Search - Downer :: Downer

Jaw dropping music

Frank Ventosa | Jersey City, NJ | 08/18/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I got hooked to the stylings of nu-metal rock only recently, thanks to Godsmack, and scored Downer on the account of their 30-second music clips on a music club's web catalog. I knew that what I was hearing was great rock music but I wasn't prepared for what I was about to hear when I got the CD. Thirty-second clips don't tell exactly how it is, BUT the minute I played the CD, my jaw just dropped to the floor. Downer music has got to be one of the most original sounding rock music I've heard in a long time, which is not short of groundbreaking. Downer, the CD, is beautiful melodically and downright heavy from beginning to end. Topnotch musicianship all the way here with monstrous riffs making every song a WALL OF SOUND. Nevermind if they are not trying to be metal because they are anyways.The singer is great and can't be compared with a lot of the generic sounding nu-metal singers that are out there today. Not that they are bad but only because John Scott sounds different. Melodically, Downer gives me an '80s new wave feel while the vocals have that new wave spank while keeping it riff heavy from beginning to end. Nevermind if new wave music was opposed to everything we liked about heavy metal during the cold years but a lot of the new wave music then had great melodies to their songs. What is important is that these songs ROCK and rock HARDER. Yup, don't let what I had just written above fool you or discourage you in any way from buying this CD if it is still available because their music is DEFINITELY heavy. And, yup, the mix to Downer is clean, polished and loud, and I think that is what gives it its heaviness. Lyric-wise, the songs take you to darker passages. The pace and tone of the CD is set by opener "Flex" through "Bi-Furious" and "Last Time", probably the CDs most identifiable track, but it is on tracks "Weed Eater", "Born Again", "Speed Teeth", "Punching Bag" and "Ventilation" that their monstrous, power riffs begin to groove. But the remaining songs are equally powerful with CD closer "Curbed" being one of my favorites along with "Punching Bag". It was not easy to choose a favorite song here, not even after I'd listened to the CD countless of times because they are all beautiful. The Downer bio on the Roadrunner web says that Downer released it's first self-titled EP and subsequent full-length CD, Wrestling With Jesus in 1997 on the tiny Ammunition label. I checked on the Ammunition label site but no information is available. I think the web is under construction or something. Anyhow, I hope that anyone with information on Downer, whether it is about their previous recordings or current status will write a review here. Sadly, the last Roadrunner update on Downer dates back to 2001.Get this CD, friends, and you won't regret it as I am still drooling over this CD. WOW! Truly amazing stuff is all I can say."

Rock the way it should be.

S. Ward | Brewster, NY United States | 07/11/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This CD is not bad at all. I don't think that Downer is trying to be a metal band at all, rather, they are a pretty good rock band that carries and edge with it. I would much rather listen to Downer than any of the stuff on the radio. Don't get me wrong, they are no Slayer or Pantera, but they don't even try to sound heavy. I find the music melodic and refreshing after a hard day's worth of death and speed metal. Downer is true alternative, unique rock. Good stuff and worht a listen."