The Art of Balance

A decade after thrash’s commercial peak (and subsequent fall from commercial grace), these Massachusetts metalheads brought it roaring back in style. With a little extra, of course. Shadows Fall’s third album perfected the template for the metalcore/New Wave of American Heavy Metal sound. Combining their influences — death metal (both Floridian and Swedish), hardcore, the aforementioned thrash — they reestablished killer solos and guitar interplay as the way forward after American metal spent years wandering in a blasted post-grunge wasteland. Dynamic dreadlocked frontman Brian Fair whipped both his braids and his vocal chords into a frenzy while Jon Donais and Matt Bachand unleashed unbalanced riff assaults on certified classics like “Thoughts Without Words” and “Destroyer of Senses.”