With so many European bands blurring the lines between metal's genres these days, it's only natural that American acts would begin their own brand of experimentation.1999 saw bands like Nevermore and Control Denied fusing power and thrash metal in bold new albums.Now, the Northeast United States brings us a group that has come up with an even more heterogeneous blend, mixing elements of thrash, power, speed, hardcore, death and traditional metal, all in the same album.The group is Shadows Fall, and their successful Century Media debut,Of One Blood, has already earned them enough acclaim to secure a spot on a Summer 2000 tour with the legendary King Diamond.

Hailing from Massachusett's, Shadows Fall got its start in 1996 when guitarists Jonathan Donais and Matthew Bachand got together to write some songs during their spare time. They quickly realized they had material that was worth working on full-time, and enlisted the services of bassist Paul Romanko, drummer David Germain and vocalist Phil Lebonte to round out their unit.The band became a force in the underground metal scene and financed their own debut, Somber Eyes To The Sky in 1997, which garnered a surprising amount of attention for an independent release.Soon the band was performing at metal festivals around the country, but fearful that they would be pegged as a death metal act, they decided in late 1998 that Lebonte's singing was limiting their progress.Replacing him on the mike was ex-Overcast member Brian Fair.Fair's metalcore background gave him a dual capability to sing both in a death growl and a clean voice.A new dimension of melody was added to an already successful act.The band's big break came soon after in 1999, when they were signed by Century Media Records. They returned to the studio and created Of One Blood.

The range of musical styles on this album is so great that it almost defies categorization.At one moment Bachand will be slashing away with a power riff, the next Donais will be bringing the mood down with a tasteful acoustic lead.At points Germain and company will engage in devastating thrash metal, only to go into a piece of death metal with Fair growling like a wounded demon.Fair is all over the place on vocals, and it works.At times his clean voice makes him sound like the member of an MTV cocksuckers band; but the canvas he is painting on is distinctly metallic and heavy. And the professionalism of the band's musicians is impressive.

This review is credited to:
Death_Explosion