Band:	Shadows Fall
Album:	The War Within
Style:	Modern thrash metal
Release date:	September 2004

01. The Light That Blinds
02. Enlightened by The Cold
03. Act Of Contrition
04. What Drives The Weak
05. Stillness
06. Inspiration On Demand
07. The Power Of I And I
08. Ghosts Of Past Failure
09. Eternity is Within
10. Those Who Can Not Speak

Oh my! This here is easily one of the best albums of the year. This makes me extremely happy as finally, a relatively 'new' band is capable of gaining my attention and producing some great music.

As most of our readers probably know, Shadows Fall is part of this whole new wave of American bands which mix the melo-death aesthetic with metalcore and hardcore, as well as a smidgen of alternative (think Killswitch Engage or Chimaira). The result is much heavier and more aggressive than the Gothenburg sound, and also contains much more attitude. Shadows Fall itself; however, sounds a lot more thrashy than other bands of this genre. You can also find a lot of Machine Head and Death influences here, and that is definitely not a bad thing. Overall, I think the band does an exceptionally good job of being both aware of the classical metal formulas as well as being able to venture into modern metal territory, and all this with great grace and no cringe-inducing moments whatsoever!

Lets face it - this band is really talented. All of the songs on the album manage to pull off the trick of being very aggressive, even brutal affairs and still contain infectious hooks, memorable leads and melodic singing. Many of the songs themselves feature rather complex arrangements and are very dynamic. This formula makes the music constantly exciting and the album great to listen to. "Enlightened By The Cold" is a great example of how to use a melodic refrain in a metal song without sounding overtly poppy and commercial, "Act Of Contrition" impresses with its many riffs and tempo changes and "The Power Of I And I" is bordering with death metal in terms of heaviness and brutality. "Ghost Of Past Failures" is the most melodic song on the album and also its highlight. The Iron Maiden-inspired lead and the catchy refrain really work. A modern-day metal anthem, if you will.

I know how many of us metal fans are skeptical of new things being released these days. I guess I was lucky to hear the latest Shadows Fall album as it completely obliterated all of my fears in this matter. Highly recommended.