One Blood

Shadows Fall | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 4, 2000)
• Original Release Date: April 4, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Century Media
• ASIN: B00004SPNV
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #238,029 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crushing debut casts shadows on the competetion, April 15, 2000

By 

"maddman7820" (Indianapolis, Indiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Blood (Audio CD)

Night approaches and the darkness creeps upon the unsuspecting denizens of the street, many of which have become lurkers themselves by virtue of the impending blackness that has enveloped them in anonymity. Then, what remnants of light remain generate shadows that fall upon the hopeless, creating eerie distortions of the figures that render prey to the Shadows fall. Pretty deep, huh? Well, that's what amazes me with just one listen to "Of One Blood" by a very promising young act from the east Coast. Shadows Fall are extremely deep, reaching into the wealth of experiences left behind by the metal powerhouses of the 80's, while adding the right amount of newer feel to create a near perfect marraige of melody and mayhem rarely seen by American bands these days. Musically, the band can riff with the same muscle as Exodus, Testament, and Slayer, while providing the same classic twin lead feel of Iron Maiden, while injecting a bit of the new Gothenburg sound ala In Flames and Gardenian ( more so than the more brutal effects of At the Gates or Soilwork). Now, genre classifications aside, let's suffice to say that Shadows Fall are without a doubt, a THRASH band, and that's just fine with me. There will be no artillery like double bass pounding nor blast beat drumming. Only the occassional gutteral vocal will retain the typical death metal stylings, but the delivery of those grunts are quite strategic in adding to the more brutal aspects of the songs. Each song utilizes different riffs and tempos to keep everything intresting and show that metal musicians are extremely talented at their chosen craft.. The changes however, are not detrimental to the overall listening experience like say Meshuggah can tend to be at times, and most of the music is structured into traditional 4/4 beats. Classic thrash drumming throughout provides solid backbone, while vocally, two distinct styles are used: the more low-end growling for heavier parts, and a cleaner, crispier singing for the more refined, melodic areas. Both styles are interwoven throughout and tend to break up the song parts, deterring the possibility of monotony that comes with only one vocal tone. And finally, the lyrics are a brave and applauded departure from much of today's extreme music. (...) In summary, "Of One Blood" is an album that is riff heavy without sounding rehashed, and chock full of expressive guitar leads and memorable melodic hooks. Solid rhythm section work is a given, and vocal delivery is uniquely created by diverse patterns and tones. The band does indeed borrow from a vast base of veteran acts from yesteryear,but who cares? Thrash will ultimately rule again thanks to bands such as Iced Earth, Nevermore, the Haunted, and now newer units as Soilwork and Shadows Fall. This band rises from the darkness and casts a menacing shadow over the huge amount of lesser talented acts that are all jockeying for position in the recent race for metal supremacy. Great things may come for Shadows Fall, and the purchase of their debut "Of One Blood" is mandatory for the serious metalhead, and will be a definite contender for release of the year! Highly recommended!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a LIVE review from Lawrence, Kansas, December 5, 2000

By 

B. Frey "Doomlord" (Prairie Village, KS USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: One Blood (Audio CD)

I never listened to Shadows Fall before, and what a show I saw last night. I started out sitting in the back of the venue when they started playing, but by the end I was right up front. WoW! I admit I still haven't bought the studio album yet, but I heard almost the whole thing live. SF is the best new band I've seen in quite some time. In this modern era of rhythm-based metal, it's refreshing to see a band actually play their guitars in a talented, thoughtful fashion. But the vocals were my highlight. It was pretty balanced among the lead and the two guitarists. Screams, melody, deep growls, harmony, back and forth. Really cool. Overall, it was a well-polished performance. The more they play together and the more they mature as musicians, I can see these guys being up there with some of the best.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Among the best thrashcore you'll find, November 10, 2005

By 

A. Stutheit "Teyad" (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Blood (Audio CD)

On their second record, Shadows Fall began to artfully blend their thrash influences with hard/metalcore. Guitarists Jonathan Donais and Matt Bachand build a wall of bullying, iron-metal riffs and careening solos while vocalist Brian Fail alternates from yelling to deep growling. Even though the guitarists dabble with acoustic guitars (on tracks one, six, and nine), and Brian is capable of singing cleanly and somewhat melodically, the dual guitar attack is explosive enough to make "Of One Blood" one of this Boston quintet's heaviest albums. Jonathan's guitar solos are not very technical, but his and Matt's nimble riffing often brings Metallica's heyday to mind. On most songs, the guitarists seem to be almost competing against each other, and the songs gain density and speed as the riffs build off one another. "Of One Blood" wastes no time getting to the thick of things: "Pain Glass Vision" is very fast, with rapid, propulsive guitar shredding. Tracks four and nine have rocketing rhythms with super speedy, almost blinding guitar noise, and "Fleshold" and "Revel In My Loss" are very catchy, with rhythmic, chugging riffs. My personal favorite song, however, is track six, "Root Bound Apollo," which has several different tempos (including an acoustic guitar breakdown), and a classical sounding solo. The only downside to "Of One Blood" is that it, initially, sounds quite thin and dated. But, fortunately, the further you listen to this album, the less you will be annoyed by the shoddy production. No matter what genre this is, it's a great album from one of the first and best modern thrash/thrashcore bands. If you enjoy the other New Wave of American Heavy Metal groups that have cropped up since Shadows Fall, you will doubtlessly like this C.D. a lot, too.