Here is the deal with shitty vocals: they are permissible if, and only if 1) they are not the focus of the songs, 2) the music is good enough to render them inconsequential, and 3) the lyrics aren’t insufferable. The limited vocal abilities of Brian Fair (and his guitar-playing cohorts) have long been a point of contention for Shadows Fall’s potential fans, but on earlier albums such as The Art of Balance, the band wrote a rockin’ mix of modern thrash, melodeath, and metalcore which most of the time followed those three rules. However, in the years since, they’ve gotten lazy in their approach. Very, very lazy.
On Retribution, Shadows Fall break the above rules. The vocals are clearly the focus, evident by how the music adjusts to fit them, not the other way around. Almost every song has a great intro, teeming with momentum and thrash ferocity, which is subsequently brought to a halt by a mid-tempo, boring verse riff that makes way for the vocals. For example, “My Demise” begins quite nice, immediately conjuring up thoughts of the band’s more cohesive days, but then, like Debbie Downer at a college kegger, the boring and awkward shows up to kill the mood. The transitions are so ill-conceived that even if the vocals were excellent it would seem awkward and out of place. Worse, this formula is used on about 75 percent of the album.
Exacerbating these issues are terrible choruses and some truly god-awful lyrics (which of course have been described in interviews as inspired and oh-so-personal). If you’re still awake after the snoozer verses, the faux-anthemic clichés of the choruses may cause you to maim your stereo. Really, they’re that bad. Each has layered, very weak (in both oomph and quality) clean singing, and cookie-cutter lyrics. Album-closer “Dead and Gone” is one of the few that actually stays cool through the verse, making it hurt that much worse when the tepid chorus proclaims that “The whole world has come undone/But we will carry on/Until your ways are dead and gone.” Think that sounds overwrought and straight out of the emocore template? It’s nothing compared to the existence of yet another song about “rising” up above one’s problems (single “Still I Rise”). Really Shadows Fall? You’re really going to be hardcore or metalcore band number 1,385,944 to rip off Black Flag?
This isn’t to say it’s all bad, just most of it. The one real highlight is “War,” a serious thrasher which maintains its fire without getting bogged down by poor vocals or lyrics (which were actually written by Bob Marley, not Shadows Fall). It also shows off the guitar chops of Matthew Bachand and Jonathan Donais with some tasty tremolo harmonies and excellent soloing (which can be heard throughout the album, but also on albums that aren’t Retribution). Battery expert Jason Bittner is still one of the better drummers in modern American metal, but even he seems held back by the band’s sad attempt to write self-important anthems as opposed to the skull-crushing blend of their early work.
Fans of the band will likely ignore the tremendous shortcomings on Retribution and eat it up. Those in the “they were cool back in the day” camp will have the same complaints that they’ve had for the previous two or three full lengths: generic and uninspired songwriting, weak vocals which dominate the songs, and lyrics which induce more cringes than a CSI: Miami marathon. It’s been nine years since Shadows Fall burst into popularity with Of One Blood. Many of their early fans have likely grown up and moved on to music which fits their maturity. It’s long past time for Shadows Fall to do the same thing.
