Pedigree Massachusetts Metal band SHADOWS FALL, titled after an underground comic series, have carved an enviable reputation out for themselves in a short space of time, placing them at the head of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal movement. Centred upon founder member guitarists Jonathon Donais and Matthew Bachand the act convened in the Summer of 1996. By the following year the group was up to full strength with the addition of vocalist Phil Labonte, a former guitarist with PERPETUAL DOOM, bassist Paul Romanko and drummer David Germain. Initial gigs in New England opening for visiting acts such as CANNIBAL CORPSE, HATEBREED and FEAR FACTORY served to enhance the bands live standing.

An independent album 'Somber Eyes In The Sky' arrived in 1997, released on Lifeless Records, a label owned by guitarist Matt Bachand, and was soon picked up by Genet Records in Belgium for European distribution. Touring to promote the record witnessed support gigs to SIX FEET UNDER and later OVERCAST and SHAI HULUD in 1998. Other notable gigs included slots at the Cleveland 'World Series Of Metal' event, the notorious 'Milwaukee Metalfest' and even a showing on one gig of the 'Vans Warped' package tour. However, during the Autumn of 1998 the band opted to let go Labonte fearing his vocal was placing the band too keenly into the Death Metal camp. An undaunted Labonte soon re-emerged touting his new act ALL THAT REMAINS duly signing to the Metal Blade label for the 'Behind Silence And Solitude' album.

New man at the microphone would be Brian Fair, only recently disengaged from a collapsing OVERCAST. The revised line-up cut their teeth at the 'Milwaukee Metalfest' once again and also the New Jersey 'March Metal Meltdown'. Such activity and a burgeoning standing in the scene would prompt German label Century Media to sign the band in late 1999. A prestigious headline gig would land SHADOWS FALL the honour of topping the billing for the New England 'Metal & Hardcore' festival in 2000. The band would unfortunately hit a run of bad luck on the touring front with a projected package tour with CANDIRA and MADBALL cancelled when the latter broke up. Further dates were lined up with OPETH and AMORPHIS but the band would pull out in order to concentrate on recording their Century Media debut 'Of One Blood'. SHADOWS FALL did manage to get some later gigs in with AMEN and GOD FORBID.

Germain, opting to leave citing musical differences, would play his swansong gig with the band at L'Amours club in Brooklyn on May 4th 2000.

SHADOWS FALL issued an exclusive Japanese EP entitled 'Deadworld' for JVC Records during August 22nd 2001 to coincide with their appearance at the gargantuan Yokohama 'Beast Feast' festival, alongside 29 other Metal acts including heavyweights PANTERA, SLAYER, MACHINE HEAD and SEPULTURA, on August 25th. The band put in some American club dates as a warm up to this event.

Although without an official drummer for the show, SHADOWS FALL enlisted as a stand in the percussive talents of Derek Kerswill from SEEMLESS, a longtime friend of the band. Kerswill would also feature on two new studio songs for the EP the title track and 'Stepping Outside The Circle'. Other cuts included two tracks laid down for a Boston radio show WERS and a live version of 'Of One Blood' recorded at New York's legendary CBGB's.

During December the band recruited drummer Jason Bittner, previously a member of Deathcore combo BURNING HUMAN, cult Hardcore act STIGMATA and CRISIS. The group would then act as openers for KITTIE's European 2002 tour dates. In order to promote this jaunt the 'Of One Blood' and 'Deadworld' EPs would be combined for European release billed as 'Fear Will Drag You Down'. A brand new album, 'The Art Of Balance', issued in September 2002 and including a cover of PINK FLOYD's 'Welcome to the Machine' as the concluding track, would be cut with producer Zeuss.

SHADOWS FALL would once again join headliners KITTIE and a support package of POISON THE WELL, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and HOTWIRE for a North American tour in the late summer. Meantime the band would have two tracks, 'The First Noble Truth' and 'The Mystery Of One Spirit' recorded at the Hollywood Roxy in September 2001, including on the Century Media tenth anniversary DVD release.

A new project billed as TRANSIENT emerged in January of 2003 forged by SHADOWS FALL drummer Brian Fair alongside ARISE vocalist / guitarist Tim Hayes and Scott McCooe of OVERCAST on bass. During the summer of 2003, SHADOWS FALL played the second stage at 'Ozzfest'.

SHADOWS FALL would form up part of the 'Take Action' festival tour of North America. Commencing in Minneapolis on September 11th and running through until mid October the dates would be designed to raise awareness and funding for the youth suicide prevention body The National Hopeline Network. Sharing the festival billing would be POISON THE WELL, DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, FURTHER SEEMS FOREVER, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, DEATH BY STEREO, EIGHTEEN VISIONS, SHAI HULUD, THIS DAY FORWARD, BLACK CROSS and SINCE BY MAN. The group would be back on the road in October for the five week 'Headbanger's Ball' dates alongside KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, LAMB OF GOD, UNEARTH and GOD FORBID.

Brian Fair would be operational on the club covers circuit in early 2004 as LATE NIGHT CRÜE, a MÖTLEY CRÜE tribute band also featuring UNEARTH guitarists Ken Susi and Buzz McGrath, bassist Mike D'Antonio from KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and SEEMLESS drummer Derek Kerswill.

The group scheduled time at Planet Z Studios in April to commence work on a new album and also compile a DVD with the working title of 'The Art Of Touring: Drunk And Shitty In Every City'. Both guitarist Matt Bachand and drummer Jason Bittner would make time to session on the all star DEATH tribute album ''Within The Mind - In Homage To The Musical Legacy Of Chuck Schuldiner'. The next SHADOWS FALL road trek was set to be a month's duration co-headline tour in June of 2004 with label mates KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, CHIMAIRA and GOD FORBID. European gigs that same month, branded the 'New Wave of American Heavy Metal' tour, mixed headlining shows with German gigs allied with FEAR FACTORY, EKTOMORF and CHIMAIRA as well as festival showings at the Belgian 'Graspop Metal Meeting' and German 'Pressure Fest' and 'With Full Force' events. The band would have little respite, shows throughout July and August being partnered with AS I LAY DYING, HIMSA and REMEMBERING NEVER. Tragically, the tour was overshadowed by the death of a fan, 21 year old Michael Steven Savasta, at a concert on 29th July in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The new album, 'The War Within' again produced by Zeuss, would be scheduled for September, duly selling 39,250 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at No. 20 on The Billboard 200 chart. The first pressing of 'The War Within' would be limited to 150,000 embossed digipack copies, packaged with a bonus DVD, featuring a video for 'Stepping Outside the Circle' from 'The Art of Balance', two live videos, guitar lessons with Matt Bachand and Jon Donais, a drum lesson with Jason Bittner, and a Century Media sampler. Japanese variants added an exclusive track in a cover of the DANGEROUS TOYS song 'Teasin' Pleasin'', complete with vocals from Jason McMaster.

As a continuing mark of the band's burgeoning status the September 2002 outing 'The Art Of Balance' passed the 100,000 sales mark in June. A promotional video for 'The War Within' album track 'The Power Of I And I' would be directed by Dale Resteghini.

The band, after putting in a one off support to JUDAS PRIEST at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut on August 29th, headed up September / October US dates backed by ALL THAT REMAINS, CANDIRIA and FULL BLOWN CHAOS. Live work continued on in North America as the band stepped straight onto another nationwide trek, this time allied with DAMAGEPLAN and THE HAUNTED. In October SHADOWS FALL saw their track 'Destroyer Of Senses' used in the Eidos video game 'Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes The Neighborhood.' UK shows were projected in union with FEAR FACTORY but the band pulled out due to a death in the family.

In early November TRANSIENT, the Space Rock project of Brian Fair, ex-ARISE guitarist Tim Hayes and ex-OVERCAST guitarist Scott McCooe, issued a three song demo. That same month SHADOWS FALL's 'The War Within', driven by the commercial radio success of the single, 'What Drives The Weak', passed the 100,000 sales mark in the USA.

SHADOWS FALL played San Juan, Puerto Rico in January 2005, also filming a video for the track 'Inspiration On Demand' with director Zach Merck whilst on the island. The band then put in a Seoul date in South Korea then headed up the "Extreme Dojo Volume 12" Japanese tour in early February with support from AS I LAY DYING and EVERYTIME I DIE. Australian gigs saw the guest slots going to AS I LAY DYING and PARKWAY DRIVE. The band then embarked on a major run of US arena shows dubbed the 'Subliminal Verses' tour in union with LAMB OF GOD and SLIPKNOT from March through May. The band gave themselves no respite, subsequently announcing shows partnered with CEPHALIC CARNAGE, TERROR and ZAO.

A compilation inclusion of note would be the track 'What Drives The Weak' featured on the 'Code Red' album, an exclusive collection given to US Marine Corps soldiers active duty in the Middle East. By May, 'The War Within' had surpassed the 200,000 SoundScan plateau for US sales. Jason Bittner took a brief diversion, as part of a one-off reunion of his former band STIGMATA, on November 25th at Saratoga Winners in Latham, New York. During the summer of 2005, the band played at the BLACK SABBATH headlined 'Ozzfest' on the main stage. The track 'Inspiration On Demand' gave the band a good degree of extra exposure when it was included on the soundtrack to the Bruce Hunt directed movie 'The Cave', released in August.

The 48th Grammy Awards were held on February 8th 2006 and saw SHADOWS FALL's 'What Drives the Weak', taken from 'The War Within' nominated for 'Best Metal Performance'.

SHADOWS FALL announced their 2006 season of live campaigning with US dates in March sharing stages AGNOSTIC FRONT, STILL REMAINS, and BYZANTINE. However, in mid January drummer Jason Bittner filled in for ANTHRAX's Charlie Benante for the last brace of dates on their US tour while Benante and his wife awaited the birth of their first child.

SHADOWS FALL cut three cover versions during sessions for their next album, 'Fallout From The War'. Included would be 'Mark Of The Squealer' originally by LEEWAY, at take on ONLY LIVING WITNESS' 'December' and 'Teasin' Pleasin' by DANGEROUS TOYS featuring original frontman Jason McMaster as guest. 'Fallout From The War' also contained six previously unreleased songs written during 'The War Within' sessions, previously only available as bonus songs on Japanese and European releases. The re-worked 'This Is My Own', a track from 'The Art of Balance' era, was enhanced with new vocal harmonies and re-arrangement whilst 'Deadworld', one of the band's first ever tunes, was re-recorded, being the first version to feature Jason Bittner. In side activity, guitarist Jonathan Donais guested on comedian Brian Posehn's debut stand-up album 'Live In: Nerd Rage'.

By December 2005 it was revealed the band had signed a North American distribution deal with Atlantic Records, subsequently contracting with Roadrunner Records for all territories outside the USA. The May 2006 issued 'WWE : Wreckless Intent' compilation, featuring WWE wrestling themes showcased throughout the company's 'Smackdown!', 'Raw', 'Saturday Night's Main Event' and pay per view extravaganza flagship formats, boasted the previously unreleased track 'Fury Of The Storm', a song composed for the WWE wrestler Rob Van Dam. SHADOWS FALL guitarist Matt Bachand took on a run of acoustic Folk solo shows in collaboration with songwriter Mark Schwaber in June.

SHADOWS FALL announced touring plans for the summer of 2006, kicking of the 'Sthress' tour in July alongside POISON THE WELL, IT DIES TODAY, HIMSA, DARKEST HOUR, BURY YOUR DEAD, SUFFOCATION, THROWDOWN and STILL REMAINS. The band entered Studio 606 in Northridge, California with producer Nick Raskulinecz during September to cut tracks for 'Threads Of Life'. The band was set to team up with KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and BURY YOUR DEAD for a number of US dates in November but then withdrew, a press release stating "that the intensity of their current recording sessions has made it impossible for the band to hit the concert trail".

In early 2007 Jason Bittner resurrected his mid nineties act BURNING HUMAN. The drummer also published his first book, 'Drumming out of the Shadows - The Music of Jason Bittner and Shadows Fall'. Renewing live campaigning, SHADOWS FALL, LACUNA COIL and STONE SOUR teamed up for the North American 'Jägermeister Music Tour', kicking off on March 23rd in St. Paul, Minnesota.

In 2008 the band covered ONLY LIVING WITNESS' 'December' for inclusion on the Century Media artist compilation 'Covering 20 Years Of Extremes'. This double CD set comprised Century Media acts paying home to their stable mates.