Rising from the macabre crypts and misty shadows of the Chilean underground metal scene comes an act that brings listeners back to time when heavy metal was on the rise and parents feared their kids would become possessed by Satan if they listened to metal music. Shadows definitely captures the spirit and sound of bands such as Mercyful Fate, Judas Priest and Death SS by coming up with some very epic instrumental jams to accompany the extremely cinematic horror themed lyrics.
The main songwriter and diabolical mastermind behind Shadows is, John Shades, a pseudonym for Cristian Silva who is known for this work in the Chilean thrash/black metal band Apostasy. In recent years there has been a truly significant number of metal bands drawing influence from NWOBHM and classic metal of the early 80’s. A decent number of new artists have composed some unbelievably impressive sounding releases, which propels the genre forward instead of making fans feel like they are hearing blatant ripoffs that will be forgotten after just one listen. The songwriting on this debut album from Shadows is what I feel makes this album instantly stands out, because the music really hooks you from the opening of the release until the very end.
Out of the ten tracks featured on the album, I believe listeners will not be disappointed once they beginning listening to the album. The production and recording quality definitely brings these tracks to life, thus giving the album a strong dark melodic old school heavy metal edge. Some of the tracks on the album I’ve actually listened to before since they were featured on the band’s 2021 EP, “Into the Nightmare.” The opening song,”Nightstalker,” is one of those songs from the first EP which I really enjoyed and liked having as the first song on this full-length release. From the track’s eerie horror movie like intro with the haunting acoustic arrangement to the hard hitting main guitar riff that captures your attention right away, the entire composition exudes a certain amount of raw classic metal energy. The album also features a decent amount of keyboard parts as well as these wicked sounding guitar solos, so if you are a fan of Mercyful Fate then songs on this album such as, “Sacrifice” and “Forgotten Rites,” will grab your attention right away.
One area of this album that I also enjoyed and thought helped to highlight the conceptional aspects featured on this album, was John Shade’s vocal delivery along with how he arranged the chorus sections. The lyrics are truly fascinating by exploring these sinister themes, while being presented to the listener in such a clever and memorable way. Tracks like, “Maniac,” have you completely mesmerized by the chorus section, while you feverishly bang your head along to the catchy riffs. “Fullmoon,” is track that perfectly complemented the album’s spooky theme with its solemn sounding piano composition and these mournful sounding cries as if a tortured soul from beyond is crying out from the abyss. Even the final song, “Alissa,” keeps you fully engaged as the thunderous sounding instrumental compositions possess your ears and drag you into this utterly bombastic sounding heavy metal realm.
When looking back at this entire album, I feel that Shadows offered up an all around exceptional sounding release. Working with Sentient Ruin on the release of, “Out for Blood,” I do see Shadows bringing together a wide range of hard rock and metal fans, because this album conveys a plethora of great sounding heavy metal arrangements. The songs are extremely well written and I do feel that a fair amount of young bands these days spend more time trying to play fast rather than write tight and memorable pieces of music. Again, this is an album that I highly recommend checking out, especially if you are looking for that balance of heaviness and melody, as well as some ghastly sounding lyrical content to scare the people around your community.
Check out the song "Maniac" below (Album comes out May 19, 2023) :
Sentient Ruin Bandcamp:
