''The War Within'' is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band

Shadows Fall Shadows Fall is an American metalcore band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1996. Although Shadows Fall has experienced several line-up changes, for most of its recording career, Shadows Fall has been composed of Jon Donais (lead guitar, ...

. The album has sold over 300,000 copies worldwide. ''The War Within'' is the band's best selling album, and in 2005 made sales history on

Century Media Records Century Media Records is a heavy metal record label with offices in the United States, Germany and London. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million. Background Century Media was founded by Robert Kampf and Ol ...

when it became the label's best selling album of all time. To date, the album retains this status. The album was also issued as a limited edition digipak with an exclusive bonus DVD that featured bootleg concert footage along with drum and guitar lessons from members of the band. The album debuted at number 20 on the ''Billboard'' 200 during its release. "The War Within – Shadows Fall"

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

. Retrieved May 12, 2012.

Lyrical themes

The following is a quote from Tom Bejgrowicz, who worked closely with Brian Fair on the overarching themes and concepts portrayed by the album. He also designed the album artwork. The track "Those Who Cannot Speak" is dedicated to Brian Fair's autistic niece and nephew. Fair explained in an interview:

Critical reception

''The War Within'' received positive reception on its initial release. The album debuted at position no. 20 on the ''Billboard'' 200 — the band's highest charting album. Wade Kergan of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

noted that the album had "more in common now with the classic thrash of

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

than the metal-tinged hardcore of

Coalesce Coalesce may refer to: *Coalesce (band), a metalcore band from Kansas City, Missouri, active from 1994 to 1999, 2005– ** Coalesce discography, a list of Coalesce's albums and songs * COALESCE, an SQL function *Null coalescing operator, a binary ...

." Michael Gluck of Lambgoat commented that the album "delivers itself with a fury and honoring of eighties metal guitar and vocal harmonies." In 2005, the album was ranked number 370 in ''

Rock Hard "Rock Hard" is a single by the Beastie Boys, released by Def Jam Records on 12" in 1984. The track contains samples from the AC/DC song "Back in Black", which was used without obtaining legal permission, causing the record to be withdrawn. ...

'' magazine's book ''The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time''. The song "What Drives the Weak" received a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

nomination for the

48th Annual Grammy Awards The 48th Annual Grammy Awards took place on February 8, 2006, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning from October 1, 2004 through September 30, 2005. Irish rock band U2 we ...

Best Metal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for works (songs or albums) containing quality performances in the heavy metal music genre. The Grammy Awards is an annual ceremony, where ...

in 2006, however the award went to Slipknot for the song " Before I Forget." In a 2009

MetalSucks MetalSucks is a heavy metal music-themed news website. The site features reviews, interviews, information on latest metal releases and blog-like posts from the writers, most notably Vince Neilstein and Axl Rosenberg. History The site was fou ...

feature titled "21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century... So Far", the album was listed as number 20 based on poll data from professionals in the metal industry."#20: Shadows Fall – ''The War Within''"

. Retrieved May 12, 2012. The editors wrote, "''The Art of Balance'', their third album, was solid, but ''The War Within'' was where they really hit their stride. The dual guitars of Donais and Bachand spotlighted great solos and dual harmonies that could be appreciated by both Anthrax fans and pentatonic sweep enthusiasts."

Track listing

Personnel

;Shadows Fall *

Brian Fair Brian James Fair (born May 30, 1975) is an American musician from Massachusetts, best known as lead vocalist of the metalcore band Shadows Fall. He graduated from Milford High School in 1993, and went on to study literature at Boston Universit ...

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

*Jon Donais –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the fe ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

Matt Bachand Matt Bachand (born April 29, 1977) is an American guitarist. He has strong death metal and thrash metal influences. He is rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist for the heavy metal band Shadows Fall, and the bassist for Act of Defiance. He is k ...

–

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

, clean vocals *Paul Romanko –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

* Jason Bittner –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

;Production * Produced,

engineered Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

, and mixed by

Zeuss Christopher Harris (born April 1, 1972), known professionally as Zeuss, is an American record producer, mixer, guitarist, composer, and songwriter. Biography Zeuss is best known in the worlds of hard rock, heavy metal music, hardcore punk, and ...

and Shadows Fall *Digital editing by Rob Gil *

Mastered Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via meth ...

by Alan Douches *Cover art, art direction, design, and layout by Tom Bejgrowicz *Photography and digital manipulation by Justin Borucki *"SF" logo by Don Naylor *Themes and concepts by Brian Fair and Tom Bejgrowicz *Admiral Anger and the Gang Bang BBQ Crew – backing vocals *Produced by Zach Merck *DVD compilation by Rob Avery *"Stepping Outside the Circle" bootleg fan footage compiled and edited by Zach Merck *"Of One Blood" and "A Fire in Babylon" bootleg video produced by Denise Korycki *Guitar lessons by Nick Bowcott, produced by ''

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original art ...

'' *Drum lesson filmed by Mike Maney and Derek Bittner, produced and edited by Mike Maney, executive produced by Jason Bittner

Song usage

*The song "What Drives the Weak" was used as a track on the

Projekt Revolution Projekt Revolution was a music festival hosted by Linkin Park, bringing artists of various genres of music together. Linkin Park started Projekt Revolution in the year 2002 with just one stage. Then, in 2004, they announced the Revolution Stage ( ...

sampler CD given to members of the Linkin Park Underground. It is also featured on '' MTV2 Headbangers Ball Volume 2''. *The cover "Teasn' Pleasn'" by

Dangerous Toys Dangerous Toys is an American, Austin, Texas-based rock band, with often humorous lyrics. Founded in 1987, Dangerous Toys released four full-length albums and one live album before unofficially disbanding at the turn of the millennium. The band ...

on the Japanese edition of the album was subsequently released on the compilation album '' Fallout from the War''. *"The Light That Blinds" is featured as a bonus track on ''

Guitar Hero II ''Guitar Hero II'' is a music rhythm video game developed by Harmonix and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2 and Activision for the Xbox 360. It is the second main installment in the ''Guitar Hero'' series and is the sequel to 2005 ...

''. *"What Drives the Weak" and "The Power of I and I" are featured on the '' Final Fight: Streetwise'' soundtrack. *"The Power of I and I" is featured on the ''UFC Ultimate Beatdowns Vol. 1'' compilation CD.

Chart positions

;Album ;Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:War Within, The Shadows Fall albums 2004 albums Century Media Records albums Albums produced by Chris "Zeuss" Harris