Album Review: Shadows Fall - Fallout From The War (2006) A-

Sounds Like: Testament

Shadows Fall, after the immense success of 2004's The War Within, is leaving indie Century Media records for the major label confines of Atlantic. The do however, owe CM one more record. So when word got out Shadows Fall were releasing Fallout From The War, a collection of rarities, newly recorded versions of older songs, and covers, I immediately expected this to be a throwaway exercise at worst, (Anthrax's) Attack Of The Killer B's at best.

But instead, Fallout From The War is a fantastic record, an excellent addendum to The War Within. There's not a weak track here, even a Dangerous Toys cover holds up well. The new/old songs and rarities roar with thrash metal life and are definitely not the filler one might expect. The band puts it's own stamp on the covers, you'd be hard-pressed to guess they're covers (Dangerous Toys aside). Production, as expected, is excellent.

An impressive effort and a nice way to keep the masses satisfied while Shadows Fall works on becoming the next big thing.