SHADOWS FALL: Fallout From The War (Century Media)
By Fizz
Rating: 7.5
Lots of lip service has been paid lately to the “new wave of American heavy metal.” I take this term to mean “any band in heavy rotation on the reincarnated Headbanger’s Ball.” In general, I’m not the biggest fan of this kind of thing, mainly because a lot of the practitioners don’t distinguish themselves. I can’t tell Uearth from Diecast, and the only reason I can tell Lamb of God apart is because they suck even worse than normal. However, there is one band in the scene that I’m a pretty big fan of, and that’s Shadows Fall, ever since their 2002 breakthrough landmark, The Art of Balance.
And now, Shadows Fall returns for one final hurrah on Century Media, before making the jump to Atlantic for their next full-length. As a parting gift, they give us Fallout From The War. The album’s title is a reference to 2004’s blockbuster (for a label like CM, anyway) release The War Within. The way I understand it, six of the songs here were begun during those sessions, although most of the fleshing out was done last fall. They toss in two re-recorded versions of obscurities, and a diverse trio of covers. As a contractual obligation, it’s very generous, not the hodgepodge of live tracks, outtakes, and half-assed material a lot of bands would give us.
It all sounds pretty much like what we’ve come to expect from Shadows Fall at this point. The band doesn’t deviate from the formula of killer classic thrash riffs and mixed harsh and melodic vocals. That’s fine, because it was that combination that first drew me to the band. I just fel like I’ve heard parts of some of these songs on previous albums. It’s not so much that they’re rehashing the formula, so much as they might be recycling parts of actual songs. Yet I have a hard time putting my finger on exactly which parts were cribbed from where.
The six new tracks begin the album, starting with “In Effigy,” which is a typical Shadows Fall single in the vein of “Thoughts Without Words” or “Enlightened By the Cold.” I like the way they work a guitar solo in UNDER the chorus, and how the drums suddenly switch syncopation about halfway through the song, while everything else stays the same. “Will To Rebuild” has one of those patented Shadows Fall fist-pumping chants in the chorus, helping it stand out. “Haunting Me Endlessly’ and especially” and especially “Seize The Calm” sport great melodic vocals over the crushing riffs, with the latter being particularly memorable. “Carpal Tunnel” (a possible reference to what drummer jason Bittner will soon be afflicted with in his legs, due to near-constant battering of the double-bass) has great, slow-grinding verses, while “Going, Going, Gone” is the most frantic of the new songs, but hides a surprise groove deep within. Really, it’s more of the same good stuff SF has been delivering for the past couple albums.
Things don’t change drastically with the remainder of the tracks either. “Deadworld,” the title track to the band’s 2001 EP, appears here, and is more in the brutal vein of the band’s pre-2002 work, with the vocals being entirely barked and bellowed, but still with riffs aplenty. The brief, quiet interlude, I believe, has since reappeared in at least two songs, largely unchanged. You’ll know when you hear that part, what I meant earlier about recycling parts of songs. The other new-old song is one called “This Is My Own,” and I have no idea where it comes from. Not as frenetic as “Deadworld,” with better riffs (including some nasty machine-gun-like bursts) and a great midsection, where a plodding, cleanly-sung passage leads into another superb riff and solo. I’d never heard either of these songs in their original form, so they’re new to me, as I suspect they will be to most fans. There’s nothing really soundwise that sets them apart from the first six tracks.
The band concludes the record with three cover tunes, in descending order of quality. First up is a remake of “December,” originally done by Boston ‘90’s metal band Only Living Witness. Awesome groove on this song, putting me immediately in mind of Sabbath’s “Children Of The Grave.” The thing that stands out most about this song is that the lyrics are almost 100% sung, rather than hollered, an anomaly even for Shadows Fall. Vocalist Brian Fair and guitarists Jonathan Donais and Matt Bachand supposedly take turns doing the melodic sections in the band’s music (although they all sound the same to me), so I’m not sure who sings on this track. But I sat here listening to “December” and thinking ‘Now who in the hell does thig guy sound like?” And finally, I got it. He sounds like Sevendust’s Lajon Witherspoon doing HIS “normal” singing voice. I’ve never heard the original version of this song, but I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if Shadows Fall’s take is better.
The band pays tribute to their hardcore roots with a version of Leeway’s “Mark Of The Squealer.” This one sounds pretty much like any other Shadows Fall song, except Fair’s hippie-Zen lyrics are replaced with an angry diatribe against snitches, near as I can tell. I normally tend to think of hardcore music as pretty uninteresting and one-dimensional, but this tune has as many riffs as any other on the album.
And finally, we come to the song I was perhaps most looking forward to hearing: SF’s unlikely rendition of Dangerous Toys’s “Teas’n Pleas’n.” You youngsters out there probably don’t remember the original, but I, at a withered 25, well recall the video playing endlessly on MTV during the summer and early fall of 1989. My mom hated this song and would groan every time it came on and I would instinctively reach to turn it up. It was just so goofy, you had to either love it or hate it. For their version, Shadows Fall brings in D-Toys vocalist Jason McMaster to sing along. Why? If you’re going to do a cover, why would you bring in the song’s original vocalist? These days, McMaster sounds grittier but instantly recognizable, and actually seems to drown Fair out. Otherwise, the band brings very little to this version, leaving it virtually unchanged except for a somewhat different solo and a couple other very slight alterations. McMaster replicates each and every yip and yowl, including every syllable of gleefully moronic gibberish. I don’t know what I was expecting out of this song, but somehow, it doesn’t live up to any expectations, and certainly not to the original. They just play it so close to the book, one can’t help but be disappointed.
Anyway, if you liked the last two Shadows Fall records, you’ll like this, bottom line. The band has solidly established their signature sound, and see no reason to change. The production isn’t quite as good as the last two records, mainly noticeable in a drum sound that isn’t as punchy and pounding as I would’ve liked. Otherwise, it’s all here, and there’s plenty to justify buying it. I sorta wish it was a couple bucks cheaper though.
Best songs: “In Effigy,” “Seize The Calm,” “December”
Worst Song: “Teas’n Pleas’n”
