Album Review: Fallujah-Nomadic

Few bands make as strong of a first impression as Fallujah did with their 2011 debut The Harvest Wombs.   I was struck immediately by the incredible musicianship and songwriting in their brand of progressive/technical death metal and they instantly became one of the best up-and-coming bands in the whole metal scene. With their new EP, Nomadic, Fallujah has cemented themselves as not only one of the best up-and-coming bands in all of metal, but one of the best bands in metal period.

Nomadic takes the sound Fallujah established on The Harvest Wombs to the next level. The music is a lot more moody and atmospheric this time around while not loosing any of the extreme-metal edge they had in the past. Nomadic may only be 3 tracks, but it packs more of a punch than 95% of the full-length records I've heard in the past years. Aside from the second track, "Silent", which is a low-key, droney instrumental track, Nomadic makes full use of Fallujah's incredible talent. Opening track "The Dead Sea" took my breath away. The riffing is absolutely incredible with a beautiful mid-section and jaw-dropping technical proficiency in the beginning and end of the song. Vocalist Alex Hoffmann improves on his vocals from the previous release with more of an emphasis on his black metal-influenced high screams, which are absolutely killer throughout this record. While not quite as impressive as "The Dead Sea", the EP's final track, Venom Upon the Blade", still kicks a lot of ass. There is once again more exciting guitarwork, punishing blast beats, and of course, the chilling progressive sections that Fallujah has become known for.

Nomadic is absolutely fantastic stuff. Fallujah improves on their already excellent debut in every possible way. The progressive sections are even more well-crafted and ethereal while the heavy sections are just as chaotic and ferocious. Even with only one full-length record and two EP's under their belt, I can already tell this band has exactly it takes to become the next icons in the extreme metal scene. Nomadic is a godlike technical/progressive death metal hybrid and I urge all fans of the genre to pay $3 to download this record and support this incredible upstart band.

4.5/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
All of it