Band:	Shadows Fall
Album:	Somber Eyes To The Sky
Style:	Melodic death metal
Release date:	November 30, 1997
Guest review by:	Boxcar Willy

01. Revel In My Loss
02. Pure
03. Lead Me Home
04. To Ashes
05. Nurture
06. Fleshold
07. Eternal
08. Suffer The Season
09. Somber Angel
10. Lifeless

Shadows Fall is a household name when it comes to modern metal, yes, that means the "cores". I find this tag to be a death sentence for most bands. Shadows Fall shows that being "core" does not mean whiney bullshit music. This is a truly good release.

Shadows Fall has gained most of their notoriety through their present vocalist, Brian Fair, who is an amazing vocalist, but one thing most people don't know is that before Brian Fair, there was another singer. Yes, back in those gnarly nineties there was another man who sang sweet, sweet metal. His name was Phil LaBonte. Yes, that name is familiar, as he's the vocalist for the Metalcore band All That Remains. Now, most of you are thinking "All That Remains? They suck, so that means the vocals, and this album, must suck." This is not true.

The nineties were a good time for Phil, he had a nice rasp to his voice. That rasp made things interesting. Along with sub-par production the vocals add a nice "underground" feeling to this album, as if it was made in Phil's Garage. This is definitely a plus, the album sounds raw and mean, which is exactly what you want.

The instrumentals are just as good as Phil's voice, with raw sounds and amazing distorted riffs, and just to make the talent more prominent, a nice acoustic instrumental track is added. The track is nicely atmospheric, with flowing water and the sounds of nature, it transports you to a heavenly place.

Overall this is an amazing album. I recommend it to anyone, even the Kvltest listeners.

Highlights- "Lifeless" "Revel In My Loss" and "Nurture"