SHADOWS FALL -- The War Within
2004 (Century Media)
By Fizz
Rating: 8.0
Well, so far this year, I have been largely disappointed by the crop of metal and hard-rock released. Seems like my most anticipated albums all turned out to be less than stellar: Iced Earth, Tesla, Scorpions. But I still held out hope for the new Shadows Fall release. Surely THEY wouldn’t disappoint me, would they?
I first heard of Boston’s Shadows Fall in early 1999, on a late-night metal radio show on Harrisburg, PA’s WTPA. Not surprisingly, I hated them on first listen, thanks largely to the harsh vocals. I thought the “death growl” was ridiculous, and generally still do. So I didn’t give much more thought to Shadows Fall until their 2002 album, The Art of Balance, was released, and a buddy was constantly singing their praises. Hell, EVERYBODY seemed to be singing their praises. So I had to investigate. And don’tcha know, I dug it immediately. The music reminded me of clasic thrash with a twist, and the vocals weren’t nearly as bad as they had been at the time of my first exposure to the band. (Brian Fair was not their original gurgling singer.) So I proceeded to play the shit out of The Art of Balance, and when word began circulating that the band was preparing to release a new album this fall, I could hardly wait.
The War Within is almost exactly like the previous release, in fact. The same early Metallica-meets-Pantera musical stylings, and Fair’s vocals haven’t changed a bit. One difference that I CAN isolate, however, is that the songs on the new album seem less restrained than before. When they want to plunge headlong into a tune, they do it, whereas on The Art of Balance, they seem now to have been holding something back.
One of the oldest metal tricks in the book starts off the album. “The Light That Blinds” begins with a short interlude of acoustic guitar, giving way presently to a full-on metal attack. The transition isn’t as shocking as it was perhaps intended, since this technique has been used by nearly everybody. “The Light That Blinds” itself is a great way to start off the album, and might well be called “The Riffs That Blind.” Especially nice are the ones that punctuate the rapidfire verses. “Enlightened By The Cold” would be my choice for first single, as it has grooving verses and a short, punchy chorus. The band saw fit to go with “The Power of I and I” as first single, however, and this works just as well, with a catchy “All! Is! One!” chant in the chorus, and a section of “chug-chug-chug” riffing that makes you want to hurl yourself repeatedly against a wall for sport. The similarly lurching “Act of Contrition” is a real treat as well. “Eternity Is Within” has a great cool-down section in the middle, just when the song is starting to sound monotonous. They let the power-chords resonate, and drummer Jason Bittner adds some fills that remind me of Dave Lombardo on “Seasons In The Abyss.” “Those Who Cannot Speak” has another trick soft intro, and an excellent Maiden-like solo.
Speaking of solos, the ones on this album are real SOLOS, and not the wah-tortured garbage lots of bands hock up like loogies these days, and not the aimless fretboard wanderings of somebody who lives by the credo “the faster, the better.” Shadows Fall’s solos are creative, fairly technical, and to the point. The two guitarists continue to work seamlessly together, as on the last album. Bittner’s drumming is as fast and furious as ever, although he seems to rely very heavy on breakneck double-bass. Which is cool and all, and very “metal,” but can be and is sometimes overused. Bittner is also a big fan of the triple-kick, and uses it t every opportunity.
There are moodier sections to the album, as on “What Drives the Weak,” “Inspiration On Demand” and “Ghosts of Past Failures.” Unfortunately, these more melodic breaks tend to sound the same, and are set apart from each other by the different vocal patterns. Brian Fair uses more clean vocals than on the previous album, and reminds me of Chuck Billy’s smoother work. The rest of his singing here is done in a top-of-the-lungs shout which begins to sound very one-dimensional after not very long at all.
And that brings me to the other flaw in the album: the songs tend to blend together too much. You can tell them apart if you really, really pay attention, but if you were to pull out one random sample, it would be a real challenge to Name That Tune. Factor in the similarities between this album and its predecessor, and it’s clear that if Shadows Fall wants to stay interesting, they’re going to need to do something a little different on their next record. They’ve ridden this formula about as far as it’ll go.
On a humorous sidenote, is it just me, or does anybody else find Shadows Fall’s new-agey song titles amusing? On this album alone we get “Stillness” and “Eternity Is Within,” and in the past we had the totally unserene “Serenity,” “Mystery of One Spirit,” “Thoughts Without Words” and the cryptic “Root Bound Apollo.” Song titles worthy of an Enya record! Never mind the ponderous, introspective lyrics.
That The War Within still manages to get a rating of 8.0 despite these gripes is to the band’s great credit, and a testament (har!) to their musicianship and songwriting skills and the fury they bring to their music. Of course, being available dirt-cheap in nearly every store doesn’t hurt either, nor does the bonus DVD (featuring some brief guitar and drum lessons from the band and other goodies). The Century Media sampler CD is also a cool freebie, but the only song of the five that stands out for me is God Forbid’s riff-fest, “Antihero.” All this in a nifty DigiPak folder for less than nine bucks at WallyWorld ain’t too shabby. It’s obvious that Century Media is pushing this band hard. Perhaps to counter the highly unfavorable comments made by CM expatriates (Iced Earth, Nevermore, Exodus). No matter. I still had money leftover for a six-pack!
Best songs: “Enlightened By the Cold,” “What Drives The Weak”
Worst song: “Stillness”
