Four blokes from Sheffield. Four blokes from Sheffield who play metal. Nothing original right? You would be totally wrong. Shadow Smile have dropped their insanely fantastic debut album called “Signed in Blood” and it’s a drum pounding, bass thundering, guitar thrashing and screaming vocal masterpiece. Clocking in at a tidy 36 minutes, it’s a rollercoaster of an album worth riding into the night with.
@paul_saripo)Connor, Adam, Ethan and Joe have truly brought the noise with this epic debut and after seeing them at Call of the Wild back in May, I knew they were something to watch out for. Combining so many different genres of metal, it’s hard to pin them down to one specific path but the album takes you on an epic journey.
The intro eases you into the atmosphere of the album before the title track rips into you and punches you in the face. It gives me recent Papa Roach vibes with some melodic synths thrown under the drums to give it a softer touch jarring with the screaming vocals in a beautiful blend of a grooving metal vibe into the solo. I know I’m only one song in but this reminds me a lot of the bands my dad listened to in the early 2000s. Watch the video to Signed in Blood over on YouTube now!
Hellbound Heart is a crowd pleaser dancing around the mosh pit kinda vibe. It is a very interactive song with the Whoa Ohs echoing through the chorus and I would say this is a track that would easily appeal to the masses of the mainstream audience. But without warning, the pace takes a sharp uptake and Connor is absolutely on fire with his punishing vocals. I will also just add that the drum work on this album is exceptional and I am not musical in technicality at all, I just know what I like to hear piercing my ears drums. One lyric that stood out for me towards the end of the song was “So blinded by the hate that we give ourselves”, which for me, hit a little nail on the thoughts in my head.
Once again you are snapped back into a lull with a beautiful piano piece, Vainglory et Avarice which softens the built up grit and growl of the previous songs. The atmospheric crackling of it being played over a gramophone is a beautiful touch.
@markellisphotography)But there’s not rest for the wicked right? Marching into the second half of this album with a very MyChem (especially Black Parade era) feel to the track, Before Every Fall. Yet again I can see this as a crowd pleaser and probably one of my favourites of the album so far. The high hat tingling with the thwang of the bass leading into the breakdown is just stupidly unreal! Made me exclaim “wait what?!” out loud and began chugging in my chair.
Take What You Can (Give Nothing Back) keeps the album chugging and banging before blistering into The Devil Makes Work For Idle Hands. For me this is another favourite but from a more commercialised point of view. I am very fortunate that I am able to play whatever rock takes my fancy on my radio shows, but others have to stick to what consumers will absorb. Personally I feel this track is the easiest track to gain commercial traction to play on ‘mainstream’ rock radio such as Kerrang and at a (very long) touch Planet Rock. This doesn’t take away from the fact that the song is banging and the title is just awesome.
Track 9, Soul Journey is a nice ethereal break before going into The World is in My Way. This feels more from the heart, deep into the soul and reminds me of Linkin Park’s What I’ve Done era, which for some wasn’t that great but I adored it. Big points from me boys! Clocking in at just under 5 minutes, this is a very beautiful and emotionally charged track that pulls you into your inner feelings. I can definitely imagine a walk in the pouring rain through a dimly lit forest with fog fluttering around the ground.
Then a stonker to finish the album, Suck the World Dry, which cleanly through talk of fire and flames brings this brutal yet gentle journey to a close with a bouncy chorus and shouts of “hey” rumbling throughout. The guitar breakdown is unreal and something you could throw your head to until it rolls off. The biggest surprise is the naughty saxophone at the end. And as everyone knows, I love a naughty saxophone blasting through! Truly an epic way to close this album.
Shadow Smile have created a beautiful melted hot pot of a metal album. At first I was getting metalcore vibes, then it had a little piece of melodic metal, into a bit of heavy metal but overall just metal. There is not a specific lane that they stick to here and the saxophone just wins me over! They seem to have taken inspiration from the greats of Linkin Park, Bring Me the Horizon, early era My Chemical Romance, and later Papa Roach. That’s how I hear it anyways.
This album takes its inspiration from the Seven Deadly Sins but told from the Devil’s perspective. That is the whole concept of the album and how it can be applied to the trials and tribulations of modern day life. Signed in Blood was entirely crowdfunded and they have not disappointed. At the point of writing this review, the album has already been streamed over 30,000 times on its debut day. That’s amazing!
Purchase a physical copy of the album from their merch store – https://www.shadowsmile.world/store
The guys have a release party on Saturday 16th September at The Corporation Sheffield, a perfect night to see this album played out in its full glory. You can also catch Shadow Smile chatting to me on my new YouTube series, “In the Sewers” in a few weeks time!
The devil is pleading for your soul, did he get yours? He certainly slaughtered mine.
GlamRat 