Remember 2021? The pandemic was still raging, but something magical happened in Worcester, Massachusetts. Shadows Fall, the metal titans who’d been on a “future extensive touring hiatus” since 2014, reunited for a thunderous concert at The Palladium. And such reunion reignited a fire that couldn’t be contained.
“We’d wanted to play shows again for a while and we just wanted the time to be right.” said frontman Brian Fair in a new interview with RichardMetalFan. “And once the pandemic kind of hit, we sort of realized, like, ‘Why are we waiting around? It’s the time.’ So we were lucky that we were able to kind of get everyone’s schedules together. And it was incredible. As soon as we started jamming together again, it just felt fun, it felt right. So the shows were a blast. We really rehearsed like crazy for it. And we’re probably better prepared for that than anything we’d ever been for before that. And we also realized, like, man, we should have been practicing more when we were together. We used to hate practicing. We always were, like, ‘Ah, we tour enough. We don’t need to.’ And then after we practiced a bunch, we were, like, ‘All right. Maybe we really should have.’ But then also when we started practicing, we figured if we have ideas, why not write new music as well? If we’re gonna get together, let’s see what we’ve got. So that started leading to some new stuff. So I’m looking forward to seeing where it heads.”
And play they did. But the reunion wasn’t just about nostalgia. The band, energized by the roaring crowd and their rediscovered love for jamming, stumbled upon something unexpected: a wellspring of new music. And what a glorious noise their new material seems to be. Fair described it as “sick” and “definitely on the heavier side of Shadows Fall“.
“The material’s sick. It’s very Shadows Fall. It’s definitely on the heavier side of Shadows Fall so far. I don’t know if there’ll be some other stuff coming down as we continue writing, but I’m loving it, man. These dudes came to play. And I’ve been working on vocal demos now, so I’m trying to get everything figured out.”
The best part? The band isn’t shackled by record label pressures. They’re free to explore, experiment, and unleash their music in whatever form they choose. EP, full album, vinyl release months later – the possibilities are endless.
“We don’t have any sort of schedules or any plans that way yet. We’re just in full-scale writing mode. I’d say we’ve got six real solid songs that maybe aren’t finished yet but are getting there, and then two or three other ones that are in the skeleton stage.” Fair explained. “So, I don’t know if we’re gonna release it as a full-length, I don’t know if we’ll release a few songs here and there. That’s the beauty of not being on a record label or any of that stuff right now, is we can really kind of think of the best way to do things. It’s so different now — you could just release a few songs on an EP and then put it all out on vinyl eight months later, like whatever. We have no idea.”
“We wanna really make these songs the best we can, seeing as there’s no record company pressure. So we’re able to kind of take our time. So we’re making the most of that.” he concluded.
Reunion or a rebirth? Seems the fire of their past is igniting Shadows Fall‘s furnace of their future. They are back, and according to Fair, hungrier and heavier than ever. Are you ready for the thunder?
