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In 2025 technical death metal comes in all kinds of weird and wonderful forms. One of the most formidable outfits on the circuit is California’s FALLUJAH. They have experienced somewhat of a revolving door of lineup shifts throughout their career, but one critical component has stayed constant and that is the enigmatic guitarist Scott Carstairs. 2022’s Empyrean album was our introduction to frontman Kyle Schaefer as well as much-revered bassist Evan Brewer joining the fold, both providing existing fans with significant reassurance that the future of FALLUJAH was very much in safe hands.
The highly anticipated follow-up, Xenotaph is just over the horizon and is shaping up to be their most ambitious, experimental effort to date. “We were talking about interesting words that could maybe fit the concept Kyle had come up with for the record and one word which was floated around was cenotaph, which from what I understand is a tomb without a body,” explains previous touring guitarist, now fully fledged member Sam Mooradian. “From that we came up with Xenotaph which has a lot more of an abstract, celestial vibe to it. Like a space where you are memorialized but your body is not present. The album theme is based on a post-death experience that takes place in a different realm. From my perspective it’s also a subtle nod towards some of my favourite bands, merging the words Xenochrist and Epitaph.”
Xenotaph witnesses the introduction of clean vocals into FALLUJAH‘s already expansive musical palate. A decision which has been embraced with open arms. “We’re all really proud of the way this album sounds,” declares Sam. “The clean vocals was all Kyle, just being his completely untethered self. It was a great move and it’s been amazing to see our fans embracing it. We were expecting a bit of pushback but the response from the singles has been really reassuring. Progressive metal has become bigger and bigger over the years and it’s kind of leaked into other genres which has brought in a whole host of new listeners which has been amazing.”
It can be a daunting prospect joining an established band as a contributing writer but Sam was very much an integral part of the process, spending many hours hashing out ideas and working alongside Scott to bring his own flair to the table. “It can be a bit messy at first as we all have our own creative processes but when we bring it all together and start to create music that’s when it gets really interesting as anything can happen! Personally I just start with a blank slate, start riffing and jotting down ideas and file it away, some of it can be incomplete madness. I’ll revisit it with fresh ears and some may be unusable but if I feel like I have something I’ll bring it to the guys.”
“With this being my first FALLUJAH album I wanted to be able to strike a balance of fitting into the realm of FALLUJAH but also contributing from a place that felt genuine to me. We wanted everybody to have their own voice and colour the songs in their unique way. We had a lot of writing sessions and Discord calls where we would discuss what we’d been working on, sometimes things would stick and others didn’t. There was a lot of back and forth throughout but thanks to technology we were able to make it all happen. Since those sessions we all live in the same city now so I’m looking forward to being able to hang out and write together in the same place.”
FALLUJAH have a longstanding relationship with artist Peter Mohrbacher, having utilised his artwork for previous albums Dreamless and Empyrean. When discussing potential options for Xenotaph he was an obvious contender. What the band didn’t know was that they were considering the exact same piece. “There is a great story behind this. Me and Kyle were speaking about the album art and we are both on the same page about how the artwork is an essential component which actually kind of drives the creative process,” informs Sam. “I was looking at Peter‘s portfolio and his social media posts and saving potential pieces which I found inspiring and it’s incredible just how much his work fits our aesthetic. I came across the Angel Of The Void and that became my personal favourite. Me, Kyle and Scott got together and were discussing all things band-related and when we got onto the artwork I showed them that piece and Kyle was thinking of using that same piece too! We settled on it almost immediately and I’m really psyched about it. He is an incredible artist and that piece is just next level. I was trying to come at it from the perspective of a listener or just a fan of music in general and that artwork would make me want to check it out. It really did impact Kyle on the direction he chose for the concept too.”
Preparation is key for any kind of performer, particularly when your output is as technical and challenging as that of FALLUJAH. Sam and company look to have all of their bases covered, using their online platforms to sharpen their skills. “We’re all on Twitch and we livestream so we’re all learning to play the singles as they come out so we’ll all be practised and ready to go when we start touring again. I’m super excited to play the new songs as they feel really good to play, almost quite ergonomic from a guitar standpoint. We’ve had the chance to play one of the songs live which hasn’t been released yet called The Obsidian Architect and it was a lot of fun to see the crowd reactions to a new song. There are a few moments on the record where I felt quite nervous about possibly playing them live but its not necessarily the technical aspect, it’s just getting over that little voice in your head that puts extra internal pressure on you.”
In addition to live streaming the band have created a steady stream of content in the lead-up to the release of Xenotaph, ranging from playthroughs and Q&A clips to lavish sportscar-laden music videos. “I actually do social media for artists so the content creation side of things has felt pretty natural to me,” admits Sam. “It’s definitely been a group effort though, we’re all kind of pitching in on that front. It’s unfortunate that it’s necessary to do that nowadays but it is just the nature of the industry right now. I am very thankful for the opportunities it has given me though as if it wasn’t for me being on social media and having a YouTube channel I probably wouldn’t be in FALLUJAH at all! We’re always doing silly, dumb shit when we’re hanging out on tour and I love that we get to show that side to us. That’s kind of what happened with our music video for Labyrinth of Stone. We don’t want to take ourselves too seriously all the time.”
Xenotaph is out now via Nuclear Blast Records. View this interview, alongside dozens of other killer bands, in glorious print magazine fashion in DS122 here:
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