(Metal) Shadows Fall - The Art Of Balance
 

[IMG]http://wildcat.arizona.edu/papers/96/13/04_10_1.jpg[/IMG]

[b]Shadow's Fall are[/b]:
Vocals: Brian Fair
Guitar/Vocals: Matthew Bachand
Lead Guitar/Vocals: Jonathan Donais
Bass: Paul Romanke
Drums: Jason Bittner

[b]Biography (from [url]www.shadowsfall.com[/url])[/b]: Forming six years ago, Shadows Fall released [i]Somber Eyes To The Sky[/i] on [Matthew] Bachand’s own Lifeless Records. Shortly thereafter, the band changed singers, choosing former Overcast throat Brian Fair. [i]Of One Blood[/i], 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.

[b]Comments[/b]: [i]The Art Of Balance[/i] 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.

[b]Song Reviews[/b]:

[b]1. Idle Hands[/b] - 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. [b]9/10

2. Thoughts Without Words[/b] - 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. [b]10/10

3. Destroyer of Senses[/b] - 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. [b]10/10

4. Casting Shade[/b] - 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. [b]8/10

5. Stepping Outside The Circle[/b] - 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. [b]9/10

6. The Art Of Balance[/b] - 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. [b]8/10

7. Mystery Of One Spirit[/b] - 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. [b]8/10

8. The Idiot Box[/b] - 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. [b]10/10

9. Prelude To Disaster[/b] - 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.

[b]10. A Fire In Babylon[/b] - 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. [b]10/10

11. Welcome To The Machine[/b] - Yes, [i]that[/i] 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. [b]9/10[/b]

An awesome album from an awesome band, its merits outweigh its flaws by far. [b]Overall: 4/5[/b]

bump

No one's heard of these guys?

I've heard of them, through MX actually, and because this album was praised a lot when it came out. Metal Hammer had it in the top 50 extreme metal albums of all time, which I thought was going a bit far considering it had only been released a month or so earlier.

I bought the album while I was on holiday in America cos it was cheap ($11)...I don't think its as brilliant as a lot of people made it out to be (eg putting it in the top 50 extreme metal albums), but its still really good. I'd probably give it a 4/5.

Awesome review, I love this band because the songs are so diverse and heavy, while they maintain a good vocal balance of the screaming/singing.

I did a review of this when the review section first opened. I pretty much said what you did, although it was alot shorter. :thumb:

That was a really well written review.
As for the CD i've only ever heard Thoughts without Words, Destroyer of Senses, Welcome to the Machine and Idiot Box but i like them all. Not groundbreaking or jaw shatering but still good, solid, well written songs. I'm sure i'll get into them more over time.

At the moment 3.5 / 5

(metal/thrash metal) Shadows Fall-The Art of Balance
 

Shadows Fall's Second album has effectively lived up to its title - The Art of Balance. In this musical masterpeice, Shadows Fall guitarists Jonathan Donais and Matthew Bachand beautifully weave headbanging thrash metal noodling with amazing clean progressions. The fast-paced and in-your-face drums of Jason Bittner along with the remarkable bass lines of Paul Romanko add simply spellbinding rhythm and bass to each track that are sure to make your heart pound in your chest. And last but certainly not the least is Brian Fairs vocals. Brian Fair uses his wonderful gift for metal vocals to excellently portray his exceedingly poetic and intricate lyrics throughout this CD. All aspects of this amazing band are tightly woven into eleven strictly amazing songs to make up this absolutely masterful and enticing album. I think this sounds somewhat like a mixture of Metallica, Slayer, and Killswitch Engage with the vocal sound of the Former Killswitch Engage singer Jesse David Leach. Although this band has some obvious influences, it seems that very much of their music is their own style. The harmony and mastery of each of their instruments definitely makes this one of the greatest albums of 2003. The Art of Balance vastly lives up to its title to be one of the most musically and vocally balanced albums I have ever listened to. I would highly recommend The Art of Balance to anyone who appreciates great music in all aspects whether its the thrash metal noodling of Jonathan Donais and Matthew Bachand or the seemingly unending poetic lyrics of Brian Fair. I gives this great album 5 stars!

Have fun and definitely check out this album! :thumb:

Horns up,
Will

im pretty sure someone has already reviewed this and you are meant to review them track by track really

oh you're right, there is one already :upset:

sorry dude im gonna go post it on that one :)

Ok Idont talk about each song but I had to post it here or they would have deleted it if I made my own thread of it :upset:

Shadows Fall's The Art Of Balance:

1. Idle Hands
2. Thoughts Without Words
3. Destroyer of Senses
4. Casting Shade (instrumental)
5. Stepping Outside The Circle
6. The Art of Balance
7. Mystery of One Spirit
8. The Idiot Box
9. Prelude to Disaster
10. A Fire in Babylon
11. Welcome to The Machine (Pink Floyd cover)

Shadows Fall's Second album has effectively lived up to its title - The Art of Balance. In this musical masterpeice, Shadows Fall guitarists Jonathan Donais and Matthew Bachand beautifully weave headbanging thrash metal noodling with amazing clean progressions. The fast-paced and in-your-face drums of Jason Bittner along with the remarkable bass lines of Paul Romanko add simply spellbinding rhythm and bass to each track that are sure to make your heart pound in your chest. And last but certainly not the least is Brian Fairs vocals. Brian Fair uses his wonderful gift for metal vocals to excellently portray his exceedingly poetic and intricate lyrics throughout this CD. All aspects of this amazing band are tightly woven into eleven strictly amazing songs to make up this absolutely masterful and enticing album. I think this sounds somewhat like a mixture of Metallica, Slayer, and Killswitch Engage with the vocal sound of the Former Killswitch Engage singer Jesse David Leach. Although this band has some obvious influences, it seems that very much of their music is their own style. My favorite songs are definitely Stepping Outside the Circle, A Fire in Babylon, Mystery of One Spirit, and The Idiot Box, although all of the songs are still amazing. I like these songs because I believe they best describe Shadows Fall's own style (and because of how amazing and well-structured they are). Also, they did a cover of Welcome to the Machine by Pnik Floyd. I believe this was a great cover because they put it in their own style while not leaving the original song completely behind. The harmony and mastery of each of their instruments definitely makes this album of the greatest albums of 2003. The Art of Balance vastly lives up to its title to be one of the most musically and vocally balanced albums I have ever listened to. I would highly recommend The Art of Balance to anyone who appreciates great music in all aspects whether its the thrash metal noodling of Jonathan Donais and Matthew Bachand or the seemingly unending poetic lyrics of Brian Fair. And yes, I give this great album 5/5 stars!

Have fun and definitely check out this album! :thumb:

Horns up,
Will

[QUOTE=GibsonSGvoodoo]Ok Idont talk about each song but I had to post it here or they would have deleted it if I made my own thread of it :upset:

Shadows Fall's The Art Of Balance:

1. Idle Hands
2. Thoughts Without Words
3. Destroyer of Senses
4. Casting Shade (instrumental)
5. Stepping Outside The Circle
6. The Art of Balance
7. Mystery of One Spirit
8. The Idiot Box
9. Prelude to Disaster
10. A Fire in Babylon
11. Welcome to The Machine (Pink Floyd cover)

Shadows Fall's Second album has effectively lived up to its title - The Art of Balance. In this musical masterpeice, Shadows Fall guitarists Jonathan Donais and Matthew Bachand beautifully weave headbanging thrash metal noodling with amazing clean progressions. The fast-paced and in-your-face drums of Jason Bittner along with the remarkable bass lines of Paul Romanko add simply spellbinding rhythm and bass to each track that are sure to make your heart pound in your chest. And last but certainly not the least is Brian Fairs vocals. Brian Fair uses his wonderful gift for metal vocals to excellently portray his exceedingly poetic and intricate lyrics throughout this CD. All aspects of this amazing band are tightly woven into eleven strictly amazing songs to make up this absolutely masterful and enticing album. I think this sounds somewhat like a mixture of Metallica, Slayer, and Killswitch Engage with the vocal sound of the Former Killswitch Engage singer Jesse David Leach. Although this band has some obvious influences, it seems that very much of their music is their own style. My favorite songs are definitely Stepping Outside the Circle, A Fire in Babylon, Mystery of One Spirit, and The Idiot Box, although all of the songs are still amazing. I like these songs because I believe they best describe Shadows Fall's own style (and because of how amazing and well-structured they are). Also, they did a cover of Welcome to the Machine by Pnik Floyd. I believe this was a great cover because they put it in their own style while not leaving the original song completely behind. The harmony and mastery of each of their instruments definitely makes this album of the greatest albums of 2003. The Art of Balance vastly lives up to its title to be one of the most musically and vocally balanced albums I have ever listened to. I would highly recommend The Art of Balance to anyone who appreciates great music in all aspects whether its the thrash metal noodling of Jonathan Donais and Matthew Bachand or the seemingly unending poetic lyrics of Brian Fair. And yes, I give this great album 5/5 stars!

Have fun and definitely check out this album! :thumb:

Horns up,
Will[/QUOTE]

I first heard of them through a demo cd of a bunch of metal bands and they were the best band on it.
So i went to buy the art of balance cd but all they had was of one blood, i bought that one and its my favorite cd now and this band is one of the best creative metal out there.

Geez, this was a whle ago.

I'd probably give this a 4/5 now. Some songs are just too mild.

Ha... no. They were still a metal band back when I bought the album. :)

Omg Shut The Fck Up Noob Shadows Falls Has No Metal Influence Go Losten To Some Real Metal Like Mudvayne Or Cold ****ing Poser

[QUOTE=DFelon204409]At first I thought it was recent and the "metal" genre was to piss of Griffin.[/QUOTE]


Well, considering Shadow's Fall is very much metal, I have no argument with the thread name. In fact, I have this CD (burned).

Also, notice how this is a band with metal influence. Thrice is not, you faggot-*** poser.

wut are you talking about shadows fall is the least metal band i can think of, i mean they yell and scream like metal vocalists, they have fast drumming with double bass, have quick riffs and solos and they're heavy like i sad man bi<i></i>tch listen to some real metal like dashboard confessional f<i></i>ucking poser you don't know real metal, i'm so hardcore i dub myself a part of the mx titans thrash \M/ i also have no idea what else you listen to and automically label you as an "emo kid" since i'm a close minded judgemental idiot.

lolz

i've got this cd. its ok but i'd give it a score of around 4/5. they've got a great sound, but disregarding the two acoustic songs they have on there, it all sounds the same and this can become tiring (not literally for all you wise guys out there) whilst listening to it and there are no riffs that really stand out as being catchy or fantastic

Yeah, I changed the rating because this was from such a long time ago and I was a bit biased back then.

Awesome album, personally I'd say the title track is the best on it.

This is one of my fav cds stepping outside the circle, art of balance, and a fire in babylon own.

Great CD, great band, great album. I did a review of Of One Blood, only because this one was already done (great job on it, by the way). OOB was pretty good, but this one is definitely superior.

[QUOTE=Deftone]wut are you talking about shadows fall is the least metal band i can think of, i mean they yell and scream like metal vocalists, they have fast drumming with double bass, have quick riffs and solos and they're heavy like i sad man bi<i></i>tch listen to some real metal like dashboard confessional f<i></i>ucking poser you don't know real metal, i'm so hardcore i dub myself a part of the mx titans thrash \M/ i also have no idea what else you listen to and automically label you as an "emo kid" since i'm a close minded judgemental idiot.

lolz[/QUOTE]

I can understand wtf ur talking about,stuff like slipknot,mudvayne is heavy metal where as shadows fall,children of bodom,in flames is on the line between rock and METAL.

No man, I was just joking. I was just mocking a guy who was like that and me SubtleDagger go into an argument with him.

I thought I already posted in this thread? Meh.

Anyway, good album, I think they'll be a band who gets better with time aswell. Not long til 'The War Within' comes out. Oh and they're excellent live too.

4/5

Another excellent review from Subtle. I really want to pick up this album, I've listened to it so many times. One of the songs has a video, Destroyer Of Senses I believe?

A Fire in Babylon rules, Love that song

[QUOTE=cbmartinez24]Another excellent review from Subtle. I really want to pick up this album, I've listened to it so many times. One of the songs has a video, Destroyer Of Senses I believe?[/QUOTE]

My copy has a second CD with videos for Destroyer of Senses and Thoughts Without Words.

[QUOTE=Bartender]My copy has a second CD with videos for Destroyer of Senses and Thoughts Without Words.[/QUOTE]
So does mine. I thought their video for "Thoughts Without Words" was the best, just because "Destroyer Of Senses" is too short.

I prefer Destroyer of Senses to Thoughts Without Words as a song (I think - it's been a while since I listened), but I'm not too sure about the videos (been ever longer since I watched them).

[QUOTE=SubtleDagger]So does mine. I thought their video for "Thoughts Without Words" was the best, just because "Destroyer Of Senses" is too short.[/QUOTE]
They're both amazing songs, but I prefer Destroyer of Senses because it has a faster and more flowing sound than Thoughts Without Words. A longer solo for DoS would've been nice though...