Saturday Aug. 5th – 5pm ALL AGES – Advance Tix @ https://midwestix.securemytix.com/event/fallujah-live-at-leftys
FALLUJAH (San Fransisco, Ca.) – “I think the metal scene is immeasurably lacking in bands that offer emotional and atmospheric material,” says Fallujah vocalist Alex Hofmann. “Metal can’t remain as single serving as it is and hope to keep relevance. Bands need to bring a knockout live show and make the audience actually feel something other than mere impulse. It is for this reason that I think the world (or the metal world for that matter) has already been waiting for a band like Fallujah.”
Hofmann is onto something, actually. From Fallujah’s formation in 2007, the San Franciscans have melded brutality and brains into a sonic force with an unquestionable presence. Debut album, The Harvest Wombs, set the tech death world afire, with its smart brawn and well-placed jazz-rock interludes. The group’s follow-up album, The Flesh Prevails, further contrasted intensity with atmosphere. Tracks like ‘Carved from Stone’, ‘The Night Reveals’, and ‘Sapphire’ floored fans with their dexterity, ingenuity, and ferocity. Fallujah, however, aren’t content to be pigeonholed as tech death (or deathcore).
“That term was what we were lumped into for a long time,” the frontman admits. “In my opinion, the term has stuck way past its relevancy with our music. When you put on a lot of tech death bands I have a hard time understanding why we are considered amongst their ranks. The Leper Colony and The Harvest Wombs-era makes perfect sense, but now? I think we offer so much more to the musical pallet, so when that term comes up the first thought that comes up is ‘irrelevancy’.”
Eager to not repeat The Flesh Prevails, Fallujah set out to write a paradigm shift in new album, Dreamless. Written largely by guitarist Scott Carstairs at his home—the rest of Fallujah would join in to help the six-stringer smith songs— Dreamless represents a band at the peak of their songwriting ability. According to Hoffman, songs like ‘The Void Alone’, ‘Face Of Death’, and ‘Lacuna’ feature less musical arithmetic and more groove, a trait that’s underscored throughout Dreamless. Instead of the rapidity and claustrophobic atmosphere of The Flesh Prevails, Fallujah’s new music is clearer, stronger, yet still rife with emotion and ambiance.
“Simply calling it death metal would be inaccurate,” states Hofmann of Dreamless. “This album is a major step forward with the goal in mind of transcending the limitations of not only the death metal sound but the scene at large. Anyone who is a Fallujah fan will put the record on and immediately know who it is they are listening to, but there’s a diverse palette represented here that our previous albums lacked. The aim of the album seemed a lot more focused this time with what we wanted to achieve. With each album we write it becomes apparent that we get better at actualsongwriting.”
Viscera (Des Moines, Ia.) – We are currently a four-piece instrumental band from Des Moines, Iowa, with influences from the progressive, djent, and heavy metal genres. Our first EP, entitled Collapse, is available on YouTube, iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, and Apple Music.
Dark Arrival (Cherokee, Ia.) – Melodic Metalcore
Shattered Crown (Cedar Rapids, Ia.) – Metalcore