2. SHADOWS FALL @ FOX THEATRE | FRI, 11/30/12 Forming in Springfield, Massachusetts in the mid '90s, Shadows Fall began as a melodic death metal band with some roots in hardcore. But around the turn of the century, the outfit took decisive steps to escape a genre rut, and the result was 2002's The Art of Balance, which served as a bracing statement of the group's then new phase of development. While not ditching melodic leads, the core songwriting explored a deeper immersion in thrash. In 2009, the act established its own label, Everblack Industries, in time for the release of Retribution. Fire From the Sky, the group's latest effort, explores the kind of eschatological themes that are very in vogue with the date of the end of the Mayan calendar looming. But the songs are more about cutting out the dead weight in your life than about a literal end of days.
