Shadows Fall

Music Home >> Music Genres >> Metal Music



< < < < < > > > > > More Info on Shadows Fall Similar Metal Music Search Artistopia

Biography

Shadows Fall is an American metalcore band from Springfield, Massachusetts|Springfield , Massachusetts , formed in 1995. They are one of the few contemporary metal bands who take their lyrical influence from Eastern philosophy and some references to the Rastafari culture. Although the band has experienced several line-up changes, for most of its recording career Shadows Fall has been composed of Brian Fair ( Singer|vocals ), Jonathan Donais ( lead guitarist|lead guitar ), Matt Bachand (guitar), Paul Romanko ( Bass guitar|bass ), and Jason Bittner ( Drum kit|drums ).

Shadows Fall have released six studio albums, two compilation albums, and two DVDs. The band's first album featured Philip Labonte on vocals, although he was soon replaced by Fair. Shadows Fall's first two studio albums featured David Germain playing drums, but in 2002 Bittner joined the band full time. In February 2008, the band was a Grammy Award nominee in the category Best Metal Performance for the song "Redemption" off the album Threads of Life (album)|Threads of Life . They're currently in the studio to release an album in 2012 and are running live streams online to show what they're up to backstage.

History

Formation, Somber Eyes to the Sky , and Of One Blood (1995–2000)

Shadows Fall formed in 1995 by guitarists Jonathan Donais and Matt Bachand with the help of Adam Dutkiewicz . Donais and Bachand recruited vocalist Philip Labonte , and bassist Paul Romanko to complete Shadows Fall's original line-up. The band released their debut EP, To Ashes , with Dutkiewicz playing as a session drummer. After the release of the demo Dutkiewicz left to form Killswitch Engage . David Germain joined the band as drummer, to fill the empty position. Shadows Fall toured the New England area opening for artists such as Fear Factory and Cannibal Corpse . The newly formed band recorded its first studio album Somber Eyes to the Sky , on November 30, 1997 through Bachand's recording label, Lifeless Records. The band's name, according to Bachand, comes from the title of a comic book published in the early 1990s.

In 1998, Labonte was asked to leave the band due to personal and artistic differences. He later formed the band All That Remains (band)|All That Remains . The band looked for a replacement vocalist and found Brian Fair at an Overcast concert. After a US Summer tour with Shai Hulud (band)|Shai Hulud , Overcast disbanded and the band asked Fair if he would like to join Shadows Fall. While on tour Shadows Fall was signed to Century Media Records . The band recorded its second studio album Of One Blood (album)|Of One Blood with Fair on vocals in 2000, the release included re-recorded songs from Somber Eyes to the Sky . In 2001, David Germain decided to leave the band due to alcoholism, and was replaced by former Stigmata drummer Jason Bittner . "I wasn’t happy and started drinking way to much which effected my playing, so eventually we all decided it was time for me to go."

The Art of Balance (2001–2003)

Due to repeated comparisons with melodic death metal|Gothenburg melodic death metal bands, Shadows Fall decided to change its style to find its own sound. Inspired by more thrash metal|thrash , hard rock and power ballad influences, the band recorded its third studio album, titled The Art of Balance . “This time, instead of eight melodic death metal|Gothenburg death metal songs, we have ballads, rock songs, thrash tunes.” Released on September 17, 2002, the album peaked at number 15 on the Billboard charts|Billboard Top Independent albums chart. Shadows Fall released three music videos to promote the album; "Thoughts Without Words", "Destroyer of Senses", and "The Idiot Box". The Art of Balance featured a Cover version|cover of the Pink Floyd song " Welcome to the Machine ". Andy Hinds of Allmusic stated the album is "a modern heavy metal album that is both brutal and highly musical, traditional yet forward-thinking", but criticized the placement of "Welcome to the Machine", stating the song "is stylishly well-executed, but seems a tad out of place nonetheless." Shadows Fall supported The Art of Balance by touring on Ozzfest in 2003.

The War Within (2004–2006)

Shadows Fall released its fourth studio album The War Within (album)|The War Within on September 21, 2004. It was the first release to enter the Billboard 200 for the band at number 20, and peaked at number one on the Top Independent albums chart. In promotion for the album, Shadows Fall released four music videos over the course of one year; "The Power of I and I", "What Drives the Weak", "Inspiration on Demand", and "Enlightened By the Cold". The song "What Drives the Weak" received a Grammy Award nomination for Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance|Best Metal Performance in 2006, however the award went to Slipknot (band)|Slipknot for the song " Before I Forget (song)|Before I Forget ". "The Light That Blinds" was featured in the video game Guitar Hero II . Wade Kergan of Allmusic praised the album stating the band has "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 (band)|Coalesce ". As of 2008, the album has sold almost 300,000 copies in the United States.

Shadows Fall released its first DVD The Art of Touring in November 2005. The DVD included a live concert, backstage footage, and six music videos. The band released its final CD on Century Media Records, titled Fallout from the War on June 13, 2006. Released as a compilation album , it debuted at number 83 on the Billboard 200. Fallout from the War included tracks recorded for The War Within that did not make it on to the album, b-side s, re-recordings, and cover songs. David Jeffries of Allmusic claimed the album is "a great informal introduction to the ferocious and melodic witches' brew Shadows Fall always seems to nail."

Threads of Life (2007–2008)

Shadows Fall signed a deal with Atlantic Records to distribute the band's albums in the United States, and a deal with Roadrunner Records for international distribution. The band released its fifth studio album Threads of Life (album)|Threads of Life on April 3, 2007. "Redemption", the first single from the CD was released on February 20, 2007 through iTunes with an accompanying music video. "Redemption" received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Metal performance; the award ceremony as held on February 10, 2008. Slayer's "Eyes of the Insane" won the award. Thom Jurek of Allmusic stated Shadows Fall has "lost none of the fire, attack or attitude" on Threads of Life . Jurek also said the album featured "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." Keith Bergman of Blabbermouth.net stated " Threads of Life is slick as hell."

Shadows Fall toured in support of Threads of Life , including making appearances at the Jägermeister Music Tour|Jägermeister tour with Stone Sour and Lacuna Coil , the Operation Annihilation tour with Static-X , 3 Inches of Blood , and Divine Heresy , and the Black Crusade tour with Trivium (band)|Trivium , Machine Head (band)|Machine Head , Dragonforce , and Arch Enemy (band)|Arch Enemy . The band was a part of the Soundwave tour in Australia and in Asia in February 2008, along with Killswitch Engage , As I Lay Dying (band)|As I Lay Dying , and Bleeding Through .

Retribution (2009 onward)

Shadows Fall released their sixth album, Retribution (Shadows Fall album)|Retribution , on September 15, 2009, through the band's own label, Everblack Industries , which was created in conjunction with Warner Music Group's ILG, Ferret Music and ChannelZERO Entertainment. It is being released in the UK via Spinefarm Records . The album was produced by Chris "Zeuss" Harris. Drummer Jason Bittner recently stated about the band's new material, "The songs are a little more on the darker, angry side... lots of heaviness, lots of crazy guitar, and LOTS of room for me to have some fun. There is no doubt in my mind that this will be the best performance of my career, so far, and I owe that to my guys for bringing me incredible riffs to write killer drum parts to." As of the fall of 2009 the band was appearing on the 'Shock & Raw' tour of North America with 2Cents , Otep & Five Finger Death Punch . After a South American tour, Shadows Fall will be playing on the Jägermeister Stage in the 2010 Rockstar Mayhem Festival in July and August 2010. The band is also scheduled to support Lamb of God (band)|Lamb of God on their Australian tour in December 2009 Shadows Fall is pleased to announce their first and only New York City performance this year, taking place at Santos Party House on December 18, 2010 with direct support from Thy_will_be_done|Thy Will Be Done .

Shadows Fall released a live CD/DVD, Madness in Manila|Madness in Manila: Shadows Fall Live in The Philippines 2009 , on October 26. They are currently in the studio to release an album in 2012.

Band members

;Current members

Brian Fair – lead vocalist|lead vocals (2000–present)

Matt Bachand – rhythm guitar , singing|backing vocals (1995–present)

Jonathan Donais- lead guitar , singing|backing vocals (1995–present)

Paul Romanko – bass guitar (1995–present)

Jason Bittner – drum kit|drums (2002–present)

;Former members

Philip Labonte – lead vocals (1995–2000)

David Germain – drum kit|drums (1995–2001)

;Session members

Adam Dutkiewicz - drum kit|drums (1996)

Derek Kerswill - drum kit|drums (2001–2002)

ImageSize = width:800 height:400
PlotArea = left:110 bottom:120 top:0 right:30
Alignbars = justify
DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy
Period = from:01/01/1995 till:08/09/2011
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy

Colors =
id:bass value:brightgreen legend:Bass& nbsp;guitar
id:vocals value:purple legend:Lead& nbsp;vocals
id:drums;percussion value:yellow legend:Drums,& nbsp;percussion
id:guitar value:brightblue legend:Lead& nbsp;guitar,& nbsp;backing& nbsp;vocals
id:lines value:black legend:Studio& nbsp;albums

Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:2

ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1995
ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1995

LineData =
at:11/30/1997 color:black layer:back
at:04/04/2000 color:black layer:back
at:09/17/2002 color:black layer:back
at:09/21/2004 color:black layer:back
at:04/03/2007 color:black layer:back
at:09/15/2009 color:black layer:back

BarData =
bar:Brian text:"Brian Fair"
bar:Matt text:"Matt Bachand"
bar:Jonathan text:"Jonathan Donais"
bar:Paul text:"Paul Romanko"
bar:Jason text:"Jason Bittner"
bar:Philip text:"Philip Labonte"
bar:David text:"David Germain"

PlotData=
width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
bar:Brian from:01/02/2000 till:end color:vocals
bar:Matt from:01/01/1995 till:end color:guitar
bar:Jonathan from:01/01/1995 till:end color:guitar
bar:Paul from:01/01/1995 till:end color:bass
bar:Jason from:01/01/2002 till:end color:drums;percussion
bar:Philip from:01/01/1995 till:01/01/2000 color:vocals
bar:David from:01/01/1995 till:01/01/2001 color:drums;percussion

Discography

Albums

;Studio albums

Year	Album	Billboard 200
1998	Somber Eyes to the Sky	–
2000	Of One Blood	–
2002	The Art of Balance	15ref label
2004	The War Within	20
2007	Threads of Life	46
2009	Retribution	35
2012	TBA

A The Art of Balance debuted at #15 on the Top Independent Albums.

;Compilation albums

Year	Album
2002	Fear Will Drag You Down
2006	Fallout From the War
2007	Seeking the Way: The Greatest Hits

;Video albums

Year	Album
2005	The Art of Touring
2010	Madness in Manila

Singles

Year	Title	US Main.	Album
2004	"What Drives the Weak"	38	The War Within
2005	"Inspiration on Demand"	33
2005	"Enlightened by the Cold"	—
2007	Redemption "	37	Threads of Life
2007	"Another Hero Lost"	40	Threads of Life
2009	"Still I Rise"	—	Retribution
2009	"King of Nothing"	—
2010	Bark at the Moon "	—

Music videos

Year	Title	Director
2002


2004


2005		Zach Merckcite web
2006
2007



2009
2010		David Brodsky

Awards and nominations

Nominations

Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance – "What Drives the Weak" (2006)

Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance – "Redemption" (2008)

Copyright Citations

This article is licensed under the GNU License
Click here for original article: Shadows Fall

Shadows Fall Photo by: ballbusterhardmusic.com


1. Pantera 2. Sevendust 3. Slayer 4. Bury Your Dead 5. Machine Head 6. Arch Enemy 7. Chimaira 8. Dangerous Toys 9. Hatebreed 10. Killswitch Engage 11. Lamb of God 12. Nevermore 13. As I Lay Dying 14. Unearth 15. Trivium 16. Avenged Sevenfold 17. Otep 18. Five Finger Death Punch

Metal Music Artists