Jonathan Donais – lead guitar/vocals
Brian Fair – lead vocals
Paul Romanko – bass
Matthew Bachand – guitar/vocals
Jason Bittner – drums
Shadows Fall unveils their most aggressive morsel to date while shattering the boundaries of traditional metal expectations. The War Within is a well-crafted opus challenging the hard rock community to embrace a record equally as revolutionary as the classic Master of Puppets was to Metallica’s career. The five-piece stays true to their melodic edge while their musical proficiency and technical prowess show on tracks such as The Light That Blinds, Inspiration on Demand and The Power of I and I. It is the stunning emotional epic tracks, however, that give their fourth album added depth and intensity on songs like Ghosts of Past Failures and Stillness. The War Within continues to separate the group from their peers by showcasing their ability.
Shadows Fall released their debut album, Somber Eyes To The Sky, in 1997 on guitarist Matt Bachand’s label, Lifeless Records. This helped garner them an immense amount of attention throughout their Massachusetts home that quickly spread across the globe. The buzz caught the interest of Century Media Records who have been home to the band ever since. The group’s first release for the label, Of One Blood, marked the introduction of new vocalist Brian Fair and exposed the band to a worldwide audience as they went on tour with an array of diverse artists such as Candiria, Misfits, King Diamond, Glassjaw and In Flames.
Their critically praised third release, The Art of Balance, was released in September of 2002 and proved to be the band’s most cohesive and dynamic offering to date. With new drummer Jason Bittner in tow along with original member Paul Romanko on bass, they now had an unstoppable rhythm section. Produced by Zeuss (Hatebreed, Blood Has Been Shed, Sworn Enemy) at Planet Z Studios, each track brought finer melodic focus and power while retaining the band’s renowned musicianship. It was this album coupled with their undying work ethic that would soon introduce the band to a whole new audience.
After touring the world with the likes of Hatebreed, Kittie, Mushroomhead, Children of Bodom and The Dillinger Escape Plan, the band was invited to take part in Ozzfest 2003. They were heralded as the breakout band of the year and consistently sold more records every week than any other side-stage band. Shadows Fall solidified their fan base and was certifiably the new leaders of the genre. This led to being the only band invited for a two-year stint at Japan’s Beast Feast, the 4th annual Take Action Tour (alongside Avenged Sevenfold and Poison The Well) and then co-headlining the first annual MTV2 Headbanger’s Ball Tour with Killswitch Engage and Lamb of God. Videos for the tracks Thoughts Without Words, ’destroyer of Senses and The Idiot Box were greatly embraced by U.S. television programs Headbanger’s Ball on MTV2 and Uranium on Fuse; two shows where the band appeared as guests several times. All of this exposure enabled Shadows Fall to watch both their fan base and record sales explode. The Art of Balance went on to SoundScan over 100,000 copies in the U.S. becoming the first album in Century Media history to reach this illustrious milestone.
Shadows Fall spent the first half of 2004 crafting their anticipated fourth release. The group’s new offering, The War Within, produced again by Zeuss, shows them collectively taking a step forward and evolving as a unit, which Fair states is extremely necessary to do. We are all incredibly excited about the new songs. This record covers so much ground without stepping outside of the sound we have always crafted. Some tunes are full-on brutality, some are all-out thrash fests and some have such a rock n roll vibe. All of this combines into what we believe is our best work to date. This record is definitely not The Art Of Balance part two. We have always prided ourselves on continual evolution and try to push our sound into new worlds.
It is that constant desire to evolve and triumph that earns Shadows Fall numerous accolades from the press, fans and other bands alike. The group was recently named one of Alternative Press Top Five Bands in Metal Today, voted Best New Talent by the readers of Revolver (beating out both Evanescence and Lamb of God) and crowned with a Golden God Award for Best Underground Act during the first annual Metal Hammer Awards. The stellar guitar work of Bachand and Jon Donais has also landed the dynamic duo a monthly column in Guitar World, whose readers voted them Best New Talent in this year’s poll. They also ranked in the publication’s coveted Top 100 Guitarists of All Time lists. Bittner scored similar accolades in Modern Drummer as he was named the #1 Up and Coming Drummer in the 2004 reader’s poll. Preceding the album’s release, the band has already toured Europe as part of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal (NWOAHM) tour together with Killswitch Engage, Chimaira and God Forbid and will headline the U.S. on the first ever Strhess Tour that is sponsored by well-known artist Derek Hess.
Shadows Fall understands the delicate balance between skill and brutality, classic metal influences and new-school characteristics. This album is an expertly crafted equilibrium. The War Within will reroute the path that hard music takes in 2004 and lead the revolution going forward.
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