| Written by Alex Stojanovic SHADOWS FALL IS: Brian Fair - Vocals Jon Donais - Lead guitars & backing vocals Matt Bachand - Rhythm guitars & backing vocals Paul Romanko - Bass Jason Bittner - Drums Release Date: December 6, 2024 Label: MNRK Heavy Website: shadowsfallmusic.com The resurgence of many 2000s bands has been running hot in the last couple of years. We've already seen bands like Kittie, God Forbid and Job For A Cowboy, all prominent names of 2000s metal who entered hiatuses by the early to mid-2010s, return with new music, live activity or both. |  |
The reality is that while many of these bands won't do lengthy tours anymore, they will do select festivals on weekends, or very small tours. However, the band that this review will focus on is Shadows Fall. The last time they released an album was in 2012 with Fire From The Sky (fantastic album). After they toured for the album, Jon Donais became a member of Anthrax, Jason Bittner went on to play with Flotsam & Jetsam and Overkill, all while Brian Fair, Paul Romanko and Matt Bachand all became involved in other projects, but took to normal lives as well with spending time with their wives and kids, and having normal day jobs.
Fast forward to the end of the Covid era, the band played a sold out reunion show at the Worcester Palladium, and that got the ball rolling for their second chance at life with some slots at some U.S festivals and shows playing The War Within in full for its 20th anniversary. While these shows were really exciting for the fans and the band, the biggest question on fans' minds was whether we would see new music from the New Wave Of American Metal legends. 2024 gave us that answer when they released their first single in 12 years with "In The Grey", which will be appearing on their upcoming album in 2025.
Getting into the track, the first thing that pops out is the production quality went up quite a few notches since Fire From The Sky. It's definitely their sharpest and most crisp production to date. That's not to say that they never had great production, but compared to the previous releases, it's definitely beefed up. The song itself is a thrasher executed with all the traditional Shadows Fall elements with strong riffing between Bachand and Donais, rampaging thunder from Romanko and Bittner, and on top of that, Fair's signature growls and cleans remain as potent as they ever have been as he tackles the subject of the physical manifestation that occurs with depression, and trying to get out of the "grey" zone.
If this is a strong indication of what we can expect with the forthcoming album due to be released in 2025, we are in for some serious comeback power with Shadows Fall. Then again, anything they release is worth all of our attention and we know it's gonna kick ass. For me personally, I remember cranking the hell out of Retribution when it first came out, then going back in time and discovering the old stuff, and then when Fire From The Sky came out, that was the very first review I ever submitted for Metal Master Kingdom when I first joined in 2012, so Shadows Fall definitely holds a special place for me. It's awesome to have them back, and I hope to see them live sometime in the future.
Fast forward to the end of the Covid era, the band played a sold out reunion show at the Worcester Palladium, and that got the ball rolling for their second chance at life with some slots at some U.S festivals and shows playing The War Within in full for its 20th anniversary. While these shows were really exciting for the fans and the band, the biggest question on fans' minds was whether we would see new music from the New Wave Of American Metal legends. 2024 gave us that answer when they released their first single in 12 years with "In The Grey", which will be appearing on their upcoming album in 2025.
Getting into the track, the first thing that pops out is the production quality went up quite a few notches since Fire From The Sky. It's definitely their sharpest and most crisp production to date. That's not to say that they never had great production, but compared to the previous releases, it's definitely beefed up. The song itself is a thrasher executed with all the traditional Shadows Fall elements with strong riffing between Bachand and Donais, rampaging thunder from Romanko and Bittner, and on top of that, Fair's signature growls and cleans remain as potent as they ever have been as he tackles the subject of the physical manifestation that occurs with depression, and trying to get out of the "grey" zone.
If this is a strong indication of what we can expect with the forthcoming album due to be released in 2025, we are in for some serious comeback power with Shadows Fall. Then again, anything they release is worth all of our attention and we know it's gonna kick ass. For me personally, I remember cranking the hell out of Retribution when it first came out, then going back in time and discovering the old stuff, and then when Fire From The Sky came out, that was the very first review I ever submitted for Metal Master Kingdom when I first joined in 2012, so Shadows Fall definitely holds a special place for me. It's awesome to have them back, and I hope to see them live sometime in the future.
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