Threads Of Life is Shadows Fall's 7th full length and further solidifies the band's style. Whereas older material was death metal and metalcore based, the newer material is definitely growing towards classic heavy and thrash metal, but with the Shadows Fall sound we all learned to love.

Opener 'Redemption' will probably be in the band's setlist for the next few years, pretty much being an almagation of the previous 2 full lenghts. Probably the best track on the record! Another impressive song is the track 'Another Hero Lost', inspired by the death of singer Brian Fair's cousin. The dude was stationed in Iraq and unfortunatly didn't live to tell the tale. I didn't really like the track on the first few spins but it really grew on me, Fair's clean vocals have become better with each release. My personal favorite of the disc is probably 'Final Call', it has every ingredient a SF song should have: Good riffage, great chorus, a well done acoustic bridge, amazing solo work and a good ending. Heavy metal!

To say that this record is the band's most technical one would be an overstatement. It is clear that the band opted for good songwriting and memorable moments with tracks that will probably work like a charm on stage. The downside of this is that there are a few moments on the disc that sound "safe"; having stellar musicians doesn't mean that you should overuse them but a few more segments (like the solo in 'Burning The Lives')  that would make you go Ô_o wouldn't have been out of place. 

Some of the other "new wave of American metal" might be more technical or aggressive sounding but Shadows Fall might have the longest run in the end if they get a bit more daring with their next effort.