Introducing: Where Shadows Dwell

British duo Where Shadows Dwell met at work and discovered a shared mutual love for metal music, which gave birth to a diverse metal approach. The two musicians work with multiple vocalists to bring an element of diversity to a sound they describe as “catchy, groovy and meaningful.”

The West Yorkshire duo of Casey and Dan met at work around five years ago and discovered they both played instruments and liked the same kind of music. They talked about trying to get a band together but struggled to find other people, so instead they had a go at doing it themselves while bringing in a guest vocalist. That worked nicely for their 2000s metalcore-inspired debut single Won’t Back Down, which was released in 2023 and apparently had their co-workers “amazed” they had created it. The success inspired the pair to keep making music, which resulted in their debut four-track EP Into The Abyss later that year.

Casey and Dan both play multiple instruments but, they tell us, neither of them can sing, so they work with guest vocalists from song to song. “This, in a way though, is a good thing as some vocalists work better with specific styles,” Casey explains, “so we can throw any genre we want at the right vocalist and end up with a great result.”

And on the sound they’ve crafted, Casey told us: “It would be very hard to describe as we don’t really stick to a particular sound. We have a range of songs on the upcoming album that someone could listen to and not even realise it’s the same band. We’ve really pushed the boat out and pushed ourselves to see just how much variety we can make while still being great songs to listen to. When we first started, it was mainly 2000s metalcore, but now we’ve evolved and we write whatever we are feeling like at that moment in time.”

Where Shadows Dwell have released a series of singles over the last couple of years, most recently dropping the excellent Burn at the start of last month. It opens up with drums supported by a bubbling bassline, before a big driving riff kicks in alongside crashing cymbals. It launches into life with breakneck drums supported some wild female vocals, which flow into a massive chorus led by clean vocals supported by screamed backing vocals. A huge scream ushers in the big driving riff before another intense verse and a big singalong chorus. The pace drops into stabbing guitars and creepy vocals before a scream and a vicious “blegh” ushers in a crushing breakdown, before flowing into a big final blast of the chorus and a powerful outro. The track is a bit of a banger and we love the familiar female vocals – whoever the vocalist may be.

On the track, Casey said: “The reception has been pretty good for a small and rather unknown band. A few nice comments on YouTube and a few streams here and there. We have a thing where if just one person is impacted by our songs in a positive way, then we’re both happy, and we’ve had that with this song. Another one of our co-workers and his partner have it on their Spotify playlist as it’s currently their favourite song of ours, which is so great to hear. For anyone who hasn’t listened to it yet, expect punchy and aggressive verses, a feel-good chorus, and some headbanging grooves. Oh, and a filthy BLEGH for the breakdown.” Check it out in the stream here:

That follows on from several singles last year, which showcase the diversity of the band. Most recently, The End of Heartache features engaging male vocals, it was preceded by the much darker and gothic sounding Crush, Kill, Devour and the more anthemic Forever Gone. There’s also a metal take on Ghostbusters and a cover of Architects’ Animals, while the debut EP is packed with great tracks like Demons and Won’t Back Down.

A few of those singles come from Where Shadows Dwell’s debut album Shattered Fragments, which they hope to release by the end of this year. “We have nine songs fully finalised, mixed, mastered, everything, ready to go,” Casey told us. “We don’t have a set amount of songs that we want to add to the album, but we are still working on around three or four more.

“We’re extremely excited for people to hear the album due to the range of styles we have decided to go with. Death metal? Check. Slow emotional metal? Check. Techno metal? Check. There really is something for everyone on this album so we hope that everyone can listen to it and find their favourite song.”

Casey tells us his favourite song, for now, is Keep The Truth, which he tells us is: “A very heavy industrial sounding song with extremely chunky guitar riffs and powerful vocals. I can’t stop listening to it and I’m the one that sat and spent hours mixing it.

While Dan says his favourite is the epic-sounding Demons II, telling us: “Our EP album consisted of a nearly 7-minute-long song complete with orchestral instruments and a range of guitars called Demons. In homage to that song, we decided to make Demons II, which clocks in at 9:10. We have really branched the song out and added so many elements to create this wall of sound masterpiece that has so much raw emotion. With a few notes similar to the original Demons to show everyone that it’s the same story, but different enough to be completely new.”

The early days of the Where Shadows Dwell sound was influenced by the likes of As I Lay Dying, Bullet For My Valentine and Killswitch Engage. More recently, their sound takes in the likes of Architects, Motionless In White, Sleep Token and more.

And on what inspires them to write music, Casey explained: “We write what we feel like at that moment in time. A lot of our EP was about standing up for yourself, not giving in and letting the ‘demons’ take over. A lot of those themes have remained but have also evolved and become more aggressive. Take the song Break The Silence, for example. It’s also about not giving up, but it tells it in a different way. It’s moreso saying fight back, overpower the enemy.”

Where Shadows Dwell’s debut album is currently in the works, and they tell us to expect “a rather unique” album sometime soon. The duo aren’t currently playing live shows as it’s not a viable option but, should they find the right people to work, gigs may become a possibility in the future.

You can follow Where Shadows Dwell on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.