I waited 18 years to see Killswitch Engage live. Tonight was definitely a show for the books.
Massachusetts metalcore leaders Killswitch Engage decided that Hampton Beach needed some love and did a one-off show last week at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom alongside deathcore titans Fit For An Autopsy, Death Ray Vision, and Paradise Slaves.
Not long after sitting down with the self-titled release (M-Theory Audio) from Living Wreckage, it becomes abundantly clear that metallic, dazzling and thumping guitars take center stage.Continue reading
New England Metal supergroup Living Wreckage, featurng members of Anthrax, Shadows Fall, Act Of Defiance, Death Ray Vision, Downpour and Let Us Prey played their first show ever recently. in their stomping gorunds of Chicopee, Massachucetts at Geraldine’s. The band recently shared their first debut single and video for “Breaking Point” – and proivided fans a preview of what their stage show and eventual new music will sound like. Check out htis phgoto set from Evil Robb Photgaphy from the night.
New England Metal supergroup Living Wreckage, ft. members of Anthrax, Shadows Fall, Act Of Defiance, Death Ray Vision, Downpour and Let Us Prey have shared their first new single and video since announcing the formation of the band. Check out “Breaking Point” right now!
Having just wrapped up their European tour with Iron Maiden, Killswitch Engage have announced the rescheduled dates from their Spring 2018 tour. The band was forced to postpone a handful of dates back in late April and early May due to singer Jesse Leach undergoing vocal cord surgery. The band will play make up shows in the four markets (Sayreville, Poughkeepsie, Cleveland, and Louisville), and added new dates to the tour as well. .Direct support will come from Born of Osiris, Crowbar, and Death Ray Vision. All dates are below and go on sale on Friday, August 24. KsE recently announced their signing to Metal Blade Records, and continues to work on its next album, due in 2019.Continue reading
Recently inactive Boston metallers Shadows Fall will headline The Big Kaunha Festival in August. Taking place at Fêtemusic Hall in Providence, Rhode Island on 8/22, the bill will also feature regional acts such as End Time Illusion, Anaria, Carnivora, Oath over three stages, with many other bands yet to be announced.
The band commented on the show:
“We may add a few more shows around this date and these could possibly be the only Shadows Fall dates of the year.”
The band released a statement last August stating of the intentions of the band to take at least a long open-ended hiatus:
“Touring full time in a band these days has never been more difficult financially. When you have to ensure the future comfort of your family, difficult decisions have to be made. Another reason is the fact that our lead guitarist (Jon Donais) is now in Anthrax, which makes it hard for us to do any extensive touring with our full lineup.
“This has been a real hard decision for all of us to make, but we feel at this time this is the right thing to do. We don’t hate each other, we’re not bitter,;we, in fact, still have a really great time together, but the ride has slowed down and it’s time for the next chapters in our lives, whatever that may be.
“For the past decade and a half, we have been able to create the music we have always wanted to hear and share it with music fans everywhere. That being said, you still may see us at a festival or two over the next few years… If they ask, we will come!”
In addition to Donais’ work touring and recording a new Anthrax album, Brian Fair has performed with Overcast, Matt Bachand has launched a management company called Manshark Entertainment and joined Act of Defiance on bass, and Jason Bittner has joined Flotsam And Jetsam. Shadows Fall’s last album release was 2012’s Fire From The Sky on the Razor & Tie label
Brian Fair (Shadows Fall, Overcast, Death Ray Vision, Downpour, Transient) appeared on The Jasta Show featuring Jamey Jasta (Hatebreed, Jasta, Kingdom of Sorrow). He speaks about his history with the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival, the state of Shadows Fall, where he stands today and being a dad.
Long running New Wave of American Metal Act Shadows Fall have announced that their upcoming fall tours of Europe and a soon to be announced USA run of dates will be their last for the foreseeable future, and the band will “take a hiatus”. They begin a tour of Europe later this week with “Hell On Earth” trek, which also features Unearth, The Acacia Strain and War Of Ages, will begin in Frankfurt, Germany on August 29 and run until September 14.
The band has released a statement
“Touring full time in a band these days has never been more difficult financially. When you have to ensure the future comfort of your family, difficult decisions have to be made. Another reason is the fact that our lead guitarist (Jon Donais) is now in Anthrax, which makes it hard for us to do any extensive touring with our full lineup. Due to his obligations with Anthrax, he will not be able to join us on this European tour. Felipe Roa (Acaro) will once again fill Jon’s position and we are thankful to him for joining us on this run. Also returning for this tour is original bassist Paul Romanko, who has sat out from touring for the last two years to raise his son.
“This has been a real hard decision for all of us to make, but we feel at this time this is the right thing to do. We don’t hate each other, we’re not bitter, we, in fact, still have a really great time together, but the ride has slowed down and it’s time for the next chapters in our lives, whatever that may be.
“We can’t thank the fans that have supported Shadows Fall since the beginning enough. Without you, none of this would have been possible.
“For the past decade and a half, we have been able to create the music we have always wanted to hear and share it with music fans everywhere. That being said, you still may see us at a festival or two over the next few years… If they ask, we will come! In the meantime, please check out the dates for the last European go-around and we will see you out there!”
Shadows Fall came out of a burgeoning scene in Massachusetts playing a combination of thrash, hardcore, and melodic death metal influences coalescing into the form of American Metalcore. Although they shared many early shows with the likes of Unearth and Diecast locally, they moved on to become one of the most prominent bands of the NWOAM in the early 00’s along with Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage and Hatebreed. Albums such as The Art of Balance and The War Within are modern classics from the last decade.
Fancy a bit of thrash, NYHC, Boston HC, Hard rock and American (proper) punk all balled into one and spat out via 12 no-nonsense songs in 29 minutes? Then We Ain’t Leavin’ til You’re Bleedin’ (Bullet Tooth) by Death Ray Vision could well be right up your darkened alley.
Led by Shadows Fall front man Brian Fair and backed by Killswitch Engage bassist Mike D’Antonio amongst a cast of long-term brothers in arms, WALTYB has the balls and confidence of a band who know what they’re doing but are doing it with the injection of energy of people with a passion and a love for the type of music they’re producing.
Influences are worn high on the sleeve, but rather than there being one or two reference points for example ‘Over My Dead Body’ whirls by with nods to Discharge, Sick Of It All, Skid Row and Anthrax, while ‘Live Fast… Never Die’ tornados a punked up take on ‘Helpless’ (Metallica Garage Days version) and ‘Poison Was The Cure’ (Megadeth, but with the polish well and truly blowtorched off) before hitting a Pantera groove. Elsewhere Agnostic Front, Poison Idea and Terror spring to mind.
The thing is, though, this is no homage to a list of bands, or no retro-thrash/HC bandwagon jumpers, the above are just snippets of some of the influences to give you a flavour. ‘This is Progre$$’ stomps to the Boston beat, ‘Barfly’ kicks off with a rumbling bass before launching into a mid-paced thrash lesson in violence and ‘Forest (of Kegs)’ brings things to a close with an Overkill doom-intro before letting loose the old skool thrash.
Riffs, breakdowns (the mid-section of ‘Your Shallow Grave’ is massive) and mosh-sections fly by in a flurry, with each track, despite their average 2 minute length, containing 3 or 4 strong parts. Fair’s vocals are aggressively delivered, but the right side of shouting rather than screaming, and backed up with a smattering of gang-vocal choruses.
This thrash/HC mutant is nothing new or innovative but is blisteringly collated and delivered and foretells live mosh-pit carnage.
7.5/10
Steve Tovey
