Shadows Fall Announce Hiatus From ‘Future Extensive Touring,’ Plan ‘Final’ U.S. Trek

Sad news to report for Shadows Fall fans. The metal band has decided to take a hiatus from "future extensive touring." There are many reasons as to why Shadows Fall will be taking a break from the road, but before the band's hiatus, Shadows Fall will embark on a European string of dates along with their "final" North American tour.

Shadows Fall have been around for almost 20 years. The band has released seven studio albums, including the essential and critically praised 'The Art of Balance' in 2002. Shadows Fall have seen success for a long time, but family obligations and guitarist Jon Donais' new gig as Anthrax's lead guitarist have led Shadows Fall to decide to take a hiatus following their "final" tours.

The band posted the following message via Facebook:

The band has been touring non-stop for over a decade and has decided that it’s time to “take a hiatus” from future extensive touring. In addition to this upcoming European run, Shadows Fall are planning a final North American tour and will possibly visit a few other territories some time over the next year. We will post details once everything is locked in. There are many factors that are behind this difficult decision that the band has been dealing with for some time now. In a nutshell it comes down to families, member availability, and finances.

Further impacting our decision is the fact that we have two members with young children. Plain and simple, they want to be with their families to watch their kids grow. Touring full time in a band these days has never been more difficult financially. When you have to ensure the future comfort of your family, difficult decisions have to be made. Another reason is the fact that our lead guitarist (Jon Donais) is now in Anthrax, which makes it hard for us to do any extensive touring with our full lineup.

Due to his obligations with Anthrax, he will not be able to join us on this European tour. Felipe Roa will once again fill Jon’s position and we are thankful to him for joining us on this run. Also returning for this tour is original bassist Paul Romanko who has sat out from touring for the last two years to raise his son. This has been a real hard decision for all of us to make but we feel at this time this is the right thing to do. We don’t hate each other, we’re not bitter, we in fact still have a really great time together, but the ride has slowed down and it’s time for the next chapters in our lives, whatever that may be.

We can’t thank the fans that have supported Shadows Fall since the beginning enough. Without you, none of this would have been possible. For the past decade and a half, we have been able to create the music we have always wanted to hear and share it with music fans everywhere. That being said, you still may see us at a festival or two over the next few years…if they ask, we will come! In the meantime please check out the dates for the last European go around and we will see you out there!

Look out for North American tour dates from Shadows Fall, and for the band's upcoming European dates, click here.