Meet Fall City Fall, the patron saints of Calgary Metalcore. Five years in the making and putting out their Major Label Debut, “Victus” through Victory Records, these guys have been working hard to get to where they are and this record shows it. Fall City Fall blends a melodic sensibility akin to bands such as La Dispute with a what’s going to happen next style of riffing that draws in crowds of all types. Heavy, groovy and all together fun, Fall City Fall is a band to look out for.
The album starts out with a beat poetry styled monologue from one of the duel vocalists that truly captures the mood, you can hear the longing in the vocalist’s inflection. We then kick into the album at full blast with twanging breakdowns and driving rhythm. The 3rd track off the album, “Anxiety Attack” was our introduction to this band through the “Victory Records Welcomes” video and it’s pretty obvious why this track was chosen. Catchy and intense is the writing to this song, definitely one of the better tracks. The next few tracks are fairly standard routine it feels like. The writing is good and the spoken monologue parts are kept to a desirable amount but nothing completely blows you away. Good solid metalcore but nothing to make or break an album. Track 8, “Shallow Believer”, is a standout track for ditching the formula that seems to be repeating throughout the album. It comes across as being almost anthemic and could be the key song to turning a few heads that might disregard some earlier recordings. As a polar opposite to “Shallow Believer” is track 10, “Taken”, which is almost entirely stripped down and relies on vocals more than anything. Focusing on just the vocals, we see that the duel vocalists are a really good look for this band and that both of these guys really have great control over their voices. You can feel the animosity and pain in the words that they are both screaming. The raw feeling to this song makes for a very strong presence. The title track is placed at the end of the album which I say to my dismay, was poorly placed. As a listener, I felt as though this could’ve ended stronger with either of the tracks I just mentioned but perhaps this is something the band can look at for the next time.
Fall City Fall’s “Victus” is a huge step up for the Victory Records clan who have been sullying the metalcore waters for years. This album is a fresh, yet nostalgic take on the genre and a great listen for fans of The Underminded, Norma Jean and Every Time I Die.
