All Things Fallen, formed in the year 2017 by Markus Sigfridsson (of the Darkwater, Harmony and Lance King fame), have recorded their 2nd Studio album “Shadow Way ” which is due to be released on the 3rd June under the Blackoak Record label. It’s mixed and mastered by Dennis Koehne and will be distributed by Beyond the Storm Productions worldwide. The band onboarded Raphael Dafras (of the Edu Falschi and Almah fame) on bass with guest appearance by Maria Grigoryeva on Violin and Ulrik Arturén on Backing vocals.
The band states that, “Old fans of melodic atmospheric metal will enjoy this album, which is melancholic, melodic and has a darker vibe than the first album. It flirts with the 70 ́s Rainbow style but with a modern production. The lyrics of All Things Fallen often deals with contemporary events and issues in our world, but often from a metaphoric stance. A perfect album for fans of atmospheric and progressive metal and bands like Evergrey, Soen, Pain of Salvation and Darkwater.”
While this was my first time listening to ATF, I went ahead with an acquiescent mindset. The album opens up with “The Sentinel” which blares on with a chunky guitar riff with a hint of flutes lingering in the backdrop. The vocals remain clean throughout the breadth of the song, and have subdued seconds embedded well within the mix. The song builds on ambient elements as it progresses and changes course midway which brings about an enigmatic arrangement of the song. With “Rebirth” the band takes an aggressive stance at the onset, carries forth with hymn-like lyrics paired with flaring guitar riffs and a catchy chorus which parallels an eclectic guitar solo. The crunchy guitar riffs drive the song and set the stage for everyone else to follow. One of the longest and craziest guitar riffing that follows is a true hallmark of the progressive genre, that one is sure to remember. What an amazing feat!