Shadows Fall brings metal to Augusta

AUGUSTA – Two words sum up Shadows Fall: persistence and intensity.

For six years, the five-piece heavy metal concoction from western Massachusetts has been unleashing their bone-jarring thrash rock anthems to crowds of all sizes around the globe.

One week, it’s 10,000 people packed in an arena in Japan. The next, it’s a few dozen in a soup kitchen in New Hampshire.

Size doesn’t matter. Bringing music to the masses does.

“Any way we can meet new fans, we’ll take it,” vocalist Brian Fair said recently. “Indoors, outdoors, underwater – we’ll play anywhere.”

Shadows Fall will perform (inside) the Edge in Augusta at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 31. Opening things up will be fellow metalheads Unearth, the Takeover and Chapter of Conversion.

Known for frenzied low-octave guitar riffs, rapid-fire double-bass thumps, and vocals that hover between a scream and a growl, Shadows Fall has drawn inspiration from heavy metal pioneers such as Testament, Exodus and Iron Maiden.

On the band’s recent release, “The Art of Balance,” Shadows Fall has evolved from straight metal to more dynamic songs that feature stronger melodies. The transition into variety was necessary to keep the music engaging, Fair said.

“If the music is always about full-on aggression, it kind of loses some of its intensity,” Fair said. “So we wanted to vary the attack this time.”

Interspersed with mosh-style stomps and metal epics are ballads and rock-inspired offerings. The band is even trying to work a fresh cover of Pink Floyd’s “Welcome to the Machine” into the set.

“We can do a full-on thrashing tune to open things up and slow things down a few songs later with one of the more mellow tunes,” Fair said.

And while the music maintains an ominous resonance, Fair doesn’t want it to fall into the gloom ‘n doom model of many bands of the genre. Lyrically, the music is about new exposure.

“I try to keep things personal and positive about growing up in the hardcore scene,” Fair said. “It’s about offering insights and philosophies that some hardcore fans might not hear.”

Positive echoes aside, fans of heavy music won’t miss the band’s message of high energy.

“We’re a live band and we’re going to push it as hard as we can,” Fair said. “I want to have barely enough energy to walk off the stage at the end of a night.”

This show is all ages and tickets are $10. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the show begins at 7 p.m. The Edge is located at 335 Main St. For information, call 621-6387.