American metal mainstays Shadows Fall made a lasting impact on the landscape of heavy music in the pivotal early 2000's, with enduring albums like 2002's The Art of Balance and 2004's The War Within.
To mark the 20th anniversary of their fourth studio album, the band has announced plans for a full album play of The War Within on March 16th, 2024 at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ - a venue that has important ties to the history of the band.
The news of the anniversary performance also marks the band's first New Jersey set in more than a decade.
Shadows Fall vocalist Brain Fair reflected on the album and the moment in time the project captured, vaulting the band to new heights in heavy music. "20 years… cannot believe it will 20 years since Shadows Fall dropped The War Within on the world, "said Fair.
"This record changed my entire life and took me around the world. We had been surprised by the success of The Art Of Balance and definitely felt a little pressure to take things to another level, but we did not allow that pressure to change our vision of the band we wanted to be. Our goal was to allow all of our influences shine through while pushing metal into a new direction, creating the music we had always wanted to hear ourselves."
Fair further explained how the album ushered in important milestones for the band and huge career firsts. "The War Within may be the closest we have come to achieving these goals and that hard work and vision allowed us to get on our first arena tour, our first Grammy nomination, and countless other firsts along the way. Since this is an important birthday for the album, we wanted to play a special set to celebrate The War Within in its entirety, every track, some of which has rarely been played live."
As for the Jersey connection, Fair explained how the The Starland has been linked to the story of the band. "New Jersey has always had some of the craziest crowds we have ever played to so doing this show at The Starland Ballroom seemed like the perfect choice! Dirty Jersey has always felt like a home away from home to us and we have had so many full-on parties on that stage. We cannot wait to party there again! Start stretching now and get ready to come out of mosh retirement so we can give The War Within the birthday rager it deserves."
Shadows Fall also recently revealed they are working with famed producer Zeuss on their first new showing of music since 2012's Fire From the Sky. Stay tuned.
Tickets for the 20th anniversary of The War Within go on sale November 3 at 12pm ET. Get tickets - HERE
