The lovable Shads have always been in a league of their own. Unlike their Boston, Mass. metal peers Unearth, All That Remains, or Killswitch Enage, these guys never walked the narrow path of by-the-numbers metalcore. Since day one SHADOWS FALL were champions of a metal style long considered dead in the early 2000’s: complex, heavy-as-fuck Thrash. With a string of promising releases to their credit by 2002, they eventually succeeded in bridging the worlds of old school thrash, 80’s influences, and death metal when the mighty The Art Of Balance got everyone’s attention. Ever since peaking with 2004’s Grammy nominated The War Within the band have ditched their mother label, Century Media, and streamlined their sound, a move that garnered mixed results at best.
Now 2007’s Threads Of Life was a strong album, but it didn’t seem to win over the whole metal world, hence not so strong sales. This new Retribution however, comes covered in the grime of SHADOWS FALLs earlier albums, but still has those new fangled hooks and rock choruses. Sad to say, despite the quintet’s musical proficiency and never-say-die attitude, the material at hand falls short in gratifying our hungry ears.
For starters, there’s Mr. Bachand going on his increasingly tedious acoustic shtick with the soothing intro Path To Imminent Ruin before the heavy stuff rolls in. For the pounding, complex My Demise Brian Fair sounds gnarlier than ever and the band are in top form on this monster... yet there’s a crucial ingredient missing. Hmmm...
It’s not until the run of the mill pace of War and its rather boring follow up King Of Nothing that SHADOWS FALL get bogged down in half assed song writing. Worse, despite Jason Bittner’s ever impressive drumming plus his band’s flare for tight compositions, SHADOWS FALL are sounding like the bands they influenced rather than the innovative modern thrashers they really are. Lamb Of God’s Randy Blythe actually cameos here, but it does nothing to lift the album’s less sterling material. In a word, we got us a lame duck.
Retribution isn’t a lost cause though, because it’s saved in the end by A Public Execution and Dead And Gone. On these two scorchers SHADOWS FALL prove there’s still a spark in the quickly decomposing carcass that’s their flawed legacy. Hearing them stumble and fumble here, you’re praying for these guys to redeem themselves on the next album.