Shadowside - the metal world continues to expand

I am often intrigued by the ever-growing world of heavy metal. Just as the mainstream continues to push metal farther and farther into a corner, the world as a whole fights back. Most of us recognize by now that northern Europe has kept the metal flames burning strong but these days I'm fascinated to hear great metal delivered from almost every corner of the globe. I recently wrote an article about the SLoT, a Russian band that got my attention last summer. Similarly, when Shadowside's latest album, Inner Monster Out, showed up in the New Loud Rock bin at KGLT, it quickly grabbed my attention. Only later did I discover that the band is from Brazil.

All it took was a quick preview of the first two songs on the album, "Gag Order" and "Angel With Horns", for me to be hooked. Dani Nolden's incredibly powerful vocals deliver a similar impact to Lzzy Hale of Halestorm and Liv Jagrell of Sister Sin. Anger, agony and frustration come through clearly in Dani's voice but she unabashedly embraces the melodic component of her voice. Raphael Mattos' guitar work, Ricardo Piccoli's bass and Fabio Buitvidas' drum parts pummel the listener and make it absolutely clear that Shadowside is a metal band.

While Halestorm draws its material as much from hard rock and even rock & roll, and Sister Sin harkens back to some of the raw melodic hair metal bands of the 80s, Shadowside is a metal band. They're overall sound will be right at home for power metal fans. Instrumentally they borrow bits and pieces from death metal but without much of the guttural vocals that are typical of that style. Fans of the many female-fronted symphonic metal bands (e.g. Nightwish, Within Temptation, Epica) will also find much to like in Shadowside. Even progressive metal fans will find familiar elements in Shadowside's music. The band manages to pull together elements from many metal sub genres, while maintaining a steady, common thread of intense energy and vocal polish that is unique.

I have already included songs from "Inner Monster Out" in my Heavy radio show and fully expect to continue that trend in the future. If you can't wait to experience Shadowside, choose your favorite streaming service and take a listen to "Gag Order" and "Angel With Horns". If you question how heavy the band can get, take a listen to "Waste of Life" and realize that Dani would be right at home sharing the stage with Rob Halford. And, just when you were wondering what else Shadowside can throw at you, check out their cover of Motörhead's "Ace of Spades". If you love metal, I think you will love Shadowside!