest Tori Letzler, whose voice adds a great deal of feeling to the album's brutal brocade. Songs like "Amber Gaze" and "Wind For Wings" take the introspective, cosmic approach of The Flesh Prevails and push the concept even further down its logical path.

Fallujah possesses a unique instrumental liquidity that makes the shifts in tone and style seem utterly effortless; these musicians can craft exceedingly technical songs and heavy, unflinching avalanches without detracting from the serene mood. Every line of melody flows transcendently into the next, creating an unbroken seascape of shimmering sound that remains tranquil even amidst the body-slamming drums. Awash in superb lead guitar work, songs like "Scar Queen" call to mind Animals As Leaders and Oleg Izotov as much as The Faceless or Ne Obliviscaris. The title track represents, most literally of all these songs, the approach Fallujah has taken with these last few releases; "Dreamless" places a driving, pounding drum track behind an otherwise calm, meandering, half-ambient track that builds into something more recognizably metal.

Exceeding its predecessor by three songs and roughly 15 minutes, Dreamless contains much more content to digest than The Flesh Prevails. While this album is clearly indebted to The Flesh Prevails, Dreamless forges its own path rather than relying strictly on the blueprints established by Fallujah's previous material - not shifting radically in style, but creating enough distance to avoid cannibalism. Rarely have I had the chance to review an album as fantastic and instantly awe-inspiring as The Flesh Prevails, and I am glad to hear that Fallujah has gone above and beyond the call of duty in creating a successor.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 10
Songwriting: 9
Originality: 9
Production: 9





Written on 23.04.2016 by I'm the reviewer, and that means my opinion is correct.


Comments

Comments: 11   Visited by: 524 users
23.04.2016 - 06:53
psykometal
A staff guy...
Like The Faceless, listening to any of their most recent material, you'd never guess either band actually started off as relatively standard, yet still decent-to-good, Deathcore bands.
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~Zep, Database and Forum Moderation~

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23.04.2016 - 10:31
Rating: 8
qlacs
"The Quaker"
Never thought I would say this, but finally a review I was waiting for ! Glad to hear they did it again... Thanks SSUS! (no homo though)
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23.04.2016 - 17:46
Rating: 9
ScreamingSteelUS
Editor-in-Chief
Written by qlacs on 23.04.2016 at 10:31

Never thought I would say this, but finally a review I was waiting for ! Glad to hear they did it again... Thanks SSUS! (no homo though)

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"Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader

I'm the Agent of Steel.
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25.04.2016 - 19:15
LascaillesShroud

I worry about the production, which I noticed you gave a 9. Their previous album was perhaps one of the worst produced professionally recorded albums I've ever heard, might even just be the worst. I really, really, really really really hope the don't do that again. Their songwriting is just fucking stellar, I want to love this album so much.
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26.04.2016 - 05:28
Rating: 9
Vale

Written by LascaillesShroud on 25.04.2016 at 19:15

I worry about the production, which I noticed you gave a 9. Their previous album was perhaps one of the worst produced professionally recorded albums I've ever heard, might even just be the worst. I really, really, really really really hope the don't do that again. Their songwriting is just fucking stellar, I want to love this album so much.


I'm just finishing up my first spin of it, and I can tell you that the production is MUCH better than The Flesh Prevails.
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26.04.2016 - 22:31
Rating: 9
chomskeet

I definitely like this better than The Flesh Prevails
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01.05.2016 - 23:33
Rating: 9
MyNameJeff

Written by psykometal on 23.04.2016 at 06:53

Like The Faceless, listening to any of their most recent material, you'd never guess either band actually started off as relatively standard, yet still decent-to-good, Deathcore bands.

I agree with you although I wouldn't call Fallujah's first album standard deathcore in any way!
Oh you actually wrote yourself "..I'm not hearing any deathcore moments at all?!" haha
Cheers
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02.05.2016 - 00:12
psykometal
A staff guy...
Written by MyNameJeff on 01.05.2016 at 23:33

I agree with you although I wouldn't call Fallujah's first album standard deathcore in any way!

Yea, I was referring to their EP, Leper Colony. It was mostly some pretty standard deathcore, albeit slightly more technical than usual.
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~Zep, Database and Forum Moderation~

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02.05.2016 - 02:35
Rating: 9
MyNameJeff

Written by psykometal on 02.05.2016 at 00:12

Written by MyNameJeff on 01.05.2016 at 23:33

I agree with you although I wouldn't call Fallujah's first album standard deathcore in any way!

Yea, I was referring to their EP, Leper Colony. It was mostly some pretty standard deathcore, albeit slightly more technical than usual.

Oh I see, yeah I haven't checked that one out
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10.05.2016 - 03:55
Malignar

I just don't get the love for this band. Almost everything I dislike about American metal and this release does nothing to change my thoughts.
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23.05.2016 - 21:40
Rating: 8
qlacs
"The Quaker"
Written by Vale on 26.04.2016 at 05:28

Written by LascaillesShroud on 25.04.2016 at 19:15

..


..


Don't know about you guys, this kind of sound production really fits both records. It's definitely better on Dreamless in terms of mixing and especially the lows but TFP still became one of my top 10 albums.
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