We’ve got our grubby mitts on the new Shadows Fall record ‘Retribution’ which is due in stores on September 14th. Find out what the Massachusetts thrash-core outfit put together this time.
Path to Imminent Ruin
A short acoustic intro kicks the album off. It wouldn’t sound out of place as the beginning to an Opeth record. After a minute feedback mounts, heralding the return of the rest of the band.

My Demise
This is the album’s longest track at over seven minutes. Starting off trashing along at high tempo before dropping the pace and segueing into the chunky metalcore riff of the verse where Brian alternates between his gruff vocal style and singing. Double bass drums and vocal harmonies kick-in for the chorus and Brian even gives us a little death-metal style growl. Next the track drops down in volume and tempo into an almost prog-sounding clean guitar part with soaring melodies which are reminiscent of metalcore big-wigs Killswitch Engage. It all builds to an epic thrashy middle eight with fingers dancing across fret-boards.

Still I Rise
The song announces it’s arrival with a pounding artillery of drums and some dextrous riffing. Everything then gets very melodic with some of the most catchy moments we’ve heard from Shadows Fall as the lead guitar pinches along with Brian’s vocals. It’s clear Brian’s singing has improved to a point where he sounds thoroughly at home carrying a tune with the range of this song. The guitars sustain the melodic feel through their solo which could be lifted from any one of the 80s great thrash records. It’s no surprise this is the first single.

War
This ups the pace significantly and is probably the albums most head down charging song all driven by power chords and sustain. For the first time on the album Brian Fair does a significant amount of screaming. The vocals on the chorus call you to “prepare for war”, while the lead guitar lines are super-fast speed demons. With less dynamics than anything else on the record it feels like Shadows Fall are trying to answer their detractors who say they can’t make a straight thrash track.

King of Nothing
A mid-paced chugger of a riff starts things off before a bouncy verse which gives us Shadows Fall’s trademark mix of aggression and melody as Brian growls along. The chorus is slower but with an urgent high pitched guitar melody keeping the energy up, plus the bizarre addition of a church bell.

The Taste of Fear
A probable single, the intro, soaked in delay, gives way to a verse that alternates between a muted steady riff and a flurry of chords and crash cymbals. The chorus by comparison sounds a bit like a mutilated 80s hair metal record. It’s Shadows Fall at the most cheery you’ve ever heard them despite despondent lyrics like, “Surrounded by my misery.” The slow tempo sets Jonathan Donais free for a soaring solo which abandons any sense of melody to dance up and down the scales.

Embrace Annihilation
Keeping with the mid-pace Brian returns to screaming for the verses and the guitars have a more mid-range crunchy sound than Shadows Fall’s usual more balanced sonics. An acoustic bridge is blasted out of the way by a stadium-filling riff for the chorus while Brian sings, “Welcome to the Apocalypse.” The chorus is completed with some sharp drum and guitar interplay. Despite the big chorus melody it feels more stripped back than Shadow’s Fall have been since ‘The Art of Balance’.

Picture Perfect
The track lulls you into thinking it’s going to be an acoustic ballad before a muscular guitar riff kicks in and the tempo doubles. The hair metal influence crops up again in the chorus and the middle eight shows shades of Van Halen. This is sure to be a live sing-along favourite (it’s even got the tried and tested guitar and vocals only section, to get the punters warbling) and a probable single choice.

A Public Execution
This is pure thrash heralded by an ominous intro riff. The mood is darker than what we’re used to from Shadows Fall. Brian is sporadically joined by gruff gang vocals in the verse before the bridge chants, “Fuck it all!” and dives into the tight machinegun bass drums and hook of the chorus. When the middle eight hits it’s the first breakdown of the record, which on the album’s penultimate track, serves as a timely reminder of how far beyond the standard metalcore mold this band has gone.

Dead and Gone
Another acoustic intro precedes a squealing riff and then jumps into classic Shadows Fall territory; An aggressive verses, containing morsels of southern rock chopped-up with the usual thrash and melodic choruses mix in a bit of acoustic guitar for good measure. A middle eight which was probably intended to soundtrack the Saturday morning cartoons of the 80s builds to a triumphant end and the band leaves with three last purposeful bashes of their instruments.

Shadows fall continue to evolve, incorporating elements of 80s hair melody and 70s prog but still staying true to their sound.