Lowbau - A Darker Shade of Blues (2013)

Making its way from Austria, today we have a very interesting and engaging Sludge/Southern Metal release titled “A Darker Shade of Blues”. Being Lowbau’s debut release, we must say that the band is giving American bands a run for their money in terms of crafting moody Southern Metal in a masterful way. Delivering 13 songs covering nearly 73 minutes, this is one band that has the right attitude and skills to be notable in this very crowded genre.

After the mood setting intro track, the band quickly shows its power with “The Prosecution Rests…”. This track is quite entertaining, but the mix feels a bit too flat to be fully enjoyed. Things start getting more interesting with the hard-rocking tracks “Order Of The Bull” and “Modern Day Alchemist”. Again the vocals sound a bit high at times thanks to a very strange mix, but the music is still quite enjoyable. The first standout song of this release is the moody western-like “A Million Years of Rain”, filled with solid guitar work and versatile vocals.

Reminding us of Chrome Division and The New Black, the band goes into full catchiness mode with the awesome “The Theft of Time” filled with cool vocal arrangements surrounded by catchy riffs. The percussions on tracks like “Alcoholic” make this release quite diverse and entertaining, showing that the band is not as repetitive as many other bands in the genre. The harp on “Coming Down On Wisdom” is quite a refreshing surprise and fits very nicely with the mood of the music.

With the band having few sections here and there using more traditional Southern Rock instruments like the blues harp, an accordion, and an organ, we feel that they should have exploited them more to add that extra level of dynamism to the music that would easily put them over the competition. For those looking only for Sludge goodies, “Nanny” is one of those tracks that will nicely satisfy your cravings.

Lowbau’s debut full-length release is quite impressive we must say. The band does a gret job in capturing the Southern vibe on their music and their vocalist leads the onslaught with great charisma. While there are a few weird mix/production issues (we think) in some tracks, “A Darker Shade of Blues” is one hell of a debut release and any fan of the genre should line-up and get a copy of it.

Release: February 3rd, 2013

Genre: Sludge/Southern Metal

Country: Austria