SHADOWS FALL garnered tons of attention from the underground metal scene with their first two releases, Of One Blood and The Art of Balance, as the unique musical style that they pioneered on these offerings soon evolved into the famed New Wave of American Heavy Metal sound that is so heavily renowned today worldwide. They were also widely known for their unrelenting live performances, which alongside touring with an array of diverse artists such as Candiria, Misfits, King Diamond, Glassjaw and In Flames helped them further establish their niche within the burgeoning scene. However, their biggest break would come once they were invited to take part in Ozzfest 2003. They were heralded as the breakout band of the year and consistently sold more records every week than any other side-stage band. It was here that SHADOWS FALL solidified their fan base and certifiably became the new leaders of modern metal.

This breakthrough led to them being the only band invited for a two-year stint at Japan’s Beast Feast, alongside a spot on the 4th annual Take Action Tour (alongside Avenged Sevenfold) and co-headlining billing on the first annual MTV2 Headbanger’s Ball Tour. Videos for the tracks “Thoughts Without Words,” “Destroyer of Senses” and “The Idiot Box” were greatly embraced by U.S. television programs Headbanger’s Ball (MTV2) and Uranium (Fuse); two shows that featured the band as in-studio guests on several occasions. All of this exposure enabled SHADOWS FALL to watch both their fan base and record sales explode. The Art of Balance went on to SoundScan over 100,000 copies in the U.S. becoming the first album in Century Media history to reach this illustrious milestone.

In 2004 the group released The War Within, which debuted at #20 on the Billboard Top 200 charts. This effort saw them collectively taking a step forward, evolving as a unit while also understanding the delicate balance between skill, brutality, classic metal influences and new-school characteristics. This expertly crafted album garnered accolades in such mainstream publications as Billboard, Blender, and Giant while SHADOWS FALL were also hailed as a "Band To Watch In 2005" by Rolling Stone, Spin and Stuff magazine. The War Within also spawned two commercial rock anthems “Inspiration On Demand” and “What Drives The Weak,” the latter which was also nominated for a Grammy in the "Best Metal Performance" category alongside such acclaimed artists as Slipknot, Mudvayne, Rammstein, and Ministry. The stellar guitar work of Matt Bachand and Jon Donais landed the dynamic duo a monthly column in Guitar World, whose readers voted them Best New Talent in 2004’s poll. They also ranked in the publication’s coveted Top 100 Guitarists of All Time lists. Donais is also one of the few coveted Washburn artists to land his own signature series. Paul Romanko recently landed his own monthly column in Bass Guitar as Jason Bittner scored similar accolades in Modern Drummer winning an impressive three reader's poll awards over the last two years including Best Metal Drummer and Best Recorded Performance for The War Within. He is also set to be the cover feature for the June 2006 issue of DRUM! magazine.

The group immediately hit the road on a co-headlining run with Damageplan and The Haunted leading them into the massive Slipknot arena tour that following spring. This was followed up by a main stage performance on Ozzfest and their unique blend of hard rock and thrash metal was, without a doubt, the most intense form of rock that the main stage had to offer that summer. SHADOWS FALL were not only the first band of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal genre to achieve main stage status at Ozzfest, but one of the few bands in history to make the leap from second stage to the main stage. They capped off 2005 with The Art of Touring DVD, which effectively documented the rise of one of today's most influential and dominant metal bands. This features over two hours of on-the-road antics and live performances filmed from 2002 through 2004 on The Art of Balance album touring cycle while on the road in the U.S., Europe and Japan.

SHADOWS FALL went back into the studio in early 2006 and emerged with some of their most aggressive material yet. The brand new release’s sessions were again fully produced and mixed by long-time friend, Zeuss (Hatebreed, God Forbid), at Planet Z Studios in the band’s home state of Massachusetts. Each of the album’s tracks is a must-have for the band’s dedicated following. Brian Fair (vocals) further describes his thoughts on the new release: “We returned home from an amazing summer on Ozzfest and decided to get together to record these songs as a perfect way to close out The War Within album cycle and give our fans a chance to hear some killer new material. This album is meant to be a companion piece to The War Within. It contains six originals songs written during those sessions, newly re-recorded versions of all the B-sides that were previously unavailable in the U.S. as well as a few cover songs for good measure. The recording sessions themselves went incredibly well. We were able to realize the full potential of these songs and with the Zeuss’ help we were able craft an amazing disc with a wide variety of styles and emotions. These songs cover everything you have come to expect from us.”

This is SHADOWS FALL at its very best proving, once again, that they are the undeniable leaders of the current hard rock/metal scene.