Record Exchange Boise

Reviews:

If our theory is correct, the music industry will have a "big four" of uncompromising yet palatable metal bands every 20 years or so. Of course, we can't really test this theory for another two decades, so be sure to hang onto this issue until then and we'll see who's right. For now, we're basing our theory on the four bands that stand where Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax stood in the late '80s: Mastodon, Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage and Shadows Fall. They've all done the indie-label slog (Killswitch are still on an independent), "matured" a little without going too pop/wuss for their hardcore fans, and put out big-deal albums in the latter part of 2006. Oops! Shadows Fall had their Atlantic debut Threads of Life pushed back to 2007. Will the head start from the other three mean that Shadows Fall will get lost amongst Lamb of God's monstrous, Grammy-nominated "Redneck" and Mastodon's critically-worshipped Blood Mountain, or do the masses still thirst for another Huge Metal Album? Our precognitive abilities only go so far, so we have no idea. We do know that Threads of Life will balance some measure of "maturity" (i.e., some actual singing) with big, melodic, thrashtastic riffage from guitarists Jonathan Donais and Matt Bachand, all produced with ear-bleeding clarity by Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Rush). See you in 2027!

 

If our theory is correct, the music industry will have a "big four" of uncompromising yet palatable metal bands every 20 years or so. Of course, we can't really test this theory for another two decades, so be sure to hang onto this issue until then and we'll see who's right. For now, we're basing our theory on the four bands that stand where Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax stood in the late '80s: Mastodon, Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage and Shadows Fall. They've all done the indie-label slog (Killswitch are still on an independent), "matured" a little without going too pop/wuss for their hardcore fans, and put out big-deal albums in the latter part of 2006. Oops! Shadows Fall had their Atlantic debut Threads of Life pushed back to 2007. Will the head start from the other three mean that Shadows Fall will get lost amongst Lamb of God's monstrous, Grammy-nominated "Redneck" and Mastodon's critically-worshipped Blood Mountain, or do the masses still thirst for another Huge Metal Album? Our precognitive abilities only go so far, so we have no idea. We do know that Threads of Life will balance some measure of "maturity" (i.e., some actual singing) with big, melodic, thrashtastic riffage from guitarists Jonathan Donais and Matt Bachand, all produced with ear-bleeding clarity by Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Rush). See you in 2027!