Review Summary: Experimentation, but at what cost?
Falloch mask their inability to decide on a style by nonchalantly reminding their fans that experimentation is the heart of their creativity. They mentioned this on the release of their polarizing 2017 art-rock exercise, Prospice and it rears its head once again for their 2020 effort Diabolus.
Far removed from Blackgaze, Post Metal, or Avantgarde Rock, with no label, marketing, or even merch available; Diabolus is touted as an album written, recorded and mastered in 2 days. The release is exclusively digital and is comprised of 3 tracks, poorly mastered with a variety of audio irregularities. The worst example being the organ throughout Sanctus. While the melody is powerful and dismaying, frequent sound popping occurring at regular intervals prove that one bar was recorded and was simply looped it for nearly 10 minutes straight. Clipping is the second big offender on Diabolus, occurring any time the guitar and drums perform anything more pronounced than slow cords and doom beats.
In terms of musical quality, the album is average. Diabolus is a gritty, loud and corrosive attempt at funeral doom, sludge and black metal. It works at times, but the hurriedly nature of it all becomes apparent in many sections. Sanctus is too long and audio problems notwithstanding, repeats its one bar over and over before an anticlimactic ending. The Attilla-esque vocals on Oriens Splendor are a nice addition but are only used once during the entire record and most of the guitar passages are simple distorted cords that are repeated ad-nauseum.
How are we to interpret Diabolus? Is it a legitimate attempt at recording something eligible for “true” credibility? Or a hastily glued together project compiled to remind people of Falloch’s existence? If you visit Bandcamp’s metal section, you will find plenty of bands replicating this sound, in a more imaginative way, making it hard to justify a purchase.
