SHADOWS FALL
RETRIBUTION
Tracklistings
1. The Path To Imminent Ruin
2. My Demise
3. Still I Rise
4. War
5. King Of Nothing
6. The Taste Of Fear
7. Embrace Annihilation
8. Picture Perfect
9. A Public Execution
10. Dead And Gone
Verdict
Since the bands debut ‘Somber Eyes To The Sky’ time and time again Shadows Fall have produced some great albums daring, bold and always leave an impact. The first album that I brought was ‘The Art Of Balance’ way back in 2002 and after listening to it I was immediately hooked. The album combined thrash, death and metalcore elements that resulted in a stone cold classic. Then the band brought out ‘The War Within’ in 2004 which to be fair was good solid album but not as good as ‘The Art Of Balance’. Then the band really stepped up a gear and shined more in the limelight as the band unleashed ‘Threads Of Life’ in 2007 a rip roaring back to basics thrash and heavy metal album that saw the band tread a more melodic and creative side to their arsenal this was Shadows Fall at their best. Now comes along ‘Retribution’ which is due out September 15 luckily I have an advanced copy of the album.
The first track off the album ‘The Path of Imminent Ruin’ is a straight forward intro track that builds up to the second track ‘My Demise’ a rip roaring beast of a track near 7 minutes long this is classic Shadows Fall old and new are in here from the melodic elements and the heavy thrash the band display is truly breathtaking. As ever the band are a tight well organized unit that seem to know how to hit the right note with Brian Fair vocals ranging from grunts to clean vocals there is always a nice mix and balance to the songs. Guitarists Jonathan Donais and Matthew Bachand as always provide us with bang on riffs and euqually great solos. Jason Bittner drumming as always is spot on. The music on this album goes from strength to strength with tracks like ‘Still I Rise’ and the very heavy ‘War’ resembling days out of the ‘Art Of Balance’ era fantastic stuff.
The Fifth track ‘King Of Nothing’ as a faster old school trash feels to it also Randy Blythe the vocalist from Lamb Of God provides some guest vocals. This track is very heavy with vocals bordering on death metal. The next track ‘The Taste Of Fear’ slows things down a little this feels like a typical rock track loads of great riffs great vocals. So far this album hits the mark I have no complaints and well I'm a massive Shadows Fall fan and so far this album just simply rocks.
The next track ‘Embrace Annihilation’ starts with a sound that resembles Armageddon hell and fire and brimstone. But then a break down provides us with a bit of acoustic guitars but soon breaks back to the heaviness. Brian Fair just sounds plain pissed of an angry great head banging stuff. The solos are brilliant as well.
The next track ‘Picture Perfect’ is I suppose Shadows Fall Ballard the song is something out of the page book of ‘Another Hero Lost’ off the ‘Threads Of Life’ album. Obviously the band not only produce quality heavy metal tracks they can certainly turn the noise down brilliant stuff.
The next track ‘A Public Execution’ starts off with a heavy thrash riff. Soon the drums kick in and everything speeds up, turn this track to 11 people this is the sought of song you want to play when you have had a bad day at the office lol.
The last track ‘Dead And Gone’ closes the album on a high note brilliant drumming and guitar work are top notch on this track. This track reminds me of ‘A Fire in Babylon’ of the ‘Art of Balance’ album. The music takes some great directions and is the perfect track to end the album on.
So overall then Shadows Fall don’t seem to be slowing down producing quality albums time and time again. This album is no exception its a classic heavy metal and thrash album that proves to be Shadows Falls best work to date. Every Shadows Fall albums have been brilliant and this adds another great record to their ever growing fan base.
The band are:
Brian Fair - Vocals
Matt Bachand- Guitar
Jon Donai– Lead Guitar
Paul Romanko– Bass
Jason Bittner– Drums
You can get more information about Shadows Fall on their Official Web Page here:
Overall Mark
5/5