BRIAN FAIR On Making New SHADOWS FALL Music: 'It's Been A Blast'

During a recent episode of "Drinks With Johnny", the Internet TV show hosted by AVENGED SEVENFOLD bassist Johnny Christ, SHADOWS FALL frontman Brian Fair spoke about the reunited band's plans for new music. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We're pretty deep into the process. I'd say I'm kind of a slacker, but I'm really focusing on getting things as good as I can vocally because we have no agenda. We have no time frame. We have no record label pressure. We're just trying to write the best music we can. And it all kind of came about as we started jamming to do the reunion shows. And these guys have — Jon's [Donais, guitar] been playing in ANTHRAX and Jason's [Bittner, drums] been playing in OVERKILL, so their chops are still at top-notch level. But they had riffs, man. And I was, like, 'If we've got riffs and they sound like SHADOWS FALL, if we're gonna get together and jam, let's make some new music.' So I've got probably seven structured outlines pretty much nailed down. I think they have instrumentally like two or three more. They've started tracking with [producer] Zeuss [Chris Harris] already, so some of the foundation's getting laid down, which has been great, so I can demo to actual guitar tracks and drum tracks. And then we can also, if we need to rearrange, thankfully the modern technology allows for that as well."

He continued: "It's been a blast, man. It's funny, 'cause the older we've gotten, it's gotten a little more brutal, which was not a surprise, 'cause I just figured that would happen. We're, like, 'If we're gonna do it, we're gonna drop the hammer.' So it's been fun, man. I forgot how much of a riff machine Jon was. And he's just like — ideas are just flying out of him. And also in ANTHRAX, he just gets to solo in the studio. So he's just, like, 'Finally I get to write some riffs.' [Laughs]"

SHADOWS FALL, which was at the forefront of the New Wave Of American Metal scene that dominated the '00s, will celebrate the 20th anniversary of its "The War Within" album by playing a show at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey, the site of the band's many classic shows. It also marks the first time the band has performed in the Garden State in a decade. The show is set for Saturday, March 16, 2024.

In July, Bittner told the "Nothing Shocking Podcast" about SHADOWS FALL's decision to work with Zeuss again: "[Zeuss] did all of our records except for… Well, he had a hand in all of them except for [2012's] 'Fire From The Sky'… So he's always been involved with SHADOWS FALL in some way, shape or form. Once this whole reunion thing kind of morphed from being just a one-show thing, we started talking with him, 'cause he still lives two minutes away from Paul [Romanko, bass]. So, it's, like, 'All right. Well, if you guys are getting back together, what's the next step? Are we making another record?' We're, like, 'Well, we don't know.' And he was, like, 'Whatever we're doing, let's get on it.' So kind of, like, we just sort of figured, 'We don't have any money to pay you, because we don't have any money because we don't have a record label or anything.' But he was just, like, 'Well, let's just start doing this and let's do it together.' So that's pretty much where we're at right now. We're just gonna start recording some material that we have and we're gonna keep working at that as the year goes on."

During an appearance on a recent episode of "The Jasta Show" podcast, Fair spoke about the possibility of new music from him and his SHADOWS FALL bandmates. He said: "I will finally say there are riffs that are turning into skeletons that might become songs. Now, what happens with them, where they go, we'll see. But once we started jamming [for the recent reunion shows], we were, like, 'What's the point of doing this without writing new riffs?' And we had to make sure they were gonna sound like SHADOWS FALL; we didn't wanna come out of nowhere with something different, out of left field. But so far, they're coming together, man, and I'm stoked on what I'm hearing. So hopefully that'll continue, that'll continue on. But as far as dropping a whole record… Who knows? These days it's different anyway. Shit, we can just drop a few random singles and then see where it goes. But I'm excited that we're writing, that we're doing things. And so far what I've heard has been amazing… I haven't really committed, but we are finally getting our shit together and getting some riffs together."

Fair went on to say that SHADOWS FALL is not currently signed to any record label. "We're free and clear," he explained. "We were luckily free and clear for a while, so even our last couple of records were done kind of on our own terms."

SHADOWS FALL played its first reunion show in December 2021 at The Palladium in Worcester in the band's native Massachusetts. Fair and his bandmates also performed at Blue Ridge Rock Festival in Alton, Virginia, at the Furnace Fest in Birmingham, Alabama, and at the Milwaukee Metal Fest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Asked by host Jamey Jasta if SHADOWS FALL would be open to going out on a more extensive tour, possibly as the support act for an arena band, Fair said: "We're not averse to that. It takes a lot of logistics now, with the rest of my guys being in legendary thrash bands, like ANTHRAX and OVERKILL and whatnot. But if we can do it, we would love to. Right now, festivals have been something we can pull off. But I would love to do short tours or even a month-long tour. Or at least some long weekends where we hit each coast or do New England and then Midwest and then a West Coast thing. But we'll see. We're not saying 'no' to anything. We're gonna listen. So we'll see, if things make sense and if we can make it work."

He added: "I've been in dad mode, just working nine to five for a while, so getting back on the pirate ship is pretty enticing at this point."

SHADOWS FALL released a statement in August 2014 in which the bandmembers explained that financial difficulties made it virtually impossible for the group to continue as a full-time concern.

In August 2015, SHADOWS FALL played a few reunion shows on the U.S. East Coast, one year after completing what was being billed at the time as the band's "final" European tour.

SHADOWS FALL's latest album, "Fire From The Sky", was released in May 2012 via Razor & Tie. The CD sold around 10,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 38 on The Billboard 200 chart.