With their departure from a major label’s roster in mind, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say Shadows Fall have been treated unkindly by the vagaries of the music biz. Before this album reached the indifferent masses, anyone who ever bothered to care about the band has contemplated: “What happened to these guys?”

Exiting their major label happened, that’s what. They also seem to have lost their status as concert headliners, having to share tours with the likes of Kataklysm and Five Finger Death Punch. But hey, Shadows Fall are a tough unit. They’ve endured long before they became Century Media’s biggest selling artists with 2004’s 'The War Within'. Endurance is the word for album number six and in the spirit of show-must-go-on they now present us a more ferocious opus compared to its predecessor 'Threads of Life' (2007).

Titled 'Retribution' (rather bland, don’t you think?), this thrash metal roller coaster begins with 'The Path to Imminent Ruin', an acoustic instrumental where the band’s unplugged maestro Jonathan Donais works some of his magic for a few minutes. Those intimate with Shadows Fall’s past work know the band indulge in acoustic segues to balance out their harder tracks. Well, for 'The Path to Imminent Ruin' the acoustic tenderness reminiscent of Metallica’s 'Battery' unravels across a minute and a half before the opening salvo 'My Demise' gets underway.

The first song here is a sprawling epic loaded with exquisite thrash riffs, joyous moments of utter heaviness, and the biggest guitar solo the Shads have ever undertaken. It’s a return to form of sorts, as they veer away from the streamlined tunes that cluttered 'Thread of Life' and dwell in territory first trodden on during their 'The War Within' heyday. From here, the best the album has to offer is 'Still I Rise', 'Embrace Annihilation', and the bare knuckle thrash barrage 'A Public Exection' that’s followed by the wonderful edge-of-your seat album closer 'Dead and Gone'.

Not Bad.

Rating: 8 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Miguel Miranda
01/13/2010 22:07