Fallout from the War is a compilation album by heavy metal band Shadows Fall, released on June 13, 2006. It contains a selection of songs written during the sessions for The War Within and The Art of Balance, as well as some covers by bands that have inspired Shadows Fall over the years. Fallout from the War is billed as a "companion" to The War Within. It was their final release for Century Media before moving to Atlantic Records.

Fallout from the War
Compilation album by
ReleasedJune 13, 2006
Recorded2006 at Planet Z Studios in Hadley, Massachusetts
GenreMetalcore, thrash metal, death metal[1]
Length41:55
LabelCentury Media
ProducerChris "Zeuss" Harris, Shadows Fall
Shadows Fall chronology
The War Within
(2004)
Fallout from the War
(2006)
Threads of Life
(2007)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com[2]
Allmusic[3]
Alternative Press[4]
Blabbermouth.net[5]

Background

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Fallout from the War is meant to be a companion piece to the band's previous release, The War Within.[6] It contains six original songs that were written during the sessions for The War Within.[7] It also contains two re-recorded tracks that had previously only been available as bonus tracks in Japan and Europe.

  • "Deadworld," a track that originally appeared on the Mourning A Dead World" (Demo), and "Deadworld EP, only released in Japan, and Fear Will Drag You Down (Europe and Australia). The version on this album is the first to feature Bittner on drums.
  • "This Is My Own," a track originally from The Art of Balance sessions. The version on this album contains some new vocal harmonies.

The album contains three covers from bands that were large influences to Shadows Fall.[6] In reference to the Only Living Witness cover, Fair says the band "was an amazing and highly underrated rock band from the Boston area." The Boston Phoenix adds that Shadows Fall, and Killswitch Engage, credit the band with "having sparked Massachusetts' now-burgeoning metalcore economy."[8] In reference to the Leeway cover, Fair states, "Leeway was the ultimate metal/hardcore crossover band with sick thrash riffs and hard-as-nails lyrics."[6] The last cover track, "Teasn', Pleasn'" by Dangerous Toys, originally appeared as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of The War Within, and was also re-recorded for this release.

Reception

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Fallout from the War received mixed to positive reviews. According to Alternative Press, "Fair's vocals are as melodic as the lashing post-thrash-metal riffs that back him."[4] On a more general note, David Jeffries of Allmusic calls the album an "exciting and pleasingly loose collection of leftovers from the last album."[3] However, he also notes the causal flow of the album, stating that it seems like an odds-and-ends release. Keith Bergman of Blabbermouth compliments the band stating, "Shadows Fall are getting more melodic and accessible, yes, but that they're doing it in an organic fashion — there's still a lot of thrash oozing out of the pores of these metalheads, and their organic, old-school-informed take on metalcore has so far managed to avoid most of that cloying buzzword's limitations."[5]

Track listing

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All lyrics are written by Brian Fair, except where noted; all music is composed by Shadows Fall, except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."In Effigy" 3:24
2."Will to Rebuild" 3:06
3."Haunting Me Endlessly" 3:43
4."Seize the Calm" 2:54
5."Carpal Tunnel" 3:53
6."Going, Going, Gone" 3:08
7."Deadworld" (re-recorded version)Damien McPherson, Jonathan Donais, Matt Bachand, Paul Romanko, David Germain4:52
8."This Is My Own" (The Art of Balance b-side) 4:47
9."December" (Only Living Witness cover)Jonah Jenkins, Kevin Stevenson, Craig Silverman, Roy Costa, Eric Stevenson5:07
10."Mark of the Squealer" (Leeway cover)Eddie Sutton3:39
11."Teasn', Pleasn'" (Dangerous Toys cover; featuring Jason McMaster)Jason McMaster, Tim Trembley3:16

Personnel

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References

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  1. ^ "Shadows Fall - Of One Blood Album Review". AllMusic. Retrieved September 29, 2002.
  2. ^ Bowar, Chad. "Shadows Fall - Fallout From The War". About.com. Archived from the original on April 24, 2008. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
  3. ^ a b Jeffries, David. "Fallout from the War - Shadows Fall". Allmusic. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
  4. ^ a b Alternative Press. p.210.
  5. ^ a b Bergman, Keith. "Shadows Fall - Fallout from the War (Century Media)". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved May 11, 2012.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ a b c "Shadows Fall Unveil Fallout from the War Cover Art, Release Date and Track Listing". Century Media. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  7. ^ "Shadows Fall in June". antiMusic. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  8. ^ "Mp3 exclusives: Only Living Witness and Shadows Fall". The Phoenix. Retrieved May 12, 2012.