Lowdown – Metal Express Radio

LOWDOWN – Antidote

August 28, 2006 Patrik Gustavsson

Lowdown is a band from Rogaland, Norway. Their first gig ever was a talent show in 2001, which they proceeded to win. The first album, Unknown, came out in 2003, and Antidote is the follow-up. The style is that of brutal, often groove-to-mid laden Thrash with Hardcore leanings. Basically, they sound like an extreme Pantera. Of course, Pantera went off to great success and had a big hand in what direction Metal would take in the 90’s (although it has been debated Exhorder actually came before with the style in question). More attention was placed on heavy, monotone riffing and less on actual melody; be it musically or vocally. This eventually took off on a mainstream level and became a trend, just like the sugar-coated Glam had a decade earlier. Suddenly, plenty of bands who sported goatees and wore shorts, with lots of riffage and way less melody in their luggage, flooded the market. The problem with this style of Metal is that without melody, the impact of heaviness wears off … fast, and as a result a lot of Metal’s original musical ideas and power became lost in the transition. At least a lot of the 80’s Thrash bands, especially those who came from the Bay Area scene, had distinguished vocalists and talented lead players to lend melody and dynamics to the heaviness. Lowdown suffers from loss of dynamics; just like most every band of this style, they lose impact after a mere few songs. A few tough, heavy riffs here and there can’t make up for the loss off melody sense, hooks, and what not. It’s not what truly good songs can solely be based. Case in question here is when hints of dynamics materialize, as in when the acoustic piece “And Reborn” precedes “Be The Clown,” or …READ MORE

LOWDOWN – Unknown

April 25, 2003 Guest Writer

Lowdown spits in your face with their new album Unknown. Maybe spit isn’t a strong enough verb; how about puke? Yeah, that’ll work. This is an explosive CD, full of brutal anger, rabid vocals and intense musicianship. They crank the hell out of every song, leaving no room for you to catch your breath. Plus, they have an innate ability to use the best word ever in a rock song, and that’d be “fuck,” if you don’t know any better. Songs 1, 2 and 3 are smattered with the “fuck” word. Lowdown can be heaped in the same pile as bands like Slipknot and Killswitch Engage. But where they differ is the part where both of those aforementioned bands offer some melody, some smooth vocal points, usually at the chorus, where it slows down and any dipshit can sing along with. But Lowdown doesn’t want your vocal cords to rest. This kind of music is going to have certain qualities. No guitar solos is one of them, and it’s too bad. They sound like good musicians, and it’d be great to hear them rip it up. Also, you are going to hear the exact same vocals over and over and over a million times a song. It’s almost like they think their fans are so stupid, if they give them more than 3 or 4 words, they’ll lose their attention. This isn’t Lowdown’s fault; it’s the genre’s fault. Let’s get to the songs. The opening track is everything described above: brutal, repetitive and catchy as hell. “Unknown” is an excellent intro to the Lowdown sound. The second song, “Intenz,” (sic) gives you one of those nu metal rap choruses that even a mute could sing along to. It’s remedial rock, caveman metal. But you have to judge a band by …READ MORE