Left In The Dark: “Shadowglass” – razor sharp riffs within a massive wall of sound

Left In The Dark is a 4 piece alternative-rock and metal band from the Dayton Ohio area. The band has released their 13 track debut album “Shadowglass”, which they recorded, mixed, and mastered themselves. The album was co-written by vocalist Josh Schaurer and drummer Brian Gerth. The other performing members in the band are George Hargreaves on guitar, and Travis Reynolds on bass. Left In The Dark started playing shows late in 2015, but have been a band for two years, most of which was spent writing and recording their debut album.

Left In The Dark did an amazing job with this album you have the mixture of heavy metal jams like Metallica, catchier rock songs and anthems like Three Days Grace, and Shinedown. But personally what got me with this album was the not sticking to all metal or all rock, as they use different sounds and textures to make all kinds of rock fans excited about their music. “Shadowglass” ranks up there with whatever your classics are. Period. It is a genre-buster that is bound to unite rock fans of whatever sub-genre.

“Shadowglass” is ingenious and a clever work of music. Left In The Dark’s music here is dark, yet uplifting. To give their music that uplifting quality, they obviously have to go ‘emo’ you’re thinking, but rest assured they stayed away from it. They mix emotional and hardcore with sweet and sick. They blend gentle, sprawling acoustic pianos with screaming, gut-busting power chords. They combine elements from rock and metal to create an assault of razor sharp riffs within a massive wall of sound, where Josh Schaurer’s vocals are allowed to scream, soar and soothe.

What the members of Left In The Dark have crafted here is an incredibly emotional, loud, and technically impressive album; one that just fills you with unbridled energy. It starts out with a cool, slow paced piano build-up of an intro, which leads to the first kick-in-the-pants actual song – “Denial”. Singer Schaurer’s melodic lead vocal is supported by pounding drums and bass and killer guitars which rise and fall throughout the track. But it is the third cut, “Lie To Me”, which starts to unleash the full hardcore power of this band. It is exactly here that you realize that finally you have found a new rock band with an absolutely insane amount of talent that still can appeal to the masses.

“We Aren’t” opens with a furious guitar rampage and bursts into an epic score, melding hope and despair together in a three-and-a-half minute tribute to the more classical metal sound, which is pure guitar bliss. Josh Schaurer can sing beautifully, he can scream with enormous talent, and he can do a melodic growl when he wants to. That Left In The Dark can deliver some of the most intense and beautiful hard melodic rock that the human body is capable of, is made clear on “Last Request”, “Riptide” and “So Far Away”. All throughout these songs George Hargreaves proves that you don’t need a crazy guitar solo to show off guitar skills, you can easily pull it off with creative riffs that go perfectly with the vocals.

There are many bands trying to be hard these days. Left In The Dark do not have to try. Clearly their music is what comes naturally to them. I had multiple eargasms listening to “Gone”, where the band mixes sweet melody with malicious metal. Josh Schaurer’s distinctive voice, combined with George Hargreaves’ crushing riffs, and the thunderous beats of the percussion section provided by Travis Reynolds on bass and Brian Gerth on drums, allows for complete and utter controlled mayhem, giving me the song I’ve been waiting for. The song that confirms this is no ordinary rock band…not by a long shot!

“Best Wishes”, “Runaway” and “One Last Time”, again, seamlessly combines the band’s classic edgy vocals with melodic choruses, grinding guitar riffs, tight bass lines, and heart pounding drum beats into cohesive works of epic rock art. In particular, with its changing tempos and amazingly layered harmonies, “One Last Time” is my second favorite song on the entire album, after “Gone”. Left In The Dark consistently reach their potential on “Shadowglass” by creating empowering and energy filled tones with catchy hooks throughout the entire album. To cut a long story short, grab this if you don’t have it, an absolute must for anyone who appreciates modern rock music.

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