Origin:	Osaka, Japan
Genres:	Melodic Death Metal
INACTIVE

Last update/review:	November 18, 2008

Shadow

The so-called Gothenburg style of melodic death metal is, of course, dominated by Swedish bands, but there are several bands in other parts of the world taking their cue from the likes of In Flames and Dark Tranquillity. As proof of this, one need look no further than Japan's Shadow. Their self-titled debut features virtually every trademark of the genre, with the only down point being that really sound too much like their rivals and not enough like a band attempting to forge some sort of identity. There is one semi-novelty here, and that is that the vocalist is female, though anyone listening to the album without that knowledge would be very hard-pressed to detect that. She doesn't simply sing aggressively, she truly sounds like a male death metal vocalist. Though they are lacking in originality a bit, they are not lacking in execution or conviction, as Shadow is a potent melodic death metal album, well produced and clearly delivering the goods.