“We just wanted to write a
full-on metal record,” says
Brian Fair, lead singer of
Shadows Fall. “We were like, ‘I
don’t care what’s going on,
nowadays — let’s write some
fucking metal!’ I mean, that’s
always been our attitude, but
this time we went even further
into our rock and thrash roots.”
Threads Of Life, the new album
by Shadows Fall, is a bracing
blast of extreme heavy metal, a
heady brew of old-school
sensibilities and cutting-edge
hard rock delivered with
passion, precision and a
refreshing lack of pretension.
Dubbed “the reigning purveyors
of everydude metal” by Revolver
magazine, the hard-touring,
beer-chugging Massachusetts
quintet has handily surpassed
the high standards set by their
critically feted 2002 release,
The Art Of Balance, and its
even-more-acclaimed 2004
followup, The War Within — the
latter of which had sold over
270,000 copies to date, and
received a Grammy nomination for
the track “What Drives The
Weak”, amazing feats for an
independent release. One of the
original forces behind the New
Wave of American Heavy Metal and
undisputed leaders in that
scene, Shadows Fall are
currently on the verge of
propelling themselves into the
classic metal pantheon with
Threads Of Life.
Produced for maximum sonic
impact by Nick Raskulinecz (Foo
Fighters, Stone Sour, Rush) at
Studio 606 in Los Angeles,
Threads Of Life is a masterful
achievement by a band that
continues to push the envelope
artistically while remaining
true to its core sound and
audience. “Nick was able to get
performances out of us that we
didn’t even expect from
ourselves,” Fair enthuses.
“Structurally, we had worked out
a lot of the stuff before we
even got to the studio, but he
really brought new life to
things sonically — different
layering of guitars, vocal
harmonies that we wouldn’t have
thought of, great ideas like
that.”
For those who’ve already been
paying attention, the band’s
continued musical growth won’t
come as much of a surprise — in
terms of pure musicianship,
Shadows Fall has long been one
of the most highly respected
bands in the metal community,
boasting a lineup that could
easily go toe-to-toe with rock’s
most legendary players.
Guitarists Matt Bachand and Jon
Donais are former guest
columnists for Guitar World
magazine, and the pair recently
had the honor of being included
in the mag’s “Top 100 Guitarists
of All Time” list. Bassist Paul
Romanko is a regular contributor
to Guitar World’s Bass Guitar
magazine, while drummer Jason
Bittner pens a column for Modern
Drummer, whose readers voted him
“Best Metal Drummer” in year-end
polls for 2005 and 2006. And
with his four-foot-long
dreadlocks, powerful vocals and
commanding stage presence, Brian
Fair — a frequent guest host on
MTV’s “Headbanger’s Ball” — is
one of the most charismatic and
recognizable frontmen in metal.
All five members bring a wide
variety of influences to the
table, as well. “Jonny’s always
been into 80s metal and 70s
rock,” Fair explains. “Matt was
really into death metal and
grindcore back in the day, but
he also likes all sorts of
singer/songwriter stuff; Jay has
a real prog background — he’s a
huge fan of Rush and Dream
Theater — and Paul’s the
old-school punk rock and
hardcore dude. I kind of came up
through 70s rock, and then found
the hardcore scene, but I’d
always been listening to a lot
of jazz, reggae and spacey
stuff.”
But as with all great bands
through the ages, when Shadows
Fall make music together, the
disparate influences and
personalities somehow coalesce
into a single vision. “There are
really no egos in this band,”
affirms Fair. “We’re always
going to have the technical
aspect of our music, because
these boys can play. But we want
to incorporate all of that into
a song framework; it’s all about
trying to create the best song,
and everyone understanding how
they fit into it.
“Of course,” he adds, “when it’s
time to let it rip, we let it
rip!”
“Redemption,” Threads Of Life’s
anthemic opening track and lead
single, is a veritable crash
course in Shadows Fall’s
patented mixture of metallic
riffage, hardcore aggression,
and melodic uplift. “This is the
Shadows Fall sound condensed
into four minutes,” laughs Fair.
“I think it’s a perfect
representation of what we do.
And I think it really
encapsulates the entire album,
which is why we opened with it —
it has a little bit of
everything you’re going to get
in the next 45 minutes!”
“Final Call,” the album’s epic
seven-minute centerpiece — which
includes some spectacular
twin-guitar shredding from
Donais and Bachand — is a
rallying cry for hope and
togetherness in a time of
cynicism and despair. “So many
of the ideals and goals of our
government seem to be so far
from what I’m trying to
accomplish in my life, that I
feel like I’ve been exiled to my
own little plane of existence,”
says Fair. “But at this point,
I’m fine with it, because I
think there are others who feel
the same way, and I think there
are more of them out there than
people realize.”
Fair’s also not afraid to whip
himself into a righteous rage
when the situation calls for it.
“Failure Of The Devout,”
“Burning The Lives” and
“Forevermore” all take lethal
aim at those responsible for the
current precarious state of the
world, be it corrupt political
systems or organized religion in
general.
But the most powerful example of
Shadows Fall’s broadened
musical, lyrical and emotional
scope is “Another Hero Lost,” an
achingly heartfelt ballad
inspired by the death of Fair’s
cousin, a US soldier who was
killed last year in Iraq. “We’ve
always had those slower moments
on our records, with songs like
‘The Art of Balance’ and
‘Inspiration on Demand,’” the
singer explains, “but this was
the most straightforward,
melodic rock ballad we’ve ever
done. I didn’t want to take away
from the tribute vibe to it by
making it this brutal, crazy
song; it had to be straight-up
from the heart, and really pure
and true.
“It’s also the most personal
song I’ve ever recorded.
Lyrically, it’s from my cousin’s
perspective, as well as just me
sorting through the emotions
that my family and I were going
through at the time. The song
has no political agenda, at all
— it’s just me remembering
someone I grew up with, who
meant a lot to me. I know a lot
of people have been going
through similar things recently,
so I think it’s a song they’ll
be able relate to. Hopefully,
there won’t have to be many more
songs written about something
like this.”
Formed over a decade ago in
Springfield, Massachusetts,
Shadows Fall came up the hard
way, playing weekend shows in
New England basements, rec
centers and even storage spaces
for gas money. “We were all
friends before we started this
band,” Fair recalls. “We all
played in other bands that
played with each other, and we
had a very similar goal and
vision in mind for what we
wanted to accomplish together.
We had that all-for-one,
one-for-all attitude from the
beginning, which is still how we
do business — it’s gotta be a
unanimous decision before
anything gets done.”
That unity of spirit and vision
came in handy, as Shadows Fall
struggled to raise its profile
beyond the Massachusetts metal
scene. “We learned as we grew,
just by stumbling through it on
our own,” Fair explains. “You
learn what it takes to make this
all work, which gives you a real
respect for it. I think if you
end up going from the practice
space right onto a huge tour
with a tour bus, it’s easy to
let the little things bother
you, but we’re just psyched for
every little success we have; we
remember what it was like when
it was five stinky dudes living
in a van for a month at a time,
making fifty bucks a show and
eating ramen every night. If you
didn’t do that, I don’t think
you really appreciate it when
you end up with a dressing room
full of free beer!”
The band’s big break came in
2003, when they were offered a
second stage slot on that
summer’s Ozzfest. The surprise
hit of the second stage, Shadows
Fall won over legions of young
fans with the intensity of their
musical attack; their ability to
make even the biggest gig feel
like a keg party free-for-all
didn’t hurt, either. “I think it
opened a lot of peoples’ eyes to
see how many kids were coming
out to the second stage just to
see this indie band,” says Fair.
Two summers later, Shadows Fall
made the leap to Ozzfest’s main
stage, where their incendiary
performances converted even the
hardened old-school metal fans
who’d come to see Iron Maiden
and Ozzy Osbourne. Clearly, here
was a band capable of carrying
the torch passed to them by the
old-school giants of heavy
metal.
After an incredible run with
independent metal label Century
Media, Threads Of Life marks
Shadows Fall’s major label debut
on Atlantic Records. “We just
look at it as another launching
point, with more resources,”
Fair explains. “We were friends
with people at the label before
we even headed into a business
relationship, so it’s been
comfortable from the beginning.
They realize that we’re a career
band that’s been doing this for
a decade, and they just wanted
to help us perpetuate that.”
In other words, even with a new
label, a tidal deluge of
critical plaudits and a rapidly
expanding audience, it’s still
business as usual for Shadows
Fall — make a great record, and
then hit the road to rock (and
have a beer with) as many people
as possible. “The original
reason we got into playing this
music was because it’s fun,”
Fair laughs. “We just decided at
one point, ‘We’re gonna get in
the van, and we’re gonna tour
until we can’t’ — and it’s
actually paid off, which is
unbelievable. We’re just so
psyched to be playing metal for
a living.”
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