Back in the nineties, Kevin Chalfant's band
The Storm was unfortunately lost in the heat of grunge and all of a sudden, "poof" they were gone from the public eye. Another lost classic almost gone without a trace, disappearing into the vaults of Interscope Records, however, that has not kept Chalfant from continuing his prowess for the melodic grandeur over the past decade.
Over the past years, Chalfant has kept busy adding his vocal chops (a cross between Steve Walsh from
Kansas and Ted Leonard from Enchant) in several melodic rock/
AOR groups such as Two Fires, Steel Breeze, and his new outfit
Shadows Fade, and for this project Chalfant, along with multi-instrumentalist Alex DeRosso (Dokken) have come together to create a new project, and no "shadow" do these guys stand under.
Filled with the mixture of
AOR/pop oriented songwriting along with the technicalities of metal to create the sound we all know and love as melodic hard rock,
Shadows Fade encompasses the spirit for catchy material with the vibe of more of an emotional standpoint (lots of "backseat" listening as well), rather than
just rocking out. Granted, the album has a heavy atmosphere to it, but the record itself seems to come from more of a songwriter's point of view, although the musicianship is well up to stature.
High points on the record include
"Sooner or Later," "My Ocean," and
"Give it In" for the more
AOR material, but of course ballads are present, the two that stand out are
"Now that Your Gone" and the lyrically clever
"First Love Song." In many cases the whole record itself may sound very "ballady," but never-the-less,
Shadows Fade has a way of really appealing to the listener, regardless of any vibe placed on any track on the record.
Although the sound is relative to Chalfant's past projects,
Shadows Fade also carries the sound of Harem Scarem, Drive She Said, and Giant, being just as strong as his endeavors of a past time. Proof positive that Chalfont has not lost his appeal for playing out some great material, proving that his voice will not "fade" away anytime soon.
Written by
Hashman Monday, November 29, 2004
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