Shadows Fall Threads Of Life CD

Composer: Shadows Fall.
Shadows Fall: Brian Fair (vocals); Matthew Bachand, Jonathan Donais (guitar); Paul Romanko (bass instrument); Jason Bittner (drums).
Personnel: Kris 'Felix' Portier (programming); John Nicholson (drum programming).
The metal and thrash scene truly came of age, both in America and abroad, in the early 21st century with an influx of new bands, styles, and approaches that brought the music to untold levels of popularity. But even with buzzed-about bands like Killswitch Engage garnering critical acclaim and high record sales, workhorses Shadows Fall were keeping one step ahead of the game, as their 2007 major label debut,THREADS OF LIFE, attests.
Bolstered by the bigger budgets and production possibilities of a major, Shadows Fall sounds reinvigorated and more ferocious than ever on THREADS OF LIFE. Mixing in progressive metal influences, Shadows Fall work start-stop arrangements, crunching riffs, speed-of-light guitar work, and pulverizing drums and bass (not to mention the full-throttle voice of Brian Fair) into an epic assault on the senses. Arguably the band's strongest overall release, THREADS OF LIFE is a must for fans of the genre.
For anyone who thought Massachusetts' underground thrashers Shadows Fall may have sold out by signing to Atlantic, go look for the next underground big thing. This is a band well served by the move to a major. It sold over 300,000 copies of War Within on Century Media in 2004, and snagged a prime spot on the Ozfest tour. Like Mastodon and before them Slayer, Shadows Fall will benefit from better distribution, more tour support and bigger recording budgets. That said, the stakes are higher, too, and not just economically. Since 2004, when War Within was issued, the creative ante for thrash and death metal acts has been upped considerably by the sheer powerhouse excellence of Killswitch Engage and Trivium, who appeared on the scene and brought innovation, chops, and new blood to the underground. Shadows Fall looks back across the divide like a warlord and responds to the gauntlet being thrown down in the heavy metal world with Threads of Life. The most noticeable thing here is how bold it is. First there are the vocals of Brian Fair: he never hesitates to sing full-throated. Sure, there's a growl here and there (check the bust-up crack and smack of "Failure of the Devout" that sounds like a worshipful nod to Slayer,) and he digs right into the meat of the guitars and bass throb fury, and hurls his pipes up over the drums in the mix. But the cat is actually a singer. Check out the harmonies and all in "Stormwinds," or the political power ballad "Another Hero Lost," which ties on the New Wave of American Metal sign and wears it proudly. In other words, yeah, this is mainstream American metal, but it's so creatively compelling and so risky one has to hand it to them. That said, they've lost none of the fire, attack or attitude, check out "Just Another Nightmare," another thrasher, with words that can be understood at a hundred paces. Killer guitar breaks, big fat chugging riffs, power-slam skin work, cattle prod bass, and cool little hooks and melodic touches on top of those bludgeoning riffs make Threads of Life a major label debut of merit, and a metal record worthy of celebrating. ~ Thom JurekSpin (p.90) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[T]hey unleash a virtuosic melodic moshfest..."
Alternative Press (p.155) - 4.5 stars out of 5 -- "THREADS OF LIFE is the most unashamedly 'true' metal album any major label's released yet this year -- and it's also one of the best."