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Architects with Dead and Divine and Fall City Fall
Gateway
Friday, May 6 - Friday, May 6

More in: Rock / Pop

There’s an old adage that goes, “Many hands make light work.” But in the case of Calgary metalcore band Fall City Fall, the dozen mandibles at its disposal constructs something very, very heavy. The next wave of disenfranchised and innately talented youth to emerge from their metropolis’s vetted hardcore music scene, this band of brothers — who average two decades a piece — is nothing if not extreme in its dedication to churning out dizzyingly ballistic technical thrash laced with provocative rap-rock trappings.

“Back in September of 2009, the four original members of the band made a commitment to set aside as much time as it took to write a full album,” explains percussionist Andrew Higgins. “We moved into a house together and solidified things around being a five-piece band, when whaddaya know? Another guitarist shows up at the house. We weren’t even looking for it, but from the moment Scott started jamming with us we hit it off. The chemistry was so striking — it was obvious that we had ourselves a sixth member.”

“Over the course of our four-year history we’ve jammed with almost 20 different guitarists and have performed onstage with as many as 12 of them,” he continues. “Some people just aren’t cut out for the level of commitment we require, but we’ve managed to firm things up and have been holding steady with our current lineup for a year now.”

Released in May of 2010, Fall City Fall’s incendiary debut album, 1629, confirmed the outfit’s arrival and its ability to achieve goals laid out in earnest. Admirable in its evident love and respect for the hardcore and heavy metal acts which have hammered out the path before them, the members of Fall City Fall appreciate the value of time spent slogging in the trenches. Or, in modern terms, touring Canada in the winter.

“In some respects, we’re all ex-scene members who grew up in Calgary’s vibrant underground, listening to Riviera Heist and Nikola Tesla and Means from Saskatchewan. Alberta, and Calgary in particular, is so valuable to so many musical sub-genres. I think we’re more accepting than any other city I’ve played in.”

“Without that, you’re in danger of losing the heart of the scene,” Higgins observes. “We stand for unity. It’s a constant moral challenge to stay positive. We play to a lot of all-ages audiences who are having their own difficulties finding that feeling of acceptance. That’s why it’s so important to us, as best friends, to support the scene and the sense of camaraderie that comes with it.”

Unusual in that it offers both dual-guitar and dual-vocalist action, Fall City Fall commands titanic metal overtures, demonic screams and plunging bass notes intermittently peppered by a part machine-gun, part Mike Muir vocal assault. Having recorded a video for “Dead Eyes” live at Mount Royal University’s Wyckham House in March, the band has been busy laying out new tracks courtesy of a recording session with Edmonton’s Greg Wright. Armed with fresh material and a reinvigorated outlook, Fall City Fall aims to win over the naysayers and silence the haters by pouring on the power and kicking it straight from the heart.

“As a band we stand against the need to have perfection as a qualifier. There’s so much more to it than playing the fastest. You can’t define our sound by genre lines: We’re that band that’s too “teeny bopper” for the hardcore shows and too “weird” for the all-ages crowd. In the end, we believe that people pick up on our honesty, originality and intention,” says Higgins, in quoting Thoreau.

“It’s our nature as artists to try to do something different. Whether it’s the ever-moving time signatures, Nathan’s indestructible voice or Keenan’s aggressive fluidity in his rap-shouting, the music is intonated with emotion. The payoff for all our hard work is getting to tour with Dead and Divine and Counterparts. These guys need no support in Ontario, so being asked to support them and working with Architects from the U.K. is beyond anything we could have imagined.”