Customer Reviews

Shadows

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Shadows is the 1996 debut album from Chicago metal band Stonehenge. The band played a style of metal that seemed to walk a fine line between doom and alternative metal. It's heavy, Sabbath-inspired stuff, but there are some similarities to Pantera and maybe Soundgarden as well.

I have to give the band credit for sticking to their metal guns when metal was decidedly unpopular. That said; I have a hard time getting into this album. I like the overall heaviness, and the lyrics are pretty well-written, but there's not much in the way of melody and the album starts to get a little monotonous about halfway through. Some guitar hooks, breakdowns or anything to pick up the pace a little would have gone a long way.

Unless you are already familiar with the band or followed the Chicago metal scene in the late 90's, I can't really recommend Shadows. It's a decent enough album, but doesn't really stand out or hold up well now that the 90's are (thankfully) gone.

Rebel Radio's Scott Davidson plays drums for this band and I met the guy at Gothicfest 2005 when I was being interviewed by Gashley Darcane. I was given my copy by the former room mate, but if I wasn't given my copy I would went out and bought it. It is a hard to find CD these days but it is one of those that's been out a few years too. Scott was responsible for putting the show that VOIVOD did in June 1996 up in Streamwood, Illinois, that I was lucky enough to meet them. I am blown away at how strong of a band his own band is, and you want to listen to something cool this is it.

He's one of the most down to earth guys I know personally and he's sponsoring the event I am signing at in October so I have to do a review of this one. Vocally you will think the Tony Martin era Black Sabbath when listening to the CD and the opening track alone will bring to mind some of the bands that he grew up on. Downright heavy stuff with melodic vocals, smart lyrics too with a real imagination behind them -- the lyrics will read like a short story when looking at it all together.

Between Novembers Doom, Trouble, Empyrean Sky and Stonehenge -- Big Chicago will remind why heavy metal is alive and well here. I've been editing my anthology while this CD is in the player. Scott is true the metal scene here, and the heavy metal scene loves him here because of his contributions to both heavy metal radio and this CD.

This album is now eleven years old but it holds up well against a lot of these newer bands. Stonehenge came out with this album during the time when heavy metal bands wanted to sound like Korn or Limp Bizkit (not blasting KoRn here, but every metalhead in Chicago knows that Limp Bizkit is a running joke in the area because of the lemon being pitched high speed at Fred Durst. Hitting him right between his family jewels too.)

So hearing this album, it takes people back to the way heavy metal should sound. This is Metal the way Chicago remembers metal. And being from Chicago, Illinois, I appreciate this kind of metal.

This album is full of well written thought provacotive lyrics. The sound that they achieve here is very dreamy and dark, the overtones just wisk you away. I recommend it!