This has been a big time for the band THE SHAPE. They are celebrating 15 years as a band as well as the return of founding member CHRIS CARLINO, a new line up and on top of all that a brand new album titled "The Age Of Doom And Fear". Each member of the band has a variety of influences all over the spectrum of metal music and their own playing style. With over 600 shows, 6 albums and an E.P within their 15 years they are a growing force to be reckoned with. Their sound is a blend of their love of horror, psychology and philosophy with all sorts of metal genres in the mix.

The album opens with the intro track "The Citadel". We hear a chanting crowd over a distorted beat and sirens. As an intro track it gives you a sense of the impending chaos that is to come as we then get launched into the first track "Doctor Plague". With bending guitar notes and a deep voice we are lured in as the band explodes in. Some epic sounding lead guitar lines then help lead the way. Some double bass pedal going on the drums and a killer rhythm section just pound away here. There is a bit of range with the vocals as he switches between harsh to clean with ease. There is a great middle section with some dueling guitars and this is a great way to kick things off on this album.

The track "Party For The End Of The World" has this real rocking riff right from the start which has a really nice groove to it. This is a tune that you just got to bang your head to. This is a really fun song with its lyrics that just gets you moving. A break down hits with some shredding guitar solos to add. Then brought back to the action to lead us out. After that one we got "Sifting Through Ash" which opens with a real metalcore style riff with a nice groove to it. The song starts to  build to a chorus which is a little melodic. The middle section here will get a pit going for sure. We then jump back to that pre-chorus build with a lead guitar line being added to the final chorus to give it more weight as the song comes to a close.

Next up then is "Cities Of Ghosts" which opens with a melodic style riff with the drums helping to build it up. The vocals here have some emotion to them and the pace of the song starts to change a bit. We then get this big sounding chorus that you can sing along with. There are plenty of really cool guitar lines here. There are some guitar harmonies which leads to an epic sounding solo. We then get one last chorus which is great. Easily one of the best songs on the whole album. The track "Rigor Mortis" has this acoustic melody which leads into an evil sounding guitar melody. A huge riff then stomps along with the drums and lots of old school vibes a really cool part with some alternate picking with some double bass on the drums that just really hits. Lots of head banging moments too and this is a fun song with lots of sinister vibes going on.

We get the title track "In Age Of Doom And Fear". Right from the start this song commands attention with its riffs as the song thunders along. There are lots of sections here that all sound different from each other but it also all fits too. There are some nice lead guitar lines in parts and when you think this track is over more riffs then kick in and the song transports elsewhere for some metal madness as the tune then fades out. We come to the final song with "Drag Me To Hell". This one opens with a piano melody which is slightly beautiful with an epic feel. The guitar then copies that melody as the band comes in. You can hear that this song is going to be huge as it so of has this anthem feel to it. There are lots of emotion in the vocals here and some really cool riffs going on. The double bass on the drums with those death growls really nailed it. Guitar solos rip through the song. On one you can hear that the band are giving it their all and this is a great track to close out the album.

From listening to "The Age Of Doom And Fear" you can hear that there is a lot of range with the vocals going from growls to clean with ease. This is filled with killer headbanging grooves and epic sounding melodies throughout. Killer riffs with effective lyrics seems to be the sound of THE SHAPE and this album was a joy to listen to. With three guitar players you get a massive wall of sound which packs a punch. I very much enjoyed this and look forward to checking out more from this band.