Hailing out of Perth, Australia, also the home of our beloved Miles Away, ShadowShow are progressive metal three-piece with just a few years of history but already making waves in their local scene. Today we’re listening to ‘Paper Smiles’, a new single released this Autumn and definitely a track that’s getting some serious attention on Drooble.

Honestly, we feel progressive metal is a slight understatement for the complex and varying music ShadowShow are playing. The band has soaked influences from a way wider range of heavy music genres. ‘Paper Smiles’ is a lengthy piece, spanning over 7 minutes, which is opened by warm and atmospheric guitar layers that welcome the first bits of the tense drumming and beautifully arranged vocals.

From then on the piece is organically and gradually building up. Its sound is growing from a harsher take on alternative metal, with singing slightly reminiscent of early 2000s legends Chevelle, to a high-gain, almost metalcore-like riff explosion in the second half of the track. ‘Paper Smiles’ ends with another guitar-ambient inspired outro.

These two short interludes, the varying vocals and masterful musical and emotional build-ups found in the track leave the impression that ShadowShow is a band with its own approach to progressive metal. We’ll surely keep an eye on their future releases.

Find out more about ShadowShow on Facebook, BandCamp or TrippleJUnearthed.