Review of Fallujah - "Dreamless"

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By: Geoff Teach

Every so often, an album comes along with just that perfect amount of pre-release buzz, thanks usually to a built-in hype made possible by exceptional previous works. In 2014, the San Francisco-based, atmospheric death metal quintet Fallujah caused quite an uproar with the release of The Flesh Prevails (Unique Leader Records), and the metal world took major notice of the California fivesome. Less than a year later, the band announced that they had inked a fresh new contract with Nuclear Blast U.S.A., and, more importantly, that they had begun work on the follow up to Flesh Prevails. And on April 29th, 2016, the highly anticipated Dreamless will be unleashed upon the world, whether it is ready for it or not.

Honestly, since receiving my copies of Dreamless, I have scarcely been able to keep from hitting the repeat button on my C.D., or to stop spinning the gorgeous, blue double-vinyl. This album is bold, beautiful, alluring, brutal, and overtly more refined than anything Fallujah’s ever dared to record. Dreamless is the culmination of more than five years of honing and ameliorating their soundcraft from Fallujah, and the end result is stunningly and decidedly magnificent, as the five members have brought to bear all of the tricks and talents that they have learned and developed together as a troupe over that time.

Presented in twelve tracks that encompass the entire spectrum of fascination, emotion, bewilderment, and wonder, Dreamless by Fallujah is the new gold standard in atmospheric death metal composition and production. Building upon the success and musical direction of Flesh Prevails, Dreamless is everything that we’ve all come to know and love about Fallujah, and more. Much, much more. There is more death metal pandemonium, more pendulous dynamics, more instrumental (and transcendental) interludes, and more phenomenal visual and musical artistry.

Some of my favorite offerings from Dreamless include the aptly-named “Adrenaline”, the first single “The Void Alone”, the heavy and barbaric “Scar Queen”, “The Prodigal Son”, and the closer, “Lacuna”. But when taken in as a full album, Fallujah’s brilliance truly shines on Dreamless, as the experience is as immersive and breathtaking as an intronautic journey into the entire breadth of your own fantastical dreamscapes – and worst nightmares – all in an hour's sitting. Seriously, albums this good and chill-inducing are few and far between, so pick up a copy for your own shelf as fast as you can, and let Fallujah’s Dreamless take you on a ride through the cosmos of your mind. You will not regret it.

To experience the beautiful brutality of “Scar Queen” from Dreamless, just press play below: