Twelve years, twelve long years. That’s how long it’s been since Shadows Fall, one of the most important Heavy Metal bands to come out of the late 90’s-mid 2000’s New Wave of American Heavy Metal released the last album, Fire from the Sky before ultimately going on an indefinite hiatus three years later. In the years that followed, drummer Jason Bittner had gone on to play for Flotsam and Jetsam before leaving them for Overkill, which he had just left recently. More notably, lead guitar GOD Jonathan Donais replaced Rob Caggiano as the lead guitarist for Anthrax. He made his recording debut with them with their 2016 album, For All Kings.

However, in recent years, Shadows Fall began to sporadically – and I DO mean sporadically! – play shows, primarily festival dates. I assume this was to maximize the worth of their time after being away for so long. But the demand for more grew and when the band performed The War Within in its entirety this past March, Brian Fair announced that they were in the middle of recording new material. Well, it was announced that “In the Grey”, their first new single in twelve long, agonizing years, would be released on Friday, December 6th.

Well, December 6th arrived and there’s only one thing to say after listening to the first new Shadows Fall single in twelve years:

Welcome home, boys!

“In The Grey” is EVERYTHING we ever knew and loved about Shadows Fall, all wrapped into one hard-hitting, 3:38 package. It hits you in the face instantly with Jason Bittner’s sledgehammer-esque, lightning-fast drums, before transitioning into a frantic drop-C thrash riff and Brian Fair screaming his head off. It drops the tempo for the chorus and sounds a bit like “Still I Rise” off 2009’s Retribution before making way for a pinch harmonic drenched breakdown riff. Jon, Zakk so would’ve been proud. At the 2:16 mark, you’ll hear one last syncopated riff right before Jon’s solo. There’s a subtle change there that you’d have to really pay attention to. Without getting nerdy about it, it definitely adds color and dynamics to the riff. If you play music, you’ll hear it instantly. I fucking love it.

Jon’s solo….oh that solo. It’s everything we all loved about his playing. Technical, aggressive, intense, dripping with emotion. I said he was the bastard child of Randy Rhoads and Zakk Wylde, and he demonstrated it here. And it’s short enough to leave us wanting more. After one more repeated chorus, it’s all over. At least for now. The production on “In the Grey” is fantastic. You can hear every nuance of every instrument. If Zeuss produced this (I’m betting he did) then score one for the band because NO ONE knows how Shadows Fall is supposed to sound like Zeuss does.

Let’s dissect these lyrics. If there was one thing I was looking forward to, this was it, because Brian has written some thought-provoking lyrics over the years.

“Impermanence breeds pain
All hope and light will drain
You think it’s all on you
But they feel it too…

The pressure building
The bones will crack
Relentless waves in which you drown
The heart rings hollow
And thoughts collapse
Ruthless obsession there’s no turning back”

According to Brian, the lyrics are rooted in experiencing crippling depression. And as someone who might or might not be dealing with that as I type this review up, this hits a little too hard. Let’s continue to the chorus to avoid dissecting everything.

“Hey! another day in the grey
This can’t be the only way
The light seems so far away
Hey! another day in the grey
I’m not giving up today
The light seems so far away”

What Brian also mentioned is that the song is ultimately about slowly overcoming said depression or at least making the commitment to not let it drown you. That’s not easy to do.

I love “In the Grey” and I am left with hope that whatever Shadows Fall drops next will also be as true to the legacy of this once untouchable band as this track is. Sad as I was to hear they were going on indefinite hiatus all those years ago, I dare say this was actually worth the wait. Most bands that reunite after a long absence tend to not have that fire in them. But with “In the Grey”, I sense what I sensed when I saw them in March. That’s a band fully rejuvenated. I give “In the Grey” five out of five middle fingers.