Dopo gli acerbi e poco conosciuti "Somber Eyes To The Sky" e "Of One Blood" ed il bellissimo "The Art Of Balance", gli Shadows Fall tornano con "The War Within".

Se già il terzo album aveva dimostrato i notevoli miglioramenti della band, "The War Within" è stato realizzato ancora meglio...
La musica metalcore è fusa con le varie influenze death e, soprattutto, thrash (soprattutto di Metallica e Pantera) e le composizioni mischiano bene la melodia e la potenza, risultando molto varie e godibili. Stupenda la voce di Brian Fair, che passa da growl pazzeschi a toni più melodici senza troppi problemi dando una dinamicità a tutti i brani molto interessante...difficile riscontrare un difetto, già al primo ascolto non riesci ad annoiarti.
Non mancano, comunque, i riff più old style (soprattutto gli assoli, che tuttavia risultano magnifici).
Difficile citare un brano particolare, perché ognuno brilla di luce propria. Da parte mia posso consigliarvi la settima traccia, "The Power Of I And I" e la prima, "The Light That Blinds".

Quest’album non ha nulla da rimpiangere alle altre ottime band metalcore (leggasi Killswitch Engage). Francamente, al primo ascolto di quest’album, sono rimasto sorpreso e mi ha fatto subito impazzire. Mixato benissimo, canzoni che spaccano... da avere assolutamente!

Elenco tracce testi e video

01   The Light That Blinds (04:58)

02   Enlightened by the Cold (03:01)

When you never know
Is when it's always there,
It seemed so clear...

The slightest touch
To catch the breath,
It turns it all around

Single path that I can see,
Emptiness devours me

Enlightened by the cold.
It overcomes the torment.
(What if I could bring you back?)
Enlightened by the cold

Enough to burn through walls
Built on anguish
Can I be revived?

Let it hit with force
Strong enough to blind.
The numbness heals.

My worth is only defined
by the nest disaster

03   Act of Contrition (03:40)

Feel the cold hands upon me
Recollection of my betrayal

My betrayal!

It is not the pain inside yourself
That tears the deepest wounds

I drift along suspended in shadows
Cold memories escape the haze
With sobriety comes recollection

It is not the pain inside yourself
That tears the deepest wounds

It is the pain that you create
That shreds your very soul

A specter of despair
Built on good intentions

It is not the pain inside yourself
That tears the deepest wounds

It is the pain that you create
That shreds your very soul

04   What Drives the Weak (04:43)

This time released security
Controlled dose of tranquility
Forgetfulness washes over me
Put to rest the voices of insanity

Only the cinders remain
As another night
Becomes a yesterday

Come on! Anesthetize the panic
It is what drives the weak
You're gone! Anesthetize the panic
Putting all uncertainties to sleep

Not an altered state of mind
But a safer place in an unsafe world
Within the nearness of death
Rapture in the skip of a heartbeat

05   Stillness (04:52)

Impermanence is always swift
Treasures of this world are fleeting
Our eyes blinded from the gift
Within the way there lies the meaning

All natures are pure
All appearances are empty

Shrouded in sensation and delusion
Consumed within unknowns
Shrouded in sensation and delusion
All will collapse and fall

All wisdom is treasured
All wealth is a shadow

Inexpressible in words
Embrace the stillness
Enless source, Eternal bliss

Absence of the mind is liberation

06   Inspiration on Demand (03:52)

Where has it all gone?
Have all of the words escaped?

Inspiration on demand
Emotions all displaced

'And I will wander endlessly
Seeking all the answers that I let slip
through my fingers.
I will wander endlessly
Seeking all the answers that
I let slip and fall away.'

Turn it all around
It melts into sound
(unfolding... ever growing)

Torn from my rest
Though I still fight to stay.
The images dissolve
As the day invades

A second to react
The mind too slow to act
(unfolding... ever growing)

Drown the voices of restraint
Make them choke to silence

Incinerate the ropes
And embrace the hope
(unfolding... ever growing)

Splintering the doors
Free the mind to soar
(unfolding... ever growing)

Turn it all around
It melts into sound

07   The Power of I and I (03:34)

We are given the gift of creation!

We are given
All of the light
And purity of the universe

We are the ones
Who will create
The snarling beasts of human nature

The world within myself
ALL IS ONE!
The power of I and I

True piece of mind
Is not bestowed
Upon us by the heavens.

The evils of man
Are spawned within
The confusion of our own mind.

The world within myself
ALL IS ONE!
The power of I and I

The world within myself
ALL IS ONE!
The power of I and I

Hiding the purity that flows
From the root of which we rose

We are given
All of the light
And purity of the universe

We are the ones
Who will create
The snarling beasts of human nature

The world within myself
ALL IS ONE!
The power of I and I

The world within myself
ALL IS ONE!
The power of I and I

ALL!
ALL IS ONE!
ALL!
ALL IS ONE!

08   Ghosts of Past Failures (04:12)

09   Eternity Is Within (04:07)

10   Those Who Cannot Speak (05:17)

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