Shadows Fall Albums Ranked

Shadows Fall is an American heavy metal band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1996. Although Shadows Fall has experienced several line-up changes, for most of its recording career, Shadows Fall has been composed of Jon Donais (lead guitar, backing vocals), Matt Bachand (rhythm guitar, clean vocals), Paul Romanko (bass), Brian Fair (lead vocals), and Jason Bittner (drums). Shadows Fall has released seven studio albums, two compilation albums, and two DVDs. The band’s first album featured Philip Labonte (of All That Remains) on lead vocals; but, he was soon replaced by Fair. Shadows Fall’s first two studio albums featured David Germain playing drums; however, in 2002, Bittner joined the band full-time. In February 2008, the band was a Grammy Award nominee in the category Best Metal Performance for the song “Redemption” of the album Threads of Life. In late 2011, the band entered the studio to begin recording their latest studio album. The album, Fire From the Sky, was released on May 15, 2012, and was the first to be produced by Adam Dutkiewicz since the band’s first studio release. Shadows Fall went on an indefinite hiatus in 2014 but will reunite for their first show in over half a decade in December 2021 in their native Massachusetts. Here are all of Shadows Fall albums ranked.

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7. Of One Blood (2000)

“With new vocalist, Brian Fair, I’d say that Shadows Fall has really improved on their song writing. Songs like “Revel in my Loss” “Of One Blood” and “Crushing Belail” are some of the best on the whole album. There’s excellent guitar work on every song except “Pain glass Vision” whicth is more of a new age intro to the album. I recomend it for anyone who likes real heavy metal.”

6. Fire From The Sky (2012)

“This is one of the best metal albums I have ever listened to. The sound is unique, it doesn’t sound like the same thing over and over as so many bands seem to fall into. I worried that Shadows Fall would get less heavy over time as many bands have, but definitely not! This album will rock you hard for sure.”

5. Retribution (2009)

“One of my favorite metal band, Shadows Fall, is back with their new album Retribution. They continue keeping up their unique style. This time there is more melodic parts but no worries there still is brutal, fast parts. As usual, Brian Fair’s vocals are top-notch and goes from clean to screaming and growling. Riffs are vicious as always. Retribution is a quality album as you can expect from Shadows Fall!”

4. The Fallout From The War (2006)

“I really dug this album, sure it’s made of some misfits that they couldn’t fit on The War Within, and some of those tracks, it’s easy to see why they didn’t make the cut, however they’re still good songs. The covers at the end of the album are a real fun plus as well.”

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3. The War Within (2004)

“Very, very solid. Drumming and solos are what stands out most musically, sadly Fair’s vocals just aren’t that appealing to me. Though, they are better than before and Bachand and Donais’ melodic back-up/lead vocals are very welcome.”

2. Threads Of Life (2007)

“This album is so criminally underrated, it’s embarrassing. I’m not sure why it fell so far under the radar when it came out considering it’s one of their best releases (my personal favorite) and one of the better melodic metalcore releases ever. Maybe it’s the heavier reliance on clean vocals in this album. Maybe their record label didn’t push this the way they should’ve. Maybe it’s because it’s melodic metalcore, a genre that falls prey to unfair criticism from elitist metal fans who can’t see anything good about any genre that’s not textbook 1980’s thrash or 1990’s death metal. Whatever the reason, it’s unjustified.”

1. The Art Of Balance (2002)

“This is one of the catchiest metal records I have heard in recent times. SF inject a good amount of 80’s thrash metal into their metalcore formula and they pull it off with stunning results. Its obvious that the thing missing from the first album was the drummer Jason Bittner, he does a great job on this album. The band are in top form, musically and writing-wise here. I over listened to this when I got it and even hated it for a while, but I listen to it again and its really quiet good. The guitarists are decent at what they do, but not mind blowing. One of the more talented bands in the metalcore crop, listen and enjoy.”