Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
I'm sad to say....but I am dissapointed, April 19, 2007
I know that this review will be followed by several saying that I am stupid and am not aware of how awesome Shadows Fall is, but I still think it is worthwhile to let other people know my opinion. I was excited for this album, Shadows Fall shows so much potential at times but this release is such a disappointment. While it isn't terrible, it just is not good. It suffers the pitfall of many metal releases, all the songs follow identical formats and never keep your interest. If you don't believe me, scan through this CD and let me know if almost all (with the exception of one or two) aren't : a kind of cool guitar intro that might lead to something cool, then drums come in with the same predictable snare on every beat,and then mediocre vocals singing some of the most lackluster vocal in recent memory.
Don't buy this album looking for some sort of blistering heavy metal experience. Don't buy this album if you want something you may replay again. If you want to buy a mediocre heavy metal album then I guess you should buy this album, but I say take a stand. Don't just buy whatever Shadows Fall puts out in front of you. The War Within was a good CD. The follow up bonus track CD was just a desperate attempt to make more money with nothing new and this CD is just a group that didn't really try and put out some music.
I'm sorry to all the die hard Shadows Fall fans, and you may enjoy this album which is great for you, but I really felt like Shadows Fall underachieved and didn't really put enough into this release. I know they could have done better.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Metal Record, April 7, 2007
I've only listened to this CD a couple of times and I do agree with the reviewers that say Fair's vocal's are a little more mainstream, but this record will give you more of what you expect from Shadows Fall; crushing rhythmns, a good dose of double bass, excellent leads. Think of The War Within without the "metalcore" vocals.
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Too Bloody Generic, May 31, 2007
The latest Shadows Fall album should come in a plain white sleeve with nothing but a bar code and the words "Contemporary '80s Thrash-Style Metal Album Mk VII" stenciled on it. I am a tremendous metal fan, and have been for years. I have been positively exuberant over the late "rebirth" of metal's popularity over the last few years, with new, exciting bands coming out of the woodwork and older, semi-retired bands making a comeback after all these years. I first read about Shadows Fall in a guitar magazine, and picked up "The Art Of Balance", which I thought was a respectable metal album, with exciting, dynamic and heavy guitar work, good songwriting and some great soloing, and decent vocals. Bonus points for an interesting and cool cover of Pink Floyd's "Welcome To The Machine".
The follow-up, "The War Within", unfortunately tried my patience, with an annoying style seemingly composed of differing rock and metal styles which never seemed to click together in a convincing way, plus positively annoying vocal work which was almost cringe-inducing. Sadly, after hearing the band's latest effort, "Threads Of Life", my patience may have finally worn out. Here we have great production values, good metal songwriting, and Brian Fair finally settling on a decent vocal style which actually sounds great (perhaps due to the good ol' studio magic). The problem for me is that this disc is the most uninteresting, just plain BLAND metal offering I've heard in years. In the new 21st century metal music environment, where so many talented bands compete for attention and have some specific facet to show you, whether it's killer chops and technical proficiency, a unique sound, or just being extremely good in a very specific sub-genre, Shadows Fall just don't seem to have much to offer. Maybe I'm being to harsh, perhaps I'm just tired of waiting for them to make "The Art Of Balance, pt 2", or whatever, but this is just the musical equivalent of vanilla pudding. I gave it an extra star because I still think this band has a lot of potential, they have simply been writing uninteresting music of late.
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