The hardest task for any band, in any genre, is to find that which distinguishes them from the rest, and to magnify it so that its abstract qualities do not go unnoticed. Coming straight from Boston, MA, Shadows Fall have managed to capture their own brand of metal with a new release, Fire From The Sky.
The first track holds nothing back, as it opens with a quickly-paced guitar riff done in the classical music style. After the other instruments rear their heavy-hitting heads into the mix—which creates somewhat of a crescendo—everything stops. The next stop on the agenda of this song is a dive into an explosion of speed metal. Where the musical aspect of the album is very uniform and heavy in sound, the vocals stay true to their roots on top of it all. The crossover of styles from both past and present is what makes the record what it is. There are various series of half-step notes, which give the songs a demonic feel and create a sense of a force that’s truly evil. Headbaning is seized for a second in order to give the music a bit more attention. Much of this quality can be possible due to the production of Fire From The Sky. Every piece of the album, as far as recording and mixing goes, is masterful in how it’s crystal clear upon listening to it.
An understandable yet distinct sound is what distinguishes Shadows Fall’s new album from that of a lot of other metal bands in the industry today. The beauty of this release is that it does itself a great justice in capturing what their live sound is. Everything is crisp and easy to follow, which is a great accomplishment for any group of musicians.
In A Word: Clean
