Metal Reviews

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I thought this album was a bit more mediocre than what Shadows Fall is capable of. Not that they're amazing, but I'll listen to them every now and then and I personally think they have some good songs. I really enjoyed Threads of Life, Fallout From The War, and The War Within, but this album just didn't seem to really have any songs that were memorable.

They've seen to gone a bit speedier on this album, and lost some of the groves and breakdowns that I enjoyed in the past. It seems like a few of these bigger metalcore acts have been doing that since releasing solid albums, IMO.

83/100

The most focused album since the War Within. It's heavier than Threads of Life but more melodic. I enjoy the aggression of this album and the riffs. The melodic singing is good. The solos are a blast. Shadows Fall are not Trivium. This is beyond them. Aren't you soppose to be reviewing with an unbiased mind? You clearly don't like NWOAHM bands. As a metal album this couldn't compare to a pure melodic death metal band like Wintersun or Scar Symmetry or pure black, pure death, thrash.. ect. Retribution is too hardcore too fit any mold. As an album standing on its own, its the best slice of American Metal out there. It's got everything you want. This is not War Within. That was one of the best Modern Thrash Metal records ever. This is right close to it but not quite. Damn Kickass Metal.

What happen to these guys? They used to be the MTV2 darlings and were on the same level as Lamb of God in terms of popularity.

I dunno but I was really surprised to see them playing runner up to Five Finger Death Punch on a recent tour.

Shadows Fall used to be my favourite band and I still think Of One Blood and Art of Balance are brilliant albums, and that the War Within is a pretty good one. I didn't much like Threads of Life, but I'll still check this one out, despite Boris' unenthusiasm; I'm not expecting another Art of Balance, but as long as it's less generic than Threads of Life, I'll be happy. And hopefully they've stopped with those stupid little vocal experimentation sections which completely disrupt the flow of songs too.

I enjoy most genres of metal, including NWOAHM, when they stand out. This album is not, in my opinion, a particularly special NWOAHM album. I pointed out its merits (solos, tighter playing as a band, some heavier riffs, the better than average) and its weak points (generic vocal melodies, repetition, etc). I never compared Shadows Fall to bands like Scar Symmetry--only other American bands such as Lamb of God and Trivium. I even acknowledged that other people who are bigger fans of the band will like this more than I did. So biased? No. Simply unimpressed with this offering.

It's definitely a fair review and I think the 70/100 is even being a little nice to the album. It's very mediocre.

I think they got slower. Aren't breakdowns soppose to slow songs down?

Breakdowns break songs down. Pretty self-explanatory. I love it when a fast intense song lets you breathe for a few seconds before bashing your face in with a groovy breakdown.

I was just using those melodic death metal bands as an example because in the review you wrote that you enjoyed the In Flames-like melodies of With One Blood as oppose to the straight Thrash oriented attack of later Shadows Fall albums.

Yes?

I'm just asking because on Retribution they slow down on every song. I relistened to older Shadows Fall yesterday. You are right about the groves but I still think the new album is slower than the old ones. The old ones had more thrash. Even the groves and the so-called breakdowns are fast.

You're probably right, I only gave the album a once through and I remember there were some faster tracks. Maybe not the whole album. >_>

This is actually a pretty solid album, I gave it another chance here just recently. I take back my initial comments. A solid album for sure, but nothing amazing. I think the 70/100 is about 5 points short, but that's pretty trivial.

For whatever reason I enjoy the newer Shadows Fall more than the older stuff. Threads of Life and Fallout are probably some of my favorites by them.