SHADOW are coming from Japan, formed around 1993 by the bass player Yoshio Kubo. Their first self - titled album appeared eight years later via Spikefarm Records and following a DEF LEPPARD tactic in releasing albums the second one is going to be out in the streets this year. Three things are important to know about them. First one, they have an amazing instrument playing skill, all of them. Second, behind the vocals we found a lady that has one of the most brutal and hard voice I have heard, she looks able to swallow planets. Unfortunately the third is that they choose to play a horrible style close to melodic Death Metal.
Luck plays bad tricks to us. We have ARCH ENEMY, CHILDREN OF BODOM and IN FLAMES and now these ones. How more can we stand? Imagine a mix of Whoracle with a guitar playing like DRAGONFORCE including some IRON MAIDEN melodies, sometimes the solos looks like ulra Adrian Smith influenced. There is an embroilment of very melodic parts with virtuoso soloing together with very brutal vocals. I'm sorry but this looks at least gaudy for my musical taste. On the one hand it destroys their tuneful moments and on the other reduces the power of the harder face they want to show. But...
Sometimes their ideas are very, very good. In some songs, like Before True Light they walk paths close to SIGH although without having that spiritual and mad element that their compatriot have inside. Also they have ram some nice fast riffing, much better and inspired than stuff like IN FLAMES middle era, proclaiming a head - banging taste.
For these reasons I chose to give them a high rating. I mean they are thousands times better than ARCH ENEMY etc, and since there are some people who find pleasure to stuff like that I believe that these Japanese can give them something really good. They also have a cover in one of the best Metal songs ever, the Black Magic of SLAYER and when you decide to play a song like that, well that change a bit my bad impressions.