Shadows Fall are special among the metal-core bands because out of all of them they are the most accepted by metalheads who generally dislike metal-core. Their earliest stuff is often considered melodic death and their later stuff would showcase more of their thrash and traditional influences all while still being metal-core. They are a band that manages to walk the line between metal and metal-core in a way that made them one of the most popular bands at the time because they had fans on both sides of the spectrum. A lot of their core sound can even be chalked up as Pantera influence because of the similarities between some types of hardcore and groove metal (although I haven’t done the Shadows Fall family tree at the time of writing this.) The main thing that marks them as metal core is the combination of clean and harsh vocals. When Brian Fair came in as the vocalist on the second album his style pushed this farther in the metal-core direction. It should also be said their sound even when melodic death had heavier sections that sound more like non-melodic death. They are a band that really do mix a lot of elements to create a unique sound. On a more personal note, Shadows Fall was the first band that I embraced that had really harsh vocals. Musically they at the time they were pretty thrashy and had incredible leads and it allowed me to get past the vocals. This allowed me to get into all sorts of extreme metal that I completely love today.

How this works; Songs are rated on a 5 star rating with each star having a value that is averaged together for the album rating. Average album rating will equal the band’s rating

1 star=0, I hate it! The world would be better off without this.

2 stars=25, I don’t like it but it could be worse

3 stars= 50, decent song but not special

4 stars=75, good song but is missing something that might make it amazing

5 stars=100, Amazing!

Live albums, demos, cover albums and EP’s are not included.

Note: Popular doesn’t mean great and importance doesn’t mean it’s good either. A chart topping song only means it is watered down enough for a mainstream audience.

#7

Somber Eyes to the Sky - 65%

The first album from shadows fall and the only one with original vocalist Phil Labonte who would go on to join All That Remains. This album is more of an American attempt at melodic death than their later albums would be. It mixes a lot of sounds to create something unique but at the same time this album sounds very unrefined. It sounds more like an experiment in a way. Although this is the least metal-core album there are still many similarities to the metal-core sound.

The Good - This album manages to mix diverse influences to create something unique even if ill defined.

The Bad - As I’ve said it sounds experimental and at this point they hadn’t found the proper blend of the influences they’ve injected.

#6

Fire From the Sky - 72.91%

The last album done by Shadows Fall has some great stuff but at of the album is plagued with boring riffs and poppy vocal lines/harmonies. I’ll use “Blind Faith as an example. It’s full of some amazing even melodic death style riffs but then the chorus is a bland guitar riff with vocals that verge on the whiney. It’s the type of vocals that make metal-heads hate metal-core. It’s the type of vocals that are more reminiscent of 90’s pop punk and emo rather than anything metal. Shadows Fall has always had clean vocals similar to this but something about this album just push them to far for me to enjoy most of the time. Maybe it’s their placement, melodies, or more harmonization but it’s different from earlier albums.

The Good - There are some amazing riffs and some great songs on this album such as the title track “Fire From the Sky” which reminds me of Behemoth. “Save Your Soul” and “The Unknown” are good songs as well but even they aren’t without some of the vocals I have complained about. The vocals aren’t Bullet For My Valentine bad but they are certainly pushing that direction. Thankfully the music has enough redeeming qualities to keep this album from being a complete pile of shit.

The Bad - Again there are a lot of whiney sounding vocals on this album which is a big disappointment. “Divide and Conquer” is just terrible. It’s heavy parts are boring and hardcore sounding, the chorus is displays more weak vocals; at least the bland breakdown is short.

#5

Of One Blood - 77.77%

The second album from shadows fall and first with Brian Fair on vocals. While there are some who consider this one melodic death, the vocals are metal-core. Musically it may be more melodic death sounding than their first but because of the vocals I don’t consider it melodic death.

The Good - Again musically this album is very melodic death at times. A couple of my favorites on here are “Of One Blood” and “To Ashes”.

The Bad - Occasionally there are some more bland sounding parts that are on the groove or hard core side of the spectrum.

#4

Threads of Life - 84.09%

Compared to the to Of One Blood this album is a lot more thrash and this is pretty consistent with the rest of the albums on this list. This album is a mix of really great parts and really bland parts that hold some songs back. If there is one thing Shadows Fall suffers from it’s song writing. They can write some absolutely amazing parts and then mix with bland parts that pull the song’s quality down. This is maybe the best example of this to me. It also followed to extremely great albums so in comparison it is a bit of a let down, although it’s certainly not a bad album.

The Good - Some of my favorites on here are “Redemption” and “Failure of the Devout”. The ladder of which is probably the darkest and most intense song on the album. On the softer side “Another Hero Lost” is more of a ballad but is very well done.

The Bad - A lot of bland parts hold back what could be a better album. “Forevermore” is a great example of this. The song opens with some amazing parts that almost sound like something off of Painkiller but then it they complete kill the flow with some mediocre parts. It’s an example of great riff writing but bad song writing. What should be a 5 star song is crammed full of 3 star parts making it only a 4 star song.

#3

Retribution - 90%

This is a solid album with a lot of good songs. The first half album is especially good. It seems like they put most of the better songs on the front half. This album came out after a lot of the hype around Shadows Fall had died down which is a shame because this album it’s a great album that probably didn’t get the attention it deserved.

The Good - I gave the first five songs 5 stars along with “Embrace Annihilation”. Heavy when it needs to be memorable choruses and a good mix of thrash and melodic death influences.

The Bad - This is a solid album although the second half does seem to fall short of the first half.

#2

The Art of Balance - 95% (this rating doesn’t include the Pink Floyd cover. Although it would lower the rating, it would not change it’s position on the list.)

This album really is the first where shadows fall was able to take all their ideas and actually make some really solid songs. You can say it’s the first one where they found the balance of all the styles they were trying to combine. It is probably the most thrash sounding album but a lot of melodic death has always incorporated thrash into the sound. They have some amazing guitar interlude tracks with “Casting Shade” and “Prelude to Disaster” both of which lead into the best tracks on the album, The thrasher “Stepping Outside The Circle”, and “A Fire in Babylon” which is very melodic death sounding” Both songs are my favorite Shadows Fall songs.

The Good - As the title suggest this album manages to balance their diverse influences into a masterpiece. Incredible riffing and harmonies galore with memorable songs.

The Bad - I have no complaints. The only song I didn’t give 5 stars was “Destroyer of Scenes” which is the more hardcore sounding track. They typically have at least one per album.

#1

The War Within - 100%

This album is fantastic. Great shredding with a mix of thrashy and melodic death style riffing with catchy choruses. The solos area balance of shred and melody all delivered with incredible tone. This album refines the balance they figured out with the previous album. I remember when this album came out it was one of the most talked about albums at the time. All the praise was rightfully given.

The Good: The opening and closing tracks “The Light That Blinds” and “Those Who Cannot Speak” are among my favorite Shadows Fall songs. This album is a masterpiece.

The Bad - The only thing bad about this album is that people don’t talk about it enough. There are always those few albums people praise constantly until everyone is sick of hearing it and this one deserves no less.

Bonus

Fallout From the War - 68.75%

This is technically and EP. 3/11 tracks are covers and if I include the covers in the rating doesn’t change a full percentage. This album is full of all the songs that weren’t good enough to be on The War Within. They were written at the same time and thankfully they saved them for a second release instead cramming in the songs that would have ruined a masterpiece.

The Good - Despite being leftovers this album still has some gems with “Effigy” and the cover of “Mark of the Squealer”.

The Bad - There is a whole lot of bland songs and songs that sound like subpar copies of songs that were done on The War Within.

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