Once described as "death metal on melody pills", Shadows Fall's sound mixes melodic elements with crushing riffs, double bass drum patterns, pinch harmonics and both screaming and clean vocals.

The sounds of Shadows Fall reflect both American and European influences. On the one hand, the band's use of "shredding", or fast guitar solos, draws upon the classic American thrash metal heritage of bands such as Metallica, Anthrax, and Slayer. Equally, however, its complex single-note riffs and dual-guitar harmonies have their roots in the European metal sounds commonly associated with the Gothenburg scene and bands such as In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, and At the Gates. Also they use some American death metal such as New York Death Metal (bands such as Suffocation and Cannibal Corpse) sounds and Florida Death Metal (bands such as Death, Morbid Angel, and Obituary) sounds.

Shadows Fall take an interestingly different approach to their lyrics, relying on themes from eastern philosophy and religion, primarily Buddhism, as opposed to the majority of metal bands today which choose to elaborate upon themes of western religion.

From The BNR Metal Pages (http://www.bnrmetal.com/):
"In the space of a few short years, Shadows Fall has risen from humble beginnings to being one of the most talked-about and respected metal bands on the scene. Formed by the guitarist pair of Jonathan Donais and Matthew Bachand, the band released a self-financed Somber Eye To The Sky that managed to get the name out, but it the signing to Century Media and 2000's Of One Blood that really got the band going, and they followed it up two years later with the even better The Art Of Balance. Shadows Fall's influences are many, and they are seemless interwoven together to form a potent, original sound. There's a clear Gothenburg (Swedish melodic death) element (much more prevalent on Blood, but still noticeable on Balance), metalcore vocals from Brian Fair as well as the two guitarists (indeed, the vocals from the trio range from hardcore shouts to death growls to a mid-range clean style), a healthy traditional metal influence due to plenty of harmonized guitar leads, all held together by tight musicianship and ample aggression. The future appears very bright indeed for Shadows Fall."