WEB-EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: SHADOWS FALL’S BRIAN FAIR ON SINGING LIKE OZZY AND BATTLING SLAYER FOR A GRAMMY

In Revolver’s December issue, we interview Shadows Fall vocalist Brian Flair about the band’s new album Retribution (Everdark). For those of you who didn’t get enough (or are too cheap to buy the magazine), here’s the best of the rest of our wide-ranging chat.

REVOLVER Retribution is also the name of a Malevolent Creation album. Did that come up at all when you were deciding on a title?
BRIAN FAIR It didn’t, but I’m sure if you look there’s a few more Retribution album titles out there. Intense one-word titles that aren’t already taken are few and far between these days. For us, that was the last thought on our mind. The title just represented what the songs are about and kinda had the vibe we wanted, so we went with it. I saw some of the comments about that on Blabbermouth, and you know, you can’t please every death-metal purist. Most of the kids who were complaining about it probably weren’t gonna buy our record anyway. [Laughs]

On the deluxe version of the album, you included Cro Mags, Ozzy, and Nuclear Assault covers, which is such a weird cross-section. How did you decide on those particular tracks?
Everyone in the band will usually email suggestions to each other. To me, those three are such a great cross-section of our influences. We’ve covered Only Living Witness and Leeway in the past, and when we do those kinds of things, it’s to show influence, maybe turn our fans onto our favorite bands, and have some fun. Doing “Bark At The Moon,” I mean—all our fans know who Ozzy is, so it’s not like we’re turning them onto something new. That was just straight up about having fun. I get to do a fake howl, you know, and those lyrics are just unstoppable. As far as the Cro-Mags, they’re one of the most influential bands on my life, and I know Paul [Romanko, bass] feels that way, too, so we just wanted shine a light there. And that song [“Age of Quarrel”] really shows the beginning of the metal crossover period in the late ’80s. Nuclear Assault was [guitarist] Matt [Blanchard]’s idea, and “Critical Mass” has such great thrash riffs and the environmental message of the lyrics really stands the test of time, I think. But there’s no way I could sing [Nuclear Assault vocalist] John Connelly-high and make it sound even sorta normal, so I just did it in my own voice. But to keep it true to the original recording, I did the whole song in one take, so I’d be out of breath at the end to give it that real raw feel. I mean, you can’t over-produce the Nuclear Assault tune, you know? [Laughs] That’s just counterproductive.

It’s probably safe to say that Shadows Fall will be the only band to ever cover Cro-Mags and Dangerous Toys.
[Laughs] Yeah, I think that’s a pretty safe bet. To confuse people even more, we should probably do a Jeff Buckley tune and an Assück song next time.

Matt and your lead guitarist, Jon Donais, have an ’80s cover band called Kobra Kai. I figured you’d be involved in that.
They play serious ’80s metal, like Maiden and Priest covers. They really take it to another level—it’s not just doing glam tunes like Dangerous Toys. They’ve got a great singer with them, anyway. I’m thinking Matt and Jon came up with the idea for that band after a drunken night at the bar—one of those things that never actually happens. Next thing you know, they’ve got Frank [Aresti] from Fates Warning playing guitar and the ex-drummer from All That Remains. [Laughs] They actually play almost every weekend know.

Shadows Fall have been nominated for a Grammy for Best Metal Performance twice. Do you think it’s time you won this year?
[Laughs] We never thought we’d be nominated, so winning would just be ridiculous. The first time we were nominated, we were up against Slipknot, who had been nominated, like, five times and never won, so we knew they were gonna get it. The next time we were up against Slayer, so it was like, no way. You always see that one band on the list that you know is guaranteed to take it home. But you get to go hang out at the awards show anyway, which is always a good time.

If you’re nominated this year, you’ll probably be going up against Slayer again.
Yeah, exactly. There’s always that legacy band that deserves it just for being who they are. And you know, as far as metal bands and Grammies, I think the first one they handed out was to Jethro Tull, so it’s not like they’re thinking too hard about it.

You’ve been in a professional touring band for a long time now. Have you learned any major life lessons from your experiences?
I don’t know, because I don’t know anything else. Traveling in a bus or a van has been my reality for so long that I think I probably need to learn about what to do when it’s over. I’ve been on tour forever. But I wouldn’t rather do anything else. I think we’re really lucky to have had the opportunities we’ve had and been as consistently busy as we’ve been. Afterwards, I don’t even know what I’d do. I’d probably end up tour managing so I could stay out on the road. I guess at that point it would be a job, though.

Are you still rehearsing above that titty bar in Springfield?
No, Matt built a home studio maybe two years ago, so that’s where we practice now. It’s pretty amazing and we can record anytime we want, so it makes sense to be there. Plus, it’s only like 20 minutes from the other spot. We miss the Mardi Gras, though. It was fun while it lasted.

Interview by J. Bennett