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SHADOWS FALL
Fire From The Sky

Razor & Tie (2012)
Rating: 6/10

When looking back on the discography of Shadows Fall, they appear to have been regressing to the mean for the better part of a decade; two good / promising albums (1997’s Somber Eyes To The Sky and 2000’s Of One Blood), two great albums (2002’s The Art Of Balance and 2004’s The War Within) and two fairly mediocre albums (2007’s Threads Of Life and 2009’s Retribution). Interestingly, that is also the chronological order of their studio career. That leaves us with Fire From The Sky, which could be a pivotal release for the band. After their well deserved success Shadows Fall went the major label route and fell flat on their face. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the quality of their product, but it is a reflection of the rise and fall of metalcore and the bands associated / pigeonholed into said genre.

Shadows Fall’s previous album Retribution saw a hungrier, angrier band that turned back the clock a few years and went for a much more aggressive and thrashy approach, with less clean singing and more aggression. Retribution was solid and full of good intentions, but in the end it showed absolutely zero growth. Therefore, Fire From The Sky is perhaps their most important album to date. Do they want to play in bars or theaters?

Fire From The Sky immediately goes off the beaten path compared to most contemporary albums – it starts out slow. Yes, for once we’re not treated to a front-loaded album that starts out strong and then stuffs the weaker cuts towards the end. Instead, it stumbles out of the gate like a three-legged horse.

‘The Unknown’ is an okay opener, but in the end a pretty mediocre track. ‘Divide And Conquer’ is in parts reminiscent of their first two releases, and the only redeeming quality of ‘Weight Of The World’ is lead guitarist Jonathan Donais’ putting on a clinic in shred guitar. The first third or so of the album isn’t bad by any stretch; the songs just don’t go anywhere and lack that special something to catapult them to the higher level all bands strive for.

After 15 minutes we’re treated to the first really impressive tune, which also happens to be the title track. Mid-tempo, dark and heavy for the first couple of minutes and then thrashy speed metal with one of Jonathan Donais’ best solos since ‘A Fire In Babylon’. The songs that follow also feed off the momentum built up and actually make the album better the longer you stick with it.

Fire From The Sky serves quite well as a retrospective of Shadows Fall’s career. You have songs and sections that are reminiscent of the (not overly diverse) styles that they’ve employed during their career. Unfortunately, the quality of the release is also indicative of said career; a handful of great songs, a handful of “meh” ones and a few that don’t really go anywhere. Much like Retribution, good intentions can only get you so far.

Petter Carnbro

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