Fall City Fall - Victus

Fall City Fall are a relative newcomer to the chaotic hardcore scene, which has been fantastically pioneered in the last few years by the likes of The Chariot and Dillinger Escape Plan, but new status be damned, Fall City Fall are here to make a statement, and their voice is going to be heard. Their major label debut album Victus is fierce and unrelenting and it's demanding your time.

The first half of the album tends towards slightly stereotypical chaotic hardcore, it is really good music and a fun listen but it is not really anything you have not heard before if your into this genre, and the beginning does not have nearly as many memorable moments. However once we hit the ambient opening of ‘Many Lives’ all that changes. This track essentially serves as a transitional track into an awesomely chaotic end second half. The album suddenly takes on a more apocalyptic feel and becomes incredible. I know it is really early to say this but this second half of the album may have already sealed this as one of the best albums this year. The final two tracks are two of the best songs I have heard in a long while. It is amazingly powerful and outstanding. ‘Taken’ in particular is probably my favorite track, the whole track has this long sustained note in the background that seems to take a note out of the page of Hans Zimmer’s score for The Dark Knight (whenever the Joker was on screen there was an eerie unending note tied to the score) and it’s beautifully unsettling.

Aside from the seemingly perfect ambiance set on by the second half of this album, I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the vocals. They tended towards higher screamed vocals, but on occasion there would be these incredible guttural vocals to accent the regular vocals, and it works awesomely where the band used, particularly at the halfway point of ‘Many Masters’ and ‘Taken’. For a moment I thought that maybe Phil Bozeman stopped by the studio to provide his talents, but vocalist Nathan Zorn just has a fantastic voice.

The other musicians in the band also do a fantastic job on their instruments. I cannot say they are more hectic sounding than the likes of The Chariot or Dillinger, but they do a great job spreading the noise and getting a little crazy while making it all seem like a plan formed by a madman. They do a great job contrasting different rhythms with the guitars to add an eerie effect to their overall sound.

If the Mayans were right and we had been killed in the apocalypse a few weeks back, it would have been unfortunate because the soundtrack to the apocalypse came out a little late for their timeframe. Thankfully though we live on and are blessed with the opportunity to listen to Fall City Fall’s fantastic debut. If these guys keep on this track they’re sure to have a hell of a career ahead of them.