Album Cuts: Shadows Fall

(A) The final harrowing scream Shadows Fall vocalist Brian Fair bellows on The War Within is more of a tease than anything else. The incredible range he showcases on "Those Who Cannot Speak" can be found throughout the Massachusetts metal heroes' third full-length album (second with Fair) along with metal as tight and well constructed as any. By the time you're done listening to the 40+ minutes on The War Within, the only question is what Shadows Fall are going to do next.

Weaving seamless metal solos, pulverizing double bass and chunky, percussive rhythms, Shadows Fall raise the bar yet again in a genre they were once branded the leaders of. Accidentally or not, they deliver possibly the catchiest metalcore album put out to date when pressure was at its highest, not to mention the multitude of metal albums that have come out since they put out The Art of Balance two years ago. Fair delivers a near-perfect balance of screaming and singing and guitarists Jonathan Donais and Matthew Bachand are as capable of delivering pure aural terror as any guitar duo today.

While the backup vocals, raucous solos and formulaic breakdowns could be criticized as recycled hardcore and thrash metal, The War Within is so good that whatever Shadows Fall borrows from the past, they return in superior condition.

-Mike Thomas

Be the first to comment on this article!

Add comment


I am not posting spam. I understand posting spam or other comments that are unrelated to this article will cause my comment to be flagged for deletion and possibly cause my IP address to be permanently banned from this server.

Enter the characters in the image above:

log out