Fallujah- The Flesh Prevails

Fallujah just might be saving Death Metal from it itself. With the band's second album, The Flesh Prevails coming out July 22nd, 2014, the band has explored an area that many Death Metal bands steer clear of, adding an atmospheric touch to their sound. It has been explored a lot in the realms of Black Metal and Post Metal, but not so much in Death Metal. While the band has somewhat done this on their two previous releases; the debut album The Harvest Wombs, and their EP, Nomadic, it has not been explored like it has on The Flesh Prevails. This is very much a revolutionary album.

The album starts with Starlit Path, which has a very atmospheric intro of clean guitars, synths, and bass, which gradually builds up when the drums get added. When the distortion gets added it turns into Atmospheric chaos. it's not until around the 2:10 mark where the Death Metal truly kicks in. While the rest of the band is playing in true Death meal fashion, there is guitar overlays of cleans and synths that add a fantastic layer of melodicness and atmosphere. This is featured through the entire album. Songs that have already been released (Carved In Stone, Levitation and Sapphire) are very beautiful pieces of Death Metal, again, not a phrase that you would normally hear in the genre. The title track, The Flesh Prevails is arguably one of the highlights of the album. While one of the shorter songs on the album, it showcases the perfect use of dynamics, slowly building up into an expulsion of fury. Alone With You is a short instrumental interlude that is pure atmosphere which leads right back into the chaos that the rest of the album brings. Allure is another instrumental track that contains all the power the rest of the album brings but without vocals, shows off what the music side of the band is capable of in terms of the beautiful chaos. The album ends with Chemical Cave, which is a fantastic final song for an album that showcases the musical side of the band once again in Prog Metal fashion. Almost as if Dream Theater wrote a Death Metal instrumental.

Fallujah's The Flesh Prevails that can save Death Metal from the overabundance of the "Same Ol, Same Ol" approach of just being brutal and the over the top Technical Death Metal approach that only those who can achieve the same sound on their own playing abilities can enjoy. It's a great blend of Atmospheric Death Metal, in a sense that you can have your Death Metal brutal, but have that kick back and relax feeling at the same time. The only thing that I can say that some people may not enjoy about the album is that the latter part of the album does not feature as much vocals as the first half, but again, that's a matter of taste. Musically, it all gels well, and I dare say will be a pioneer in the next Generation of Death Metal.

- 4.5/5

Fallujiah- The Flesh Prevails Available July 22nd via Unique Leader Records

- Josh Rundquist (That Drummer Guy)