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Album Review – Fall Of Earth / From The Ashes (2023)

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A young and rising Canadian Progressive Death Metal and Metalcore act will attack your senses mercilessly with their incendiary and very personal sophomore album.

Hailing from the Canadian city of Edmonton, Alberta, the up-and-coming Progressive Death Metal/Metalcore band Fall Of Earth (a play on words that reflects their core belief that the world is experiencing a multitude of issues including climate change, war and mass extinctions that is leading us all to a darker place as a society) has unleashed this year their sophomore beast titled From The Ashes, highly recommended for fans of Trivium, Gojira, Dream Theater, Periphery and Mastodon, among others. Playing what they like to label as “Hybrid Metal”, with elements of Metalcore, Death, Thrash, Groove, Nu and Progressive Metal combined into a sound all their own, the band formed of Inuit frontman Alex Rye, guitarist Brody Bauer, bassist Aaron Winklmeier  and drummer Brendan Meilleur delivers everything you want in a metal album and more in From The Ashes, with the crisp production, mixing and mastering by Diego Fernandez at Oracle Recording Studios and the fiery artwork designed by the band itself turning the album into the perfect follow-up to their 2020 debut self-titled effort, and a must-listen for anyone who enjoys the more modern version of heavy music found in North America.

The opener Medusa is a feast of Progressive Death Metal form the very first second spearheaded by the classic riffs by Brody supported by the rumbling bass by Aaron, which is pretty much everything Alex needs to blast both his evil roars and cleaner, enraged vocals; whereas investing in a more melodic sonority it’s time for the quartet to deliver a hybrid of violence and harmony in The Dead And Soon To Be, perfect for breaking your neck headbanging to the pounding beats by Brendan. Alex keeps showcasing his wide vocal range, easily going from deep guttural to gentle clean vocals, in Block Out The Sun, a beautiful composition by Fall Of Earth that will please all fans of bands like Mastodon and Trivium, and the classic beats and fills by Brendan invade our ears once again in Path To Self Destruction, while Alex continues to vociferate rabidly nonstop.

It’s then time for almost ten minutes of progressiveness, groove and a hurricane of different emotions titled Crossroads, blending the Progressive Metal of Mastodon with the band’s own Metalcore twist. Moreover, it’s two thumbs up to Alex for such impressive and flawless vocal performance, resulting in one of the album’s most detailed and thrilling songs. The title-track From The Ashes, which speaks levels on childhood abuse, reclamation and metamorphosis, will bring to your ears the band’s most demonic and heaviest side, presenting the trademark scorching riffs by Brody and the metallic bass lines by Aaron, followed by Shores Of War, another Trivium-infused creation that will certainly ignite some fun circle pits and a lot of headbanging, spearheaded by another incendiary performance by Brody armed with his axe. After that, sheer electricity and rage flow nonstop in the excellent Purgatory, elevating the album’s punch considerably thanks to Alex growling like a beast supported by the intricate drumming by Brendan, and lastly those talented Canadian boys deliver another round of their modern-day metal music in Into The Woods, again investing in their most progressive vein. It’s not a bad song, but it could have been slightly heavier and more climatic.

The multi-layered and exciting From The Ashes, which is available in full on YouTube and on Spotify, will definitely help Fall Of Earth go places, effectively increasing the quality of their music and, therefore, attracting the attention of fans and critics worldwide in a very positive way. Hence, you can start following the band on Facebook and on Instagram for news and tour dates (and they kick ass live by the way, like what I was able to witness at The Rockpile in Toronto earlier this year), subscribe to their YouTube channel for more of their music, and grab a copy of the album by clicking HERE. “The album is a consistent ride full of ups and downs, with no breaks. We’ve taken our heavy sections and made them heavier, and taken our softer sections and made them more impactful.  We have carefully calculated all the dynamics and structures of each song so each second of every track serves a purpose. This record has pieces of us personally etched into the music, so we could share who we are and what our minds look like on an audio basis. As far as the listening experience goes, with all this being said, we hope for our fans to feel the love and importance that music has had on our lives, and pass that on to them through our own interpretation,” commented the entire band about their new album, showing not only how much those young guys love heavy music, but also making the whole Canadian metal scene stronger and more fun than ever.

Best moments of the album: Block Out The Sun, Crossroads and Purgatory.

Worst moments of the album: Into The Woods.

Released in 2023 Independent

Track listing
1. Medusa 8:25
2. The Dead And Soon To Be 5:54
3. Block Out The Sun 4:24
4. Path To Self Destruction 6:40
5. Crossroads 9:35
6. From The Ashes 5:14
7. Shores Of War 5:49
8. Purgatory 6:00
9. Into The Woods 6:33

Band members
Alex Rye – vocals
Brody Bauer – guitars
Aaron Winklmeier – bass
Brendan Meilleur – drums

Concert Review – Fall of Earth (The Rockpile, Toronto, ON, 06/18/2023)

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A young and rising band from Edmonton kicked some ass armed with their Progressive Death Metal and Metalcore where rock will never die in Toronto last night.

INTRODUCTION: Where rock will never die…

It doesn’t mater if it’s a brand new Heavy Metal band no one knows about, a cover band of classic Rock N’ Roll or Industrial Metal, or a rock and metal karaoke night, the old school venue The Rockpile will always receive everyone with open arms, keeping the fires of rock music burning no matter what. Although it’s promoted as being in Toronto, it’s actually located in Etobicoke, an administrative district and former city within Toronto, a bit far from downtown but just a 15-minute walk from the Kipling subway station. Just don’t walk for THREE HOURS to get there like a very nice photographer named Cord Allman who was there last night. Take the subway or drive to the venue, enjoy the shows, their beer (for a very decent price), and have a good time with all the nice people who are always there.

Keith Ibbitson of Lower Eastside Photography and I were there for FALL OF EARTH, a young and rising metal band from Edmonton, Alberta, but The Rockpile also had other attractions as part of their Father’s Day celebration, those being AL REILLY’S CATALYST performing classics from Led Zeppelin, at 7:30pm, and PERFECT STRANGERS, a famous Canadian cover band founded in 1989 in the city of Brampton, Ontario that pays homage to  one of the greatest bands of all time, Deep Purple, playing from Smoke On The Water to Highway Star, and so on. Both tribute bands were awesome, and if you’re in the area and wants to experience the true Canadian rock scene, go check The Rockpile’s schedule for several other bands like those, and even some wrestling events, which is awesome in my opinion!

FALL OF EARTH

As mentioned, right after Al Reilly’s Catalyst and before Perfect Strangers, more specifically at 8:30pm, it was time for Edmonton, Alberta-based Progressive Death Metal/Metalcore outfit FALL OF EARTH to hit the stage with their enraged but very melodic music, putting a pin on Toronto (for the second time this month) as part of their Eastern Canada tour to promote their brand new album From the Ashes, which will soon be reviewed by The Headbanging Moose. Formed in 2019 by Alex Rye on vocals, Brody Bauer on the guitars, Aaron Winklmeier on bass, and Brendan Meilleur on drums, the band plays a fusion of the music by Mastodon, Gojira, Trivium, Whitechapel and so on, with lots of Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Technical Death Metal, Metalcore and Deathcore influences and nuances as well, and if they’re playing in your city anytime soon don’t miss the chance to watch one of the most promising names from the Canadian Prairies.

Despite the small audience, those four guys put their hearts and souls into their performance, and I can imagine how amazing it would have been with more people at the venue and some circle pits. All songs from their setlist, from both their 2020 self-titled debut album and from From the Ashes, worked really well live, like for example the title-track From the Ashes where Alex was screaming at the top of his lungs (and he can also deliver some classy clean vocals, by the way), and the lack of some mosh pit action didn’t mean the people present at the venue didn’t enjoy their concert; quite the contrary, everyone had a very good time watching those kids kicking ass on stage, banging their heads and clapping their hands all the time, and I’m sure word-of-mouth will attract a lot more people to their next concert in Toronto when they do another big Canadian tour this fall already with a second guitarist, which will surely add even more depth to their live music.

If you’re curious to know more about their music, you can enjoy all of their creations on Spotify and watch their official videos on YouTube (and click HERE for all things Fall of Earth), showing your support to another up-and-coming metal act from Edmonton. After the show I had the pleasure to chat with Alex, Brody, Aaron and Brendan, and their passion for heavy music is just as great as their talent on stage. They’re huge fans of bands like Gojira, Trivium, Megadeth, Whitechapel, and other metal giants, and it’s nice to see them crafting high-quality new music by mixing their influences with their own twist. Keep an eye on Fall of Earth because those guys are going places, and who knows, maybe we’ll already see them touring the United States or playing at some amazing European summer festivals in 2024. and last but not least, thanks a lot to Jon Asher of Asher Media Relations for inviting us to the event, and to Kristen Cholak and Paul Husband of The Next Level Entertainment Consulting Inc. for supporting such promising band of the Canadian scene.

Band members
Alex Rye – vocals
Brody Bauer – guitars
Aaron Winklmeier – bass
Brendan Meilleur – drums

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