Shadows Fall continues to rise
Shadows Fall has a couple of Grammy nominations, an Ozzfest stamp of approval, and a song in the Guitar Hero II video game - the modern equivalent of a hit single. Yet the heavy-metal quintet started nearly 15 years ago in Springfield is far from the cushy rock-star lifestyle. Drummer Jason Bittner, for example, was grabbing his lunch at a Subway sandwich shop when he checked in from Fresno at the start of Shadows Fall’s current tour.
“It’s funny, but it seems every time we make a step forward we end up having to take two steps back,’’ Bittner said.
At least that’s been the case concerning the business side of Shadows Fall, which three years ago landed a deal with Atlantic Records after a long stint on an indie label. But the majors did not know how to handle the hot metal act, and Shadows Fall left Atlantic after releasing “Threads of Life’’ in 2007. The band created its own imprint, Everblack, and last month used it to release its sixth studio album, “Retribution.’’ The band is on tour with Five Finger Death Punch and Otep, with that package due to arrive next Thursday at the House of Blues.
Musically, however, Shadows Fall has been a juggernaut ever since Overcast singer Brian Fair joined forces in 2000 with guitarists Jon Donais and Matt Bachand and bassist Paul Romanko, reconfiguring a lineup founded five years earlier. Starting with the record “Of One Blood’’ and continuing with “Art of Balance’’ (when Bittner joined the band) and “The War Within,’’ Shadows Fall has matured from its thrash origins into a dynamic combo that stitches together many influences. Consider the first four tracks on “Retribution’’: “The Path to Imminent Ruin’’ is an acoustic guitar interlude, “My Demise’’ is a crushing epic, “Still I Rise’’ is a soaring anthem, and “War’’ is a frenetic adaptation of Bob Marley’s rebel incantation.
Fair, who has perhaps metal’s longest dreadlocks, brought the “War’’ idea to the band, which previously covered Pink Floyd’s “Welcome to the Machine.’’ “I’ve just always liked the message in that song,’’ Fair said. “It’s telling people not to be afraid to be warriors. I like the anti-racist message in it, and the dichotomy of the song.’’
In the hands of Shadows Fall, the dichotomy present in railing for peace is even more pronounced. “That was the hardest song for me to play. It’s relentless,’’ Bittner said of the music the band wrote around Marley’s lyrics.
Chris “Zeuss’’ Harris, who produced “Retribution’’ and has worked on all of Shadows Fall’s records, described “Retribution’’ as “these guys growing up.’’
“Jon, Matt, and Brian made some incredible vocal harmonies,’’ Harris said. “It’s like Boston or the vocals you hear on a Def Leppard record.’’
Those vocal nuances, the band’s smart melodic sense, and Donais’s graceful guitar leads, however, do not lessen Shadows Fall’s blunt force, a sound that has long stood apart from the metal-core pack that ushered in the mid-’90s metal revival.
Bittner said that the band’s artistic identity springs from its writing process, which mandates that no song can be called done until all five members sign off.
On “Retribution’’ the writing presents a balance of challenges and triumphs. Apocalypse is thick in the mix, but so is a relentless determination. “It’s not an angry record. We’re not angry people,’’ Bittner said. “It’s dark. I think we were feeling frustrated with the world.’’
Now that Shadows Fall is running its own business dealings, the band’s tenure in the musical underground is paying off. The group knows how to run grassroots campaigns, now made easier with the proliferation of online social networks. And given its reputation as a fan favorite, Shadows Fall could broker sensible distribution deals with Warner Brothers records so “Retribution’’ could get into stores. Upon its release in mid-September, “Retribution’’ debuted at No. 35 on the Billboard album chart.
“This may be the first time we make money off of record sales,’’ Bittner said. “And if we fail, at least we know it was our fault and nobody else’s.’’
