FALLUJAH – Xenotaph
Neue Scheiben, Film- und BuchtippsNewsUncategorized 5. April 2026 Lydia Dr. Polwin-Plass
FALLUJAH traten letztes Jahr ein neues Kapitel an – mit Xenotaph präsentieren die US-Tech-Metal-Pioniere ein Sci-Fi-episches Meisterwerk, eine progressive Vision, technische Virtuosität und cineastische Intensität auf neuem Level.
Die Bay Area-basierte Tech-Metal-Formation FALLUJAH erweitert mit ihrem neuen Album Xenotaph musikalische Horizonte und unterstreicht ihre Position als eine der spannendsten Metal-Bands Amerikas. Das Album erschien Ende letzten Jahres über Nuclear Blast. Mit Singles wie „Kaleidoscopic Waves“, „Labyrinth of Stone“ und „Step Through the Portal and Breathe“ zeigt das aktuelle Werk FALLUJAH in bestechender Form: revitalisiert, verfeinert und visionär.
Die Band vertraut weiterhin auf das Line-up, das schon das Vorgängeralbum Empyrean (2022) zu einem kritischen Erfolg machte – ergänzt durch Gitarrist Sam Mooradian und Schlagzeuger Kevin Alexander. Gemeinsam mit Sänger Kyle Schaefer, Gitarrist Scott Carstairs und Bassist Evan Brewer startet die Band nun in ein neues Kapitel.
„Having numerous self-sufficient writers in the band who all agreed on a shared vision allowed us to work as a team to make sure every song was intense, detailed, and dynamic but not overbearing in any aspect, at least to our tastes,“ Carstairs says. „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. We also tried to push the music in a simultaneously more melodic and more technical/progressive direction—even crazier riffs and solos balanced out by atmospheric moments and more prominent clean vocal hooks.“
Das Album besticht durch Momente der Spannung und Entspannung, atmosphärische Soundlandschaften und Schaefer’s markante, klare Gesangspassagen. Jede Komposition wurde sorgfältig auf ihre Balance zwischen blast-ladenem Tempo, Jazz-Fusion-Soli, vokaler Zurückhaltung und kompromissloser Brutalität abgestimmt, wodurch Xenotaph eine dynamische, aufregende Hörerfahrung liefert. Peter Mohrbachers atemberaubendes Cosmogonie-Coverkunstwerk fügt sich dabei nahtlos in die visuelle Handschrift der Band ein, wie bereits bei Dreamless und Empyrean.
„‘Kaleidoscopic Waves’ was the first song we began working on,“ recalls Schaefer. „The song changed a lot before it ended up in its current form. ‘In Stars We Drown’ came together the most quickly, and was the first song I wrote vocals for. The last song we completed together was the title track ‘Xenotaph,’ which was also the most collaborative song with a good balance of everyone’s ideas and contributions. We spent a lot of time going back and forth on what the singles should be, and even though ‘Kaleidoscopic Waves’ might seem like the obvious choice due to length and structure, we actually weren’t planning on releasing it as a single at all for the vast majority of this process. It’s brighter and more upbeat than most of the other songs, and we were originally planning to debut the record with something darker, heavier and more ‘Fallujah-y.’ In the end, we decided to lead with ‘Kaleidoscopic’ and then trust the subsequent singles to give people an idea of the full range of what to expect.”
Die konzeptuelle Grundlage des Albums ist stark von Frank Herberts Dune-Romanen, theatrischen Einflüssen und Mohrbachers Cover-Art inspiriert. Jede Komposition repräsentiert ein Kapitel dieser Science-Fiction-Erzählung, beginnend mit „Kaleidoscopic Waves“, in dem der Protagonist in einem postmortalen Zustand einem scheinbar engelsgleichen, aber malevolent-intentionalen Führer begegnet.
„I wanted everything to feel very sci-fi and abstract rather than resembling any traditional human ideas of heaven or hell,“ Schaefer says. „This ‘guide’ accompanies the narrator on a journey through incomprehensible new worlds as well as the inner working of their own psyche and memories, leading the narrator to develop a profound sense of enlightenment and attachment to this new plane of existence. The twist that comes later, though, is the realization that this character isn’t dead, that the entire experience has been a lie, and that the angelic guide is really more like a parasite inside the character’s mind, trying to trap and deceive them into surrendering their soul instead of waking up from this dreamlike state.“
Xenotaph wurde von FALLUJAH produziert und von Dave Otero und Mike Low (VITRIOL, ABORTED) in den Studios Flatline Audio (Denver, Colorado) und Top Track Studios (Nashville, Tennessee) aufgenommen. Otero übernahm zudem Mixing und Mastering. Ziel war es, die Stärken von Empyrean zu nutzen und weiter auszubauen, indem Songstrukturen, Lead-Gitarren, technische Finesse und Intensität noch klarer hervorgehoben werden.
„The recording process ended up overlapping with the writing and demoing process to some degree,“ Schaefer reveals. „Generally, tracking occurred from roughly January-April 2024. We spent about two-three days with Dave at his studio in Denver in mid-April. Most of our parts were recorded individually at home, including all guitars, vocals and bass. Drums were tracked with our friend/Dave’s assistant Mike Low here in Nashville, and then mixed and mastered remotely by Dave.“
Mit Xenotaph bereiten FALLUJAH auch die Bühne für ihre Live-Präsenz, wobei Fans bereits Songs wie „The Obsidian Architect“ in ersten Konzerten erleben konnten. Das Album dokumentiert die kontinuierliche Weiterentwicklung der Band. Mit ihr in neue, unbekannte Klangwelten einzutauchen.
„Hopefully fans will be surprised and excited by some of the new directions we’re pushing in,“ Schaefer says. „They will also still recognize the core elements they’ve grown to love in the past. There are some moments where we wanted the music to feel completely new and even out of character for us, and then other moments where we wanted to lean into what we already know the band can do well. It’s all about keeping things dynamic and exciting, while hopefully still feeling like a fully cohesive piece of work held together by the lyrics and storyline. We’d love for this music to eventually impact our fans in the way our favorite music has impacted us.“
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