Shadows Fall

Members: Brian Fair, Jonathan Donais, Matt Bachand, Paul Romanko, Jason Bittner

Active: 1996 - Present

HISTORY

Shadows Fall was formed in 1996 by guitarists Jonathan Donais and Matt Bachand with the help of Adam Dutkiewicz when Jon wanted to start a new band after playing with the band Aftershock to play in the first demo To Ashes. Later on, vocalist Philip Labonte, bassist Paul Romanko and new drummer David Germain joined the band, completing Shadows Fall's first line-up. The band released its debut album in 1997 titled Somber Eyes to the Sky on Lifeless Records ? the label of Matt Bachand. The record garnered the band considerable attention in the Massachusetts area, which led them to a record deal with Californian independent metal label, Century Media Records.

The band's second album, 2000's Of One Blood, featured Brian Fair, formerly of Overcast, on vocals. The band embarked on a worldwide tour with a wide range of artists, including the Misfits, King Diamond and In Flames.

The band's third album, The Art of Balance was released on September 17, 2002. Buoyed by a new rhythm section headed by new drummer Jason Bittner, the album was inspired by the quest to find a perfect "balance" between melody and aggression.

In 2003, Shadows Fall was invited to play on the world-famous Ozzfest tour. They were considered one of the best new bands on the tour and sold more albums every stop than any other side-stage band. Several prestigious tours followed, including Japan's "Beast Fest" and MTV2's Headbanger's Ball tour with such bands as Killswitch Engage and Lamb of God. Shadows Fall released three music videos, "Thoughts Without Words", "Destoyer of Senses" and "The Idiot Box". Shadows Fall became the first band on Century Media to sell over 100,000 copies of an album. The record also boasted a cover of Pink Floyd's "Welcome to the Machine".

The band's fourth album, The War Within, was released on September 21, 2004. The record, which was accompanied by music videos for the tracks "The Power of I and I", "What Drives the Weak", "Inspiration on Demand" and "Enlightened By the Cold", soon reached number one on the Billboard Independent Albums chart, and has sold approximately 300,000 copies so far in the United States.

Shadows Fall were named one of Alternative Press' "Top Five Bands in Metal Today", voted "Best New Talent" by readers of Revolver Magazine and received the "Golden God Award" for Best Underground Act at the Metal Hammer Awards. The band's two guitarists wrote a monthly column in Guitar World Magazine, and also ranked one of the magazine's "Top 100 Guitarists of All Time". Drummer Jason Bittner was praised as the "#1 Up and Coming Drummer" in a 2004 reader's poll for Modern Drummer Magazine.

In November of 2005, Shadows Fall released their first DVD, The Art of Touring. The DVD features live concert and backstage footage, as well as six music videos.

Currently, the band is working up on the follow-up to The War Within, entitled Threads of Life. Threads of Life will be the first to come out on their new North American label Atlantic Records. It is scheduled to be released in March of 2007. They recently signed a worldwide deal with Roadrunner Records to distribute the new record internationally. The band has released their final CD for Century Media on June 13, 2006 entitled Fallout from the War. The band had to cancel their fall tour with Killswitch Engage and Bury Your Dead due to the recording of the new album.

The band has also recorded a song for WWE wrestler Rob Van Dam titled "Fury of the Storm", which was released on the WWE Wreckless Intent CD. Their good friends, Killswitch Engage, also worked on the CD with WWE PPV Judgment Day 2006's theme, "This Fire Burns."

Their song "The Light That Blinds" appears as a bonus track in the video game Guitar Hero II.

ALBUMS & EP'S

1998 - To Ashes

1998 - Somber Eyes to the Sky

2000 - Of One Blood

2001 - Deadworld EP

2002 - The Art of Balance

2004 - The War Within

2006 - Fallout from the War

2007 - Threads of Life (up-coming)