Despite building a large fan base and enjoying chart success, Massachusetts metallists Shadows Fall found themselves label-less prior to sessions began for their sixth studio album overall, 2009's Retribution. But everything worked out in the end, with the group collaborating with Warner Bros. Records on a new label venture, Everblack Industries. Any label snafus have not affected the way the lads go about their business, as Retribution follows the same game plan as latter-day Shadows Fall releases -- raging metal tempered with some melody. And it takes very little time to show that guitarist Jonathan Donais is a frontrunner in the "modern-day six-string gymnastics" department, as he gets downright Yngwie on us with his solo in "My Demise." Elsewhere, you'll find ditties that at various times, cross over into thrash metal, death metal, and hardcore metal territory, especially "War," "King of Nothing" (not to be confused with the similarly-titled Metallica tune), and "Embrace Annihilation." Shadows Fall have made quite the roaring return with Retribution.

1. "The Path of Imminent Ruin" 1:13
2. "My Demise" 6:59
3. "Still I Rise" 3:59
4. "War" 3:40
5. "King of Nothing" 4:15
6. "The Taste of Fear" 4:08
7. "Embrace Annihilation" 5:11
8. "Picture Perfect" 3:55
9. "A Public Execution" 6:07
10. "Dead and Gone" 6:35

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.

1. "Redemption" 4:17
2. "Burning the Lives" 4:04
3. "Storm Winds" 4:50
4. "Failure of the Devout" 5:25
5. "Venomous" 3:31
6. "Another Hero Lost" 4:04
7. "Final Call" 6:48
8. "Dread Uprising" 4:14
9. "The Great Collapse" 1:38
10. "Just Another Nightmare" 4:55
11. "Forevermore" 5:21

When The Art of Balance arrived in 2002, Shadows Fall weren't much more than a blip on the metalcore radar, but a well-received spot on the Ozzfest tour, and the fact that the album lived up to what live audiences saw made them one of the rising stars of metal, period, with no need for the "-core" tag at all. They've grown beyond the confines of the metal-loving hardcore crowd anyway, with more in common now with the classic thrash of Metallica than the metal-tinged hardcore of Coalesce. With The War Within, Shadows Fall make their first bid at creating a great metal record and come close to the mark too, even if their effort to meet expectations is ultimately over-reaching. As much as the songs recall classic metal like Iron Maiden (the twin guitars of "Act of Contrition") and the aforementioned Metallica (perhaps a little too much on "Inspiration on Demand"), their desire to cram as much as possible into each one ultimately leaves them weaker creations. These are tracks that almost work, and for some, the emo choruses will be enough to carry them through the death metal riffs, and for others, the speeding thrash tempos will sit just fine next to Pantera-patented breakdowns, but pulling back for a full view reveals these impressive parts are attached to awkward children. The funny thing is, it isn't that different from The Art of Balance, but rather than tighten up the death/thrash/hardcore (Lego-core?) fusion that defined that album, they've let the parts run amok. There are exceptions, though, like "The Light That Binds," which starts the album, and "The Power of I and I," both of which prove that Shadows Fall do have a great metal record in them. It just hasn't gotten out yet.

1. "The Light That Blinds" 4:58
2. "Enlightened by the Cold" 3:02
3. "Act of Contrition" 3:41
4. "What Drives the Weak" 4:44
5. "Stillness" 4:52
6. "Inspiration on Demand" 3:52
7. "The Power of I and I" 3:34
8. "Ghosts of Past Failures" 4:13
9. "Eternity Is Within" 4:08
10. "Those Who Cannot Speak" 5:15

In The Art of Balance, Shadows Fall has created a modern heavy metal album that is both brutal and highly musical, traditional yet forward-thinking. Songs like the complex "Stepping Outside the Circle" demonstrate not only crushing heaviness, but an impressive grasp on dynamics, melody, and arrangement. Brian Fair's vocals oscillate from articulate melodicism to sheer, throat-tearing menace, while Jonathan Donais' guitar work combines pounding, metallic crunch with careful virtuosity. Amidst the full-throttle rockers that make up the bulk of the album are a couple of short instrumentals ("Casting Shade," "Prelude to Disaster") that offer a few well-placed moments of quiet atmosphere. The cover of Pink Floyd's "Welcome to the Machine," placed at the end of the disc, is stylishly well-executed, but seems a tad out of place nonetheless.

1. "Idle Hands" 3:34
2. "Thoughts Without Words" 4:31
3. "Destroyer of Senses" 2:54
4. "Casting Shade" 2:09
5. "Stepping Outside the Circle" 5:14
6. "The Art of Balance" 4:46
7. "Mystery of One Spirit" 5:10
8. "The Idiot Box" 4:30
9. "Prelude to Disaster" 1:48
10. "A Fire in Babylon" 7:30
11. "Welcome to the Machine" 5:05

On their second record, Shadows Fall began to artfully blend their thrash influences with hard/metalcore. Guitarists Jonathan Donais and Matt Bachand build a wall of bullying, iron-metal riffs and careening solos while vocalist Brian Fail alternates from yelling to deep growling. Even though the guitarists dabble with acoustic guitars (on tracks one, six, and nine), and Brian is capable of singing cleanly and somewhat melodically, the dual guitar attack is explosive enough to make "Of One Blood" one of this Boston quintet's heaviest albums. Jonathan's guitar solos are not very technical, but his and Matt's nimble riffing often brings Metallica's heyday to mind. On most songs, the guitarists seem to be almost competing against each other, and the songs gain density and speed as the riffs build off one another. "Of One Blood" wastes no time getting to the thick of things: "Pain Glass Vision" is very fast, with rapid, propulsive guitar shredding. Tracks four and nine have rocketing rhythms with super speedy, almost blinding guitar noise, and "Fleshold" and "Revel In My Loss" are very catchy, with rhythmic, chugging riffs. My personal favorite song, however, is track six, "Root Bound Apollo," which has several different tempos (including an acoustic guitar breakdown), and a classical sounding solo. The only downside to "Of One Blood" is that it, initially, sounds quite thin and dated. But, fortunately, the further you listen to this album, the less you will be annoyed by the shoddy production. No matter what genre this is, it's a great album from one of the first and best modern thrash/thrashcore bands. If you enjoy the other New Wave of American Heavy Metal groups that have cropped up since Shadows Fall, you will doubtlessly like this C.D. a lot, too.

1. "Pain Glass Vision" 0:48
2. "Crushing Belial" 5:25
3. "Of One Blood" 4:45
4. "The First Noble Truth" 4:14
5. "Fleshold" 3:37
6. "Root Bound Apollo" 6:19
7. "Revel in My Loss" 5:27
8. "Montauk" 4:22
9. "To Ashes" 6:01
10. "Serenity" 4:58

Originally released in 1998, this Shadows Fall CD features original lead singer Phil Labonte, who is now with a great death metal band called All That Remains. Although some of these songs were re-recorded for the latest release "Of One Blood", this is still a great CD to pick up, particularly if you prefer death metal vocals. Although Shadows Fall is not considered to be a death metal band (especially now), Labonte brought that element to the band in a very positive way. Although I personally prefer "Of One Blood", "Somber Eyes to the Sky" is great and well deserving of 5 stars! Shadows Fall fans really should pick up both of these CD's. Also, be sure to check out All That Remains, you'll be glad you did!

1. "Revel in My Loss" 5:48
2. "Pure" 6:11
3. "Lead Me Home" 2:58
4. "To Ashes" 5:53
5. "Nurture" 5:16
6. "Fleshold" 3:44
7. "Eternal" 4:07
8. "Suffer the Season" 4:12
9. "Somber Angel" 6:36
10. "Lifeless" 3:44