Saturday, July 27, 2019

LOWMAD "LowLand" is a great stoner punk demo

LowMad stoner punk quartet from Belgium
LowMad stoner punk quartet from Belgium
I am really digging into stoner punk these days. I've got a tape split on the way in late August with two stoner punk bands and now I am looking for them everywhere I can. To me, stoner punk combines the heavy bass and riffs of stoner music along with the fast tempo, raw sound, and short songs of punk. LOWMAD doesn't call their debut EP stoner punk, but they do call it stoner, punk, sludge, doom, and metal. And who gives a fuck what the tags are when the music is this good. LowMad combines all these sounds in their unique way, and spin it up with a DIY production which fits perfectly with the punk side of things. Check it out: 


"Disobedient Slavery" probably has the most "LowMad" sound, with its heavy bass, fuzz, and layers of guitar coming in for the sonic attacks.

Another vibe I am picking up from LowMad is "weedcore" along the lines of another great demo I heard recently from Halfaya (I'll have a review up for them soon). I love slow heavy music but these tracks with the faster tempo and rippier guitars are really doing it for me too.

Recording and mixing / mastering album costs a lot of money so I am always glad to listen to a demo. Sometimes that is the only way to hear a new band's music. Sometimes you just have to listen past the rough production quality to get to the sound the band is trying to make. But in the case of LowLand, the DIY demo sound is great. I love this. I am sure LowMad will get into a bigger studio in the future, but in the meantime I am really glad to listen to this.


LowMad is a quartet from Belgium:
Christof Bessems - Gitaar, Backing Vocals
Tom Fruytier - Gitaar, Vocals
Philip Couliez - Drum, Backbone
Kenneth De Schepper - Bas, 2nd vocal
Check out the teaser video with a sample from some of the tracks:


Follow LowMad on Bandcamp to stay up to date: