A little while ago, Scottish atmospheric miscreants Falloch released This Island, Our Funeral on Candlelight Records. The record was a doozy, with our very own editorial darling Scott Murphy reviewing it and finding plenty to praise but enough to criticise also. By the end of the record, the black metal tag was long since painted over, with post-metal, folk and gaze sounds becoming more prominent.
Fast forward to right this very second. Falloch have brushed the dust off their shoulders and blown out the candle on the last record with a refreshed lineup and delicately tinkered new sound. After sitting on Prospice for nearly a year they are finally ready to unload seven tracks of gorgeous, atmospheric music upon the world. Head on over the jump to hear the first track from the album, “Fata Morgana.”
Immediately, the new Falloch sounds more intricate and engaging than ever. Original members Ben Brown and Scott McLean recruited friends from Maud The Moth to create the planetary individuality of each of the seven tracks on Prospice, a decision that pays off from the opening moments of “Fata Morgana”. The opener builds on sturdy blocks of synths and keys, the percussive talents of Paul Gonzalez meshing with the wonderfully playful nature of Brown’s bass work – a devilish dirty tone from the bass, under the smooth, silken synths and singing. Pairing all of this with Amaya Lopez-Carromero’s haunting voice has an arresting quality that demands attention. Think ISIS but less brooding, Agalloch but less vacant.
Fans of Oathbreaker will warm to these sounds too, but won’t miss the black metal influences because the structuring of this material is flawless. The final third of “Fata Morgana” builds up and does not let down one bit, the sparse guitar work flirting with a driving bass and equally forceful percussion. This is still recognisable as Falloch but the presence and poise of the band is staggering in comparison to previous work and everyone even slightly twinging in the loins for post-metal and atmospheric music will find themselves mesmerised by the rest of the new record.
Prospice will be released by the band themselves on July 31st, with physical content to follow a digital release across the usual platforms. One of Scotland’s more intriguing and exciting acts, Falloch hit new heights that previous iterations couldn’t have dreamed of. This new record speaks for itself to that. Before we leave however, some carefully chosen words from Ben, forever the silver tongued wizard:
“We wanted to try something different with album three and the overall approach to Falloch so joined forces with our friends Amaya and Paul and set about making Prospice..
Something that we wanted to ensure was was that the whole process was going to be a lot of fun and we could use it as a chance to make the music we wanted to hear, regardless of whether or not it was Falloch-y. I had a hankering to get freaky…
For the mixing we were using the idea of the record being a solar system and each track an individual planet. There’s a cosmic connection between them and some shared characteristics but each track had to be tackled in a different way.
(Prospise) was loads of fun to make and set us on a path of exploration. Going forward we have many ideas but nothing set in stone. For us, this is great and exactly where we want to be. Happy listening!”