Album Art of the Week: Shadows Fall — ‘Retribution’

Western Massachusetts' Shadows Fall are scene veterans now, having been involved in metal as a band for almost 15 years now. Their sixth album, 'Retribution,' is being released on their own label. They summoned the workhorses at Sons of Nero to deliver the visual goods, and they jumped at the opportunity.

"Shadows Fall has been a favorite of mine since 'Of One Blood' came out," Portland from Sons of Nero explained to Noisecreep. "I absolutely loved that album, so you can imagine how stoked I was when we got the offer to work with the band. We had a lot of fun working on that project, and I can honestly say, it's one of the largest projects we've had the chance to work out in terms of how much we created for it."

Like any graphic designer, they wanted the product for which they are designing set apart, visually. After initial talks with the band and the band's management, the ball got rolling for Portland and crew: "The first thing that came to mind was a badge, not unlike a police officer or detective would wear. I envisioned Shadows Fall wearing that badge, something that represented the band and stood as a symbol for this album cycle."

"I know that this is a pretty pissed sounding record so when starting the illustration process I knew it had to be something mean looking," Portland said about the artwork itself. "The bull, skulls, horns, etc are takes on what would normally be seen on a badge or shield but with a more evil connotation. Most of the packages have the badge in either a foil stamp or metallic ink to really give it that metallic look. The inner pages of the booklet are collages of different war-torn scenarios. Anything from wounded vets to civil riots."

"We're extremely proud of how this came out and it was a blast working with the band," Portland concluded.