Music from Shadows Fall's early days can be compared to metal legends such as Metallica, Slayer, and Iron Maiden as their songs relied heavily on the start-stop tempo changes made famous by the aforementioned bands. The band also had a lot of death metal influences at the time. They began touring the New England area and eventually were able to obtain open slots for acclaimed metal bands such as Fear Factory and Cannibal Corpse. In 1997, the band released its first full length album, Somber Eyes to the Sky, on Matt Bachand's own Lifeless Records. This however, would be the only album the band would record with Labonte. He was replaced by current vocalist Brian Fair in 1998.
The band signed with the prominent underground metal record label, Century Media in 1999. Early during the following year, Shadows Fall released Of One Blood. Their sound was a still mixture of thrash, death metal, and hardcore with a little more hard rock influence thrown in due to the entry of the Brian Fair. Shadows Fall released their critically acclaimed album The Art of Balance in the year 2002 after going through another lineup change, this time replacing drummer David Germain with present drummer Jason Bittner.
The band really broke through when it acquired a slot on Ozzfest's second stage in 2003. The band's fanbase grew largely while touring the famed metal festival. As a result of the enlarged fanbase, their next effort, The War Within, released in 2004 broke in at #20 on the Billboard Top 200 and went on to sell over 300,000 copies. The band released a collection on B-sides, covers, and reworked tracks entitled Fallout from the War in 2006.
Shadows Fall, now more than a decade old as a band, signed to Atlantic Records and released their major label debut, Threads of Life, in 2007. The album, an all-out thrasher with beautiful acoustic passages littered here and there, erased any doubts that this band would fall by the way side under major label pressure.
The band released it's sixth full length album, titled Retribution on September 15, 2009 on the the band's own label, Everblack Industries through Warner Bros. The band continues with it's melodic thrash influenced attack here, again utilizing vocals from multiple members and the harmonized leads along with thrashy rhythm guitar work.
Shadows Fall released their seventh full length album, titled Fire From The Sky on May 15, 2012 through Razor & Tie. The Fire From The Sky Songfacts states that though not a concept record, a doomsday theme does link the songs together. The band moved in a bit heavier direction for this album when compared to their most recent work.
Still I Rise
Shadows Fall Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And look within
Our greatest gift
Is the life we are given
This is the price you pay
For throwing your whole life away
When your world is just a lie
Still I rise!
From the ashes
Look Inside
Search for meaning
Truth cannot survive
I feel the hate inside you
I watch it burn
You heard the warnings
But you, you never learned
This is the price you pay
For throwing your whole life away
How can you know yourself
When your world is just a lie
Still I rise!
From the ashes
Look inside
Search for meaning
Truth will not survive
Watch it burn
The hate inside you
No return
Ignore the warning signs
The lyrics of the song "Still I Rise" by Shadows Fall provide a message of introspection and self-discovery. The song urges us to stop looking outside ourselves for answers and search within. The opening lines "Stop searching the sky for answers And look within" encourages the listener to look inward to find the answers they're looking for.
The lyrics discuss the importance of recognizing the value of our life, and that it's our greatest gift. The lines "Our greatest gift Is the life we are given" reminds us to appreciate our life and not to take it for granted.
The chorus "Still I rise! From the ashes, Look inside, Search for meaning, Truth cannot survive" is a call to action for all listeners to rise above their challenges and search for meaning even if it's painful. It signifies hope and encourages us that despite adversity, we should persevere to find ourselves.
Further, the lines, "I feel the hate inside you, I watch it burn, You heard the warnings, But you, you never learned," criticize people who ignore their inner voice, warnings, and advice from others. We're all prone to hate and anger, but it's important to reflect on it and let go of negative emotions.
Overall, the song's lyrics are powerful, urging us to look inside ourselves, find our purpose and meaning in life, and rise above the negativity.
Line by Line Meaning
Stop searching the sky for answers
Don't look for answers outside, look within yourself
And look within
Look inside yourself for answers
Our greatest gift
Life is a precious gift
Is the life we are given
Our life is a meaningful gift
This is the price you pay
There are consequences for your actions
For throwing your whole life away
Wasting your life has a high cost
How can you know yourself
You can't truly know yourself
When your world is just a lie
If you live in a world of deceit and falsehoods
Still I rise!
Even if everything seems lost, I will keep going
From the ashes
Rebuilding from the ruins
Look Inside
Reflect and find strength in yourself
Search for meaning
Find purpose in your life
Truth cannot survive
Lies and deceit will eventually be exposed
I feel the hate inside you
I sense the anger and negativity you harbor
I watch it burn
I observe it consuming you
You heard the warnings
You were warned beforehand
But you, you never learned
But you ignored them and didn't learn from your mistakes
Watch it burn
Let it go up in flames
The hate inside you
The anger and negativity within you
No return
No going back
Ignore the warning signs
Choosing to ignore important signs and messages
Contributed by Annabelle P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Leroy Jenkins
This band should have been so much bigger. They had it all. Heavy riffs, excellent solos, the bass and drums were awesome. Great vocals and vocal harmonies. If I remember correctly, Brian Fair did lead vocals but just about everyone else in the band sang backups and harmonies too. They were smart. As soon as they were able to, they built their own studio with the money they earned and produced their own records. That way they were able to use the record company for distribution and they got to keep the bulk of their money from record sales and touring. I don’t know what happened. They didn’t seem to break up. They never had a public and messy falling out. I never heard the band members talk badly about the others. There was never any talk of substance abuse problems. They just stopped making records. Maybe they figured they made enough money and didn’t need to keep going. I don’t know... I miss them. They made some great music.
MONSTERACE GAMING
The singer went to rise against who is still tight but he was bad ass with shadow. I heard they got rid of him and he went on to rise against and they dissapeared not sure though
Ethan Mcguinn
@MONSTERACE GAMING No he didn't lol. Tim McIlrath has always been the vocalist of Rise Against. Brian was never with them.
MONSTERACE GAMING
@Ethan Mcguinn look up shadows falls that's him bro no doubt about it with long hair
logan wolf
I heard the reason they broke up is because fans stopped showing up at their shows.
mike g.
Still not understanding how people hate this awesomeness
damag3plan
Yeh it's a shame they must be one of the most underrated metal groups in history
Joseph Johnson
How can you hate these guys?! Shadows Fall are one of the sickest bands
Elite Trader
@damag3plan lol; everybody says "This band is underrated" on literally every single band's you tube video. Such a trite and meaningless comment.
Elite Trader
Who cares.