Shadows Fall

Shadows Fall
Shadows Fall performing in 2007. From left to right: Matt Bachand, Paul Romanko, Jason Bittner, Brian Fair, and Jonathan Donais.
Background information
Origin	Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
Genres	Heavy metal thrash metal melodic death metal melodic metalcore progressive metal
Years active	1995–present
Labels	Century Media, Atlantic, Roadrunner, Everblack, Ferret, Spinefarm, Razor & Tie
Associated acts	Aftershock, All That Remains, Burning Human, Dead of Night, Death Ray Vision, Exhumed, Jaya the Cat, Killswitch Engage, Overcast, Transient, Anthrax
Website	shadowsfall.com
Members	Matt Bachand Jonathan Donais Paul Romanko Brian Fair Jason Bittner
Past members	David Germain Damien McPherson Mark Laliberte Philip Labonte

Shadows Fall is an American heavy metal band from Springfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1995. Although the band has experienced several line-up changes, for most of its recording career, Shadows Fall has been composed of Brian Fair (vocals), Jonathan Donais (lead guitar), Matt Bachand (rhythm guitar), Paul Romanko (bass), and Jason Bittner (drums).

Shadows Fall have released seven studio albums, two compilation albums, and two DVDs. The band's first album featured Philip Labonte (of All That Remains) on vocals, although he was soon replaced by Fair. Shadows Fall's first two studio albums featured David Germain playing drums, but in 2002, Bittner joined the band full-time. In February 2008, the band was a Grammy Award nominee in the category Best Metal Performance for the song "Redemption" off the album Threads of Life. In late 2011, the band entered the studio to begin recording their latest studio album. The album, Fire From the Sky, was released on May 15, 2012, and is the first to be produced by Adam Dutkiewicz since the band's first studio release.

Shadows Fall was formed in 1995 by guitarists Jonathan Donais and Matt Bachand, then good friends from the local music scene. Bachand had previously been a founding member of a death metal band and Donais a member of the metalcore band Aftershock. By 1996 the band had found a complete lineup with the addition of Damien McPherson (vocals), Mark Laliberte (bass), and David Germain (drums). Also in 1996, Adam Dutkiewicz performed live drums to fill in for Germain. By late 1996, the band recorded and released a demo titled Mourning a Dead World, of which only about 200 copies were produced. It consisted of the songs Lifeless, Suffer the Season, Fleshold, Forever Lost, A Souls Salvation, and Deadworld. McPherson decided to leave the band, and was replaced by Philip Labonte in 1997. Around the same time, bass guitarist Paul Romanko, formally of the hardcore band Pushbutton Warfare, was recruited as a permanent replacement for Laliberte, who had originally joined on a temporary basis. Now with a more solid lineup, the band released its first EP, To Ashes, with Dutkiewicz playing as a session drummer. The band's name, according to Bachand, comes from the title of a comic book published in the early 1990s.