SubtleDagger
01-16-2004, 06:54 PM
http://wildcat.arizona.edu/papers/96/13/04_10_1.jpg
Shadow's Fall are:
Vocals: Brian Fair
Guitar/Vocals: Matthew Bachand
Lead Guitar/Vocals: Jonathan Donais
Bass: Paul Romanke
Drums: Jason Bittner
Biography (from www.shadowsfall.com): Forming six years ago, Shadows Fall released Somber Eyes To The Sky on [Matthew] Bachand’s own Lifeless Records. Shortly thereafter, the band changed singers, choosing former Overcast throat Brian Fair. Of One Blood, their first record for Century Media Records, is hailed as a melodic-yet-thrashy classic. The album owned the #1 slot at metal radio for weeks on end, inspiring an almost cult-like underground following and glowing critical acclaim. Even MTV recognized Shadows Fall's accomplishments with a ‘You Hear It First’ feature.
Most importantly, Shadows Fall logged countless miles in their tour van, trekking across the United States with the likes of Hatebreed, In Flames, Glassjaw, and Nevermore, slagged it out in Europe with Kittie (who personally selected the band as tourmates), and shared the stage with Pantera and Slayer at Japan’s notorious ‘Beast Feast’. Time spent on the road coupled with carnage-producing live energy brought the band in tune with one another to write The Art Of Balance.
Despite all this activity and accomplishment, The Art Of Balance is essentially Shadows Fall’s coming out as a unit. “This is the first real Shadows Fall record of new songs to which the entire lineup contributed,� said vocalist Brian Fair.
Comments: The Art Of Balance has recently been Shadow's Fall's crowning acheivment, placing them among the frontrunners of a new breed of metal. This new metal has just recently come about among bands such as Killswitch Engage, In Flames and God Forbid: a semi-melodic approach to metal, and a combination of polar opposites. The thing that really sets Shadow's Fall apart from these bands is the uncanny talent found among their ranks: without a doubt, Jonathan Donais and Matthew Bachand excel at being both technically superb and heavy-hitting at the same time. Brian Fair has a unique vocal range - he often sounds like he's half-screaming and half-singing. And of course, the rhythm section is powerful, fast, and at times, melodic as well. Every member compliments the overall sound to form that signature genre that they've brought to the table; and what a genre it is.
Song Reviews:
1. Idle Hands - A heavy hitting drum line and double palm-muted guitar line transition into the heavy sound. Brian Fair can almost fool you: the first growl is deep and heavy, but it quickly gives way to the singing/yelling that he's so good at. The guitars are off-and-on palm muted, the staple of this brand of metal, and the chorus makes use of palm muted high notes as well. It's not until the bridge that artificial harmonics derive into a Maiden-esque solo broken into two parts: the slower section and the half-artificial harmonic, half-normal note section. The end makes good use of the intro riff to brutally end the song. 9/10
2. Thoughts Without Words - The intro is reminiscent of the first, but this time the verse is just as heavy, and laced with growling and artificial harmonics. The pre-chorus has a high section at the end that is phenomonal, almost a mini-solo (except it's harmonized). And the chorus, well, it's epic in itself. Double bass slams the second verse, and the interlude/solo is amazing. The outro is awesome in its effect, with the stomp of seperate palm mutes and bass drum hits under Fair's screams of "I am seeking the way". The last scream somehow fades out of screaming and into singing. 10/10
3. Destroyer of Senses - A nicely written song about alcohol. Starts with reverbed guitar into a wide-ranged riff. The chorus is nice enough, but it opens up the best part of the song - the breakdown, consisting of the heaviest riff and Fair's loudest screams yet (it's the only lyric in the book with an exclamation point). The breakdown, well, breaks down a lot, until at its slowest point, it speeds back up relentlessly to the verse riff and into another amazing solo. The chorus leads the song out. Excellent. 10/10
4. Casting Shade - An acoustic instrumental. It holds its own surprisingly, even with its miniscule length of two minutes. Very beautiful and still amazingly technical. Some may feel it's filler, though. 8/10
5. Stepping Outside The Circle - A brutal tremolo-picked guitar leads in, and this is the fastest song yet. The verse is thumping, and I swear that halfway through I can see Hammett nodding in approval at a 'Tallica-esque riff that leads into more thumping. The pre-chorus has an awesome trill on the lead and great backing vocals. The chorus is the really weird part. The chord progression is bright... too bright. It feels like it doesn't belong with the rest of the song. Luckily, it leads back to the pounding verse. Phew. The interlude has a acoustic break-in, which deceptively goes into another screeching solo. Another chorus and another epic screaming outro. It's a great song, just try to clean your hands of the chorus. 9/10
6. The Art Of Balance - A slower song, with a high intro and an acoustic verse. Even with the electric chorus, this is probably the least metal song here (aside from Casting Shade), and it feels sort of sappy and when it's electric, it feels far too slow. Though the interlude makes up for it, even with the acoustic/electric solo. Lots of harmonies, lots of goodness. It still takes a bit too long to get good, but it's nowhere near bad. 8/10
7. Mystery Of One Spirit - Much faster, and has a lighter feel. A solo is in the intro, for chrissakes, and that's cool. The verse is heavy once again (thank goodness). It's broken into different sections, but there isn't any semblance, aside from the verses. I think that makes it cool. An acoustic interlude again, and another fantastic solo. It's getting to be routine for this guy to be awesome. A great song, even though some of the chord progression gets a bit repetitive. 8/10
8. The Idiot Box - The best song here. A giant open riff with overlayed high stuff makes up the intro. The verses are awesome, and end perfectly. The chorus is rhythmic and drawn out. The interlude is amazingly powerful, and the solo - wow. One of the best yet. There's even double bass over it, and a quick tempo change! And he still plays it perfectly in time! The intro riff leads into another giant outro. Perfected Shadow's Fall. 10/10
9. Prelude To Disaster - This is another acoustic piece, but it's more of an intro into the next song, so I wouldn't count it among the songs. Still amazing, though, and uber-creative. That, and it's got a nice electric solo deal.
10. A Fire In Babylon - The longest song. Practically epic, the intro has huge riffs and loads of artificial harmonics and great drum work. A crazy guitar thing leads into the song, which is thrashing at its best. The chorus is another grand scope riff. The sung section is great, and leads perfectly into another verse. It almost feels like it's got three different choruses. One of them, the last one, is completely sans palm muting, and flows excellently. Another acoustic/electric solo. The solo goes on so long, I was going into ecstacy several times. Another chorus and an outro, though it's not so heavy. One of the best songs here. 10/10
11. Welcome To The Machine - Yes, that Welcome To The Machine, the Pink Floyd one. Amazingly, it's not as bad as you might think, if your not too much of a purist. The actually do their own thing, and yet do a good job of keeping the original intact at the same time. They even threw in a synthesizer and chorused vocals. It's still heavy, though, because of the palm muted verses, but it didn't bother me at all. 9/10
An awesome album from an awesome band, its merits outweigh its flaws by far. Overall: 4/5
Shadow's Fall are:
Vocals: Brian Fair
Guitar/Vocals: Matthew Bachand
Lead Guitar/Vocals: Jonathan Donais
Bass: Paul Romanke
Drums: Jason Bittner
Biography (from www.shadowsfall.com): Forming six years ago, Shadows Fall released Somber Eyes To The Sky on [Matthew] Bachand’s own Lifeless Records. Shortly thereafter, the band changed singers, choosing former Overcast throat Brian Fair. Of One Blood, their first record for Century Media Records, is hailed as a melodic-yet-thrashy classic. The album owned the #1 slot at metal radio for weeks on end, inspiring an almost cult-like underground following and glowing critical acclaim. Even MTV recognized Shadows Fall's accomplishments with a ‘You Hear It First’ feature.
Most importantly, Shadows Fall logged countless miles in their tour van, trekking across the United States with the likes of Hatebreed, In Flames, Glassjaw, and Nevermore, slagged it out in Europe with Kittie (who personally selected the band as tourmates), and shared the stage with Pantera and Slayer at Japan’s notorious ‘Beast Feast’. Time spent on the road coupled with carnage-producing live energy brought the band in tune with one another to write The Art Of Balance.
Despite all this activity and accomplishment, The Art Of Balance is essentially Shadows Fall’s coming out as a unit. “This is the first real Shadows Fall record of new songs to which the entire lineup contributed,� said vocalist Brian Fair.
Comments: The Art Of Balance has recently been Shadow's Fall's crowning acheivment, placing them among the frontrunners of a new breed of metal. This new metal has just recently come about among bands such as Killswitch Engage, In Flames and God Forbid: a semi-melodic approach to metal, and a combination of polar opposites. The thing that really sets Shadow's Fall apart from these bands is the uncanny talent found among their ranks: without a doubt, Jonathan Donais and Matthew Bachand excel at being both technically superb and heavy-hitting at the same time. Brian Fair has a unique vocal range - he often sounds like he's half-screaming and half-singing. And of course, the rhythm section is powerful, fast, and at times, melodic as well. Every member compliments the overall sound to form that signature genre that they've brought to the table; and what a genre it is.
Song Reviews:
1. Idle Hands - A heavy hitting drum line and double palm-muted guitar line transition into the heavy sound. Brian Fair can almost fool you: the first growl is deep and heavy, but it quickly gives way to the singing/yelling that he's so good at. The guitars are off-and-on palm muted, the staple of this brand of metal, and the chorus makes use of palm muted high notes as well. It's not until the bridge that artificial harmonics derive into a Maiden-esque solo broken into two parts: the slower section and the half-artificial harmonic, half-normal note section. The end makes good use of the intro riff to brutally end the song. 9/10
2. Thoughts Without Words - The intro is reminiscent of the first, but this time the verse is just as heavy, and laced with growling and artificial harmonics. The pre-chorus has a high section at the end that is phenomonal, almost a mini-solo (except it's harmonized). And the chorus, well, it's epic in itself. Double bass slams the second verse, and the interlude/solo is amazing. The outro is awesome in its effect, with the stomp of seperate palm mutes and bass drum hits under Fair's screams of "I am seeking the way". The last scream somehow fades out of screaming and into singing. 10/10
3. Destroyer of Senses - A nicely written song about alcohol. Starts with reverbed guitar into a wide-ranged riff. The chorus is nice enough, but it opens up the best part of the song - the breakdown, consisting of the heaviest riff and Fair's loudest screams yet (it's the only lyric in the book with an exclamation point). The breakdown, well, breaks down a lot, until at its slowest point, it speeds back up relentlessly to the verse riff and into another amazing solo. The chorus leads the song out. Excellent. 10/10
4. Casting Shade - An acoustic instrumental. It holds its own surprisingly, even with its miniscule length of two minutes. Very beautiful and still amazingly technical. Some may feel it's filler, though. 8/10
5. Stepping Outside The Circle - A brutal tremolo-picked guitar leads in, and this is the fastest song yet. The verse is thumping, and I swear that halfway through I can see Hammett nodding in approval at a 'Tallica-esque riff that leads into more thumping. The pre-chorus has an awesome trill on the lead and great backing vocals. The chorus is the really weird part. The chord progression is bright... too bright. It feels like it doesn't belong with the rest of the song. Luckily, it leads back to the pounding verse. Phew. The interlude has a acoustic break-in, which deceptively goes into another screeching solo. Another chorus and another epic screaming outro. It's a great song, just try to clean your hands of the chorus. 9/10
6. The Art Of Balance - A slower song, with a high intro and an acoustic verse. Even with the electric chorus, this is probably the least metal song here (aside from Casting Shade), and it feels sort of sappy and when it's electric, it feels far too slow. Though the interlude makes up for it, even with the acoustic/electric solo. Lots of harmonies, lots of goodness. It still takes a bit too long to get good, but it's nowhere near bad. 8/10
7. Mystery Of One Spirit - Much faster, and has a lighter feel. A solo is in the intro, for chrissakes, and that's cool. The verse is heavy once again (thank goodness). It's broken into different sections, but there isn't any semblance, aside from the verses. I think that makes it cool. An acoustic interlude again, and another fantastic solo. It's getting to be routine for this guy to be awesome. A great song, even though some of the chord progression gets a bit repetitive. 8/10
8. The Idiot Box - The best song here. A giant open riff with overlayed high stuff makes up the intro. The verses are awesome, and end perfectly. The chorus is rhythmic and drawn out. The interlude is amazingly powerful, and the solo - wow. One of the best yet. There's even double bass over it, and a quick tempo change! And he still plays it perfectly in time! The intro riff leads into another giant outro. Perfected Shadow's Fall. 10/10
9. Prelude To Disaster - This is another acoustic piece, but it's more of an intro into the next song, so I wouldn't count it among the songs. Still amazing, though, and uber-creative. That, and it's got a nice electric solo deal.
10. A Fire In Babylon - The longest song. Practically epic, the intro has huge riffs and loads of artificial harmonics and great drum work. A crazy guitar thing leads into the song, which is thrashing at its best. The chorus is another grand scope riff. The sung section is great, and leads perfectly into another verse. It almost feels like it's got three different choruses. One of them, the last one, is completely sans palm muting, and flows excellently. Another acoustic/electric solo. The solo goes on so long, I was going into ecstacy several times. Another chorus and an outro, though it's not so heavy. One of the best songs here. 10/10
11. Welcome To The Machine - Yes, that Welcome To The Machine, the Pink Floyd one. Amazingly, it's not as bad as you might think, if your not too much of a purist. The actually do their own thing, and yet do a good job of keeping the original intact at the same time. They even threw in a synthesizer and chorused vocals. It's still heavy, though, because of the palm muted verses, but it didn't bother me at all. 9/10
An awesome album from an awesome band, its merits outweigh its flaws by far. Overall: 4/5