From The Fallen - Pulse
We featured From The Fallen not long after setting up the site, so when Chris dropped us a line the other day letting us know about their new album Pulse, I was looking forward to seeing what they’d been up to! Thinking back to when I first heard these guys, I was blown away by their ability to combine all out power with a sense of harmony and melody, something which bands don’t often manage to include within the mix. As such, I jumped at the chance to be the one to check out the new album, so cranked it on and cranked the volume up to make sure I didn’t miss a beat.
Opening proceedings with Sympathy For A Stalker we get off to a heavy start, the opening guitar work leading into a screaming vocal which gets things fully built up and up to speed. Adopting a pace which is neither slow nor fast, the track somehow forms into something which is awesomely heavy, yet also full of groove orientated riffs, the sort of thing which is going to get you moving, drinking, and begging for more. It’s striking how the band manage to combine the female vocal line with the hard hitting backing music, managing to balance out the combination of melody and distortion to leave you with a sound designed to be heavy, but still allow you to hear everything that’s going on. Charred continues this approach further, this time opening with a soaring lead line tinged with an edge of ominous darkness, forming a sound which you know suggests there’s a lot more to come from this track. Descending down into a sludgy yet well put together track, this is a slower track designed to really hammer home the heaviness within the band – and it works. To me, this is a track which is going to work incredibly well on the live scene, it’s got the right mix of melody from the vocals and distortion from the backing rhythms – it’s a mix which is impossible to resist. Standing out as a definite high point, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a single made of this track, it’s got the recipe for success written all through it.
Burn It Down picks the pace back up again for us, this time launching straight into a powerful riff packed with roving guitar lines and rumbling bass whilst the drums set the beat for it to follow. Dark once again, the heaviness of this track is understated as you listen to it, but it hammers home the message of the track, letting you know that there’s a lot more to come from this album and that they’re only just getting going with things. To me, the stand out element of this track has to be the vocals, they rove between soaring and serene right down to heavy and raw, something which gives the track an extra boost and stands it out as another track to make sure you check out. If the vocals were the key there then the bass has to be for the opening moments of Liar In Disguise, standing out within the mix and adding a real sense of depth to proceedings. Hammering the track into being with this awesome bass combined with more of the soaring vocals and distorted riffery, the mix here is one which once again lifts the bar for the album, offering up a heavy track built around the idea of grooviness and power and showing just what sound From The Fallen are going for – it’s a serene combination of catchy hooks, powerful riffs and rumbling bass rhythms.
Leading on to Last To Die before bringing in Run, Give and Multiple Personalities, the album seems to move through different approaches, each one showing off the skills within the band and all the time letting us know who it is we’re listening to. To me though it’s when When I’m Gone comes around that another serious high point on the album is reached, pulling back from the power and ushering in a track built around a soft guitar line and a soft, melodic and soaring female vocal line. The contrast here is striking, tossing out the power in favour of emotional, heartfelt rhythms which get your attention and keep you involved from the word go right up until the closing moments. To me this is an incredible track, and one which shows just how accomplished a band we’re dealing with. Managing to make the track sound as if it fits on the album despite the clear differences, this is a track which I know will stay with me for a long while to come, and one which I know I’ll be coming back to listen to time and time again – honestly an incredible moment on what was already a sterling album.
Picking up the power once again for Straight To The End the tone begins to grow back towards the heavier side of things once more, showing that the moment of calm and reflection was just that – a moment on the album. Returning to their heavy roots for another hurrah, this track doesn’t quite reach the distortion levels of earlier in the album, yet manages to still pack a hell of a punch and deliver the punch that we’re looking for from an album like this. Leading us closer towards the end of the album, it’s only then left to Scorned to close things, finishing on another upbeat and hard hitting track which is sure to get pits moving, people jumping, and venues shaking from wall to wall. Closing on a high was never going to be a problem on an album like this, yet as the closing moments finish the album off we’re left wanting more, knowing that what we’ve just heard has been a hell of an accomplishment, and an album we’re going to come back to time and time again.
What’s really struck me about From the Fallen is how they’ve refined their style, taken their original sound and made it their own whilst still staying true to their roots throughout. This is an album which doesn’t just deliver, it goes above and beyond, leaving you safe in the knowledge that there are bands out there who can put together an album like this and still leave you wanting to hear more – so here’s hoping they get onto some recording sometime soon!
To find out more about From The Fallen, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls
Opening proceedings with Sympathy For A Stalker we get off to a heavy start, the opening guitar work leading into a screaming vocal which gets things fully built up and up to speed. Adopting a pace which is neither slow nor fast, the track somehow forms into something which is awesomely heavy, yet also full of groove orientated riffs, the sort of thing which is going to get you moving, drinking, and begging for more. It’s striking how the band manage to combine the female vocal line with the hard hitting backing music, managing to balance out the combination of melody and distortion to leave you with a sound designed to be heavy, but still allow you to hear everything that’s going on. Charred continues this approach further, this time opening with a soaring lead line tinged with an edge of ominous darkness, forming a sound which you know suggests there’s a lot more to come from this track. Descending down into a sludgy yet well put together track, this is a slower track designed to really hammer home the heaviness within the band – and it works. To me, this is a track which is going to work incredibly well on the live scene, it’s got the right mix of melody from the vocals and distortion from the backing rhythms – it’s a mix which is impossible to resist. Standing out as a definite high point, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a single made of this track, it’s got the recipe for success written all through it.
Burn It Down picks the pace back up again for us, this time launching straight into a powerful riff packed with roving guitar lines and rumbling bass whilst the drums set the beat for it to follow. Dark once again, the heaviness of this track is understated as you listen to it, but it hammers home the message of the track, letting you know that there’s a lot more to come from this album and that they’re only just getting going with things. To me, the stand out element of this track has to be the vocals, they rove between soaring and serene right down to heavy and raw, something which gives the track an extra boost and stands it out as another track to make sure you check out. If the vocals were the key there then the bass has to be for the opening moments of Liar In Disguise, standing out within the mix and adding a real sense of depth to proceedings. Hammering the track into being with this awesome bass combined with more of the soaring vocals and distorted riffery, the mix here is one which once again lifts the bar for the album, offering up a heavy track built around the idea of grooviness and power and showing just what sound From The Fallen are going for – it’s a serene combination of catchy hooks, powerful riffs and rumbling bass rhythms.
Leading on to Last To Die before bringing in Run, Give and Multiple Personalities, the album seems to move through different approaches, each one showing off the skills within the band and all the time letting us know who it is we’re listening to. To me though it’s when When I’m Gone comes around that another serious high point on the album is reached, pulling back from the power and ushering in a track built around a soft guitar line and a soft, melodic and soaring female vocal line. The contrast here is striking, tossing out the power in favour of emotional, heartfelt rhythms which get your attention and keep you involved from the word go right up until the closing moments. To me this is an incredible track, and one which shows just how accomplished a band we’re dealing with. Managing to make the track sound as if it fits on the album despite the clear differences, this is a track which I know will stay with me for a long while to come, and one which I know I’ll be coming back to listen to time and time again – honestly an incredible moment on what was already a sterling album.
Picking up the power once again for Straight To The End the tone begins to grow back towards the heavier side of things once more, showing that the moment of calm and reflection was just that – a moment on the album. Returning to their heavy roots for another hurrah, this track doesn’t quite reach the distortion levels of earlier in the album, yet manages to still pack a hell of a punch and deliver the punch that we’re looking for from an album like this. Leading us closer towards the end of the album, it’s only then left to Scorned to close things, finishing on another upbeat and hard hitting track which is sure to get pits moving, people jumping, and venues shaking from wall to wall. Closing on a high was never going to be a problem on an album like this, yet as the closing moments finish the album off we’re left wanting more, knowing that what we’ve just heard has been a hell of an accomplishment, and an album we’re going to come back to time and time again.
What’s really struck me about From the Fallen is how they’ve refined their style, taken their original sound and made it their own whilst still staying true to their roots throughout. This is an album which doesn’t just deliver, it goes above and beyond, leaving you safe in the knowledge that there are bands out there who can put together an album like this and still leave you wanting to hear more – so here’s hoping they get onto some recording sometime soon!
To find out more about From The Fallen, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls
From The Fallen
California based From the Fallen is a 4 piece female fronted modern rock and metal band, offering up heavy yet melodic music to the masses. Having just completed their latest release, Scorned, with Juan Urteaga (ex Vile front man) they’re about to hit the big time. I hear echoes of people asking why so, well, Juan had just finished working on the latest Machine Head album and based on that, this could well be worth checking out!
Multiple Personalities opens proceedings and you immediately realise why you should be checking these guys out, the bass drum hammers away behind scathing guitar lines whilst the female vocals take the lead on the track. At first you’re a little taken aback by the contrast of the vocals over the music but soon everything clicks into place, the voice alternating between raw and edgy then moving to clean and melodic – this is a voice well worthy of a listen for sure. The guitar line roves around the neck creating a sound which echoes around the room and gives a real sense of these guys on the live scene, riffing around to keep the track pumping onwards. I think what really stands out on this track for me is how the guitars seem to contrast the vocals yet they all form this melee of what can only be described as distorted melody. Unrelenting to the second that the track ends, this track will leave you sitting back without a single question in your mind, maybe it’s the production or maybe it’s the music but this is some seriously accomplished music.
Second track Run continues the theme of the album so far, opening with hammering guitars and underpinning them with a solid bass beat, all of which creates a massive sound which will have you cranking that volume ever higher as it progresses. Layered vocals add a new depth to this track, adding further to the already sublime vocals as the backing music carries on it’s distorted journey. Almost catchy this time around, this track is one which you can imagine being played live, whipping the crowd into a frenzy and getting crowds chanting along with the band. As the track fades and Give kicks in, everything seems to slow down a notch. Opening clean before ushering in a slow yet distorted guitar line under multi layered vocals – this is a big opening for a track! Continuing to keep the beat slow throughout the track, this is a seriously powerful track which will render you unable to do anything other than listen. The sheer power behind the vocals alone is enough to make you realise how accomplished these guys are, and when coupled with the backing combination of drums, bass and guitars you’ve got a force which is certainly to be reckoned with. Another track which is sure to please crowds on the live scene, this is a triumph in the truest sense of the word and one which I’m sure I’ll revisit time and time again.
Finishing with title track Scorned, I can’t help but wonder if the band saved the best for last here. The track opens with a funky pumping mix of guitars bass and drums, the tone set to get people moving in time with them. Bringing in the vocal line to make sure you’re fully there and paying attention, this track soon takes on the form of all the others but raises the bar as if to say THIS is what we can do when we really put our minds to it. Catchy, powerful and downright melodically heavy, this track finishes the selection of tracks leaving you wanting more but also looking forward to what’s to come next, the promise being something pretty damned awesome!
From The Fallen have been a band who I’ve already spent a lot of time listening to since they got in touch. Their music is powerful and easy to connect to meaning they’re open to various audiences, I sincerely hope their name gets out there to be heard fully. Jumping from beat to beat each track is like a chapter of a story, the album being the whole book put together for you to sit back and enjoy. I for one hope to hear a lot more from these guys and based on this, I think I’m going to!
To find out more about From The Fallen, check out their page HERE.
Multiple Personalities opens proceedings and you immediately realise why you should be checking these guys out, the bass drum hammers away behind scathing guitar lines whilst the female vocals take the lead on the track. At first you’re a little taken aback by the contrast of the vocals over the music but soon everything clicks into place, the voice alternating between raw and edgy then moving to clean and melodic – this is a voice well worthy of a listen for sure. The guitar line roves around the neck creating a sound which echoes around the room and gives a real sense of these guys on the live scene, riffing around to keep the track pumping onwards. I think what really stands out on this track for me is how the guitars seem to contrast the vocals yet they all form this melee of what can only be described as distorted melody. Unrelenting to the second that the track ends, this track will leave you sitting back without a single question in your mind, maybe it’s the production or maybe it’s the music but this is some seriously accomplished music.
Second track Run continues the theme of the album so far, opening with hammering guitars and underpinning them with a solid bass beat, all of which creates a massive sound which will have you cranking that volume ever higher as it progresses. Layered vocals add a new depth to this track, adding further to the already sublime vocals as the backing music carries on it’s distorted journey. Almost catchy this time around, this track is one which you can imagine being played live, whipping the crowd into a frenzy and getting crowds chanting along with the band. As the track fades and Give kicks in, everything seems to slow down a notch. Opening clean before ushering in a slow yet distorted guitar line under multi layered vocals – this is a big opening for a track! Continuing to keep the beat slow throughout the track, this is a seriously powerful track which will render you unable to do anything other than listen. The sheer power behind the vocals alone is enough to make you realise how accomplished these guys are, and when coupled with the backing combination of drums, bass and guitars you’ve got a force which is certainly to be reckoned with. Another track which is sure to please crowds on the live scene, this is a triumph in the truest sense of the word and one which I’m sure I’ll revisit time and time again.
Finishing with title track Scorned, I can’t help but wonder if the band saved the best for last here. The track opens with a funky pumping mix of guitars bass and drums, the tone set to get people moving in time with them. Bringing in the vocal line to make sure you’re fully there and paying attention, this track soon takes on the form of all the others but raises the bar as if to say THIS is what we can do when we really put our minds to it. Catchy, powerful and downright melodically heavy, this track finishes the selection of tracks leaving you wanting more but also looking forward to what’s to come next, the promise being something pretty damned awesome!
From The Fallen have been a band who I’ve already spent a lot of time listening to since they got in touch. Their music is powerful and easy to connect to meaning they’re open to various audiences, I sincerely hope their name gets out there to be heard fully. Jumping from beat to beat each track is like a chapter of a story, the album being the whole book put together for you to sit back and enjoy. I for one hope to hear a lot more from these guys and based on this, I think I’m going to!
To find out more about From The Fallen, check out their page HERE.