In The Art of Balance, Shadows Fall has created a modern heavy metal album that is both brutal and highly musical, traditional yet forward-thinking.
Songs like the complex "Stepping Outside the Circle" demonstrate not only crushing heaviness, but an impressive grasp on dynamics, melody, and arrangement.
Brian Fair's vocals oscillate from articulate melodicism to sheer, throat-tearing menace, while Jonathan Donais' guitar work combines pounding, metallic crunch with careful virtuosity.
Amidst the full-throttle rockers that make up the bulk of the album are a couple of short instrumentals ("Casting Shade," "Prelude to Disaster") that offer a few well-placed moments of quiet atmosphere.
The cover of Pink Floyd's "Welcome to the Machine," placed at the end of the disc, is stylishly well-executed, but seems a tad out of place nonetheless.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Idle HandsBrian Fair, Shadows Fall | Shadows Fall | Play | 03:34 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 2 | Thoughts Without WordsBrian Fair, Shadows Fall | Shadows Fall | Play | 04:31 | 10 MB | 34 MB |
| 3 | Destroyer of SensesBrian Fair, Shadows Fall | Shadows Fall | Play | 02:55 | 6 MB | 21 MB |
| 4 | Stepping Outside the CircleBrian Fair, Shadows Fall | Shadows Fall | Play | 05:25 | 12 MB | 41 MB |
| 5 | The Art of BalanceBrian Fair, Shadows Fall | Shadows Fall | Play | 04:46 | 10 MB | 34 MB |
| 6 | A Fire in BabylonBrian Fair, Shadows Fall | Shadows Fall | Play | 07:30 | 17 MB | 56 MB |
| 7 | Welcome to the MachineRoger Waters | Shadows Fall | Play | 05:05 | 11 MB | 37 MB |
| 8 | Mystery Of One Spirit | Shadows Fal | Play | 05:10 | 11 MB | 40 MB |
| 39 mins | 89 MB | |||||
| 39 mins | 294 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matthew Bachand | Guitar |
| 2 | Chris Bartlett | Vocals |
| 3 | Jason Bittner | Drums |
| 4 | Alan Douches | Mastering |
| 5 | Danny Egan | Vocals |
| 6 | Brian Fair | Composer, Vocals |
| 7 | Paul Romanko | Bass |
| 8 | Shadows Fall | Composer, Primary Artist |
| 9 | Roger Waters | Composer |
| 10 | Jim Weeks | Drums, Producer |
| 11 | Zeuss | Engineer, Mixing, Producer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |