"New-Metal" band offers nothing "new".
Down the sun, and keep it down if you can.
Downthesun, that's one word, all lower case, is Des Moines, Iowa's latest addition to the Slipknot wannabe club.
With their not-so-original brand of thrash metal and vocal-shredding lyrics, the band members set out to prove just how fucked up growing up in the Midwest can make someone.
Downthesun is the debut album by the new-metal band of the same name. Their album was overseen by Slipknot's Shawn "Clown #6" Crahan, and produced by Slipknot producer Garth Richardson.
What does all this mean? That it's loud, fast and obnoxious with top-notch production value and a visually pleasing aesthetic applied to all their cover CD art. Acting as both the protÇgÇ and natural extension of metal superstars Slipknot, Downthesun make the same kind of horrendous alternative-metal fused with the animal instincts of death-metal.
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Downthesun is fast, heavy and, of course, rude, which is one of the only saving graces on this album. While offering absolutely nothing but the angst and violence you would expect from a band flying under the wing of Slipknot, it does have moments of inspiration in its writing.
On one hand you get such drab, boring and clichÇd lyrics as "Hiding which is scared/ I want you high/ Get all strung out/ a medicated world prescribes smiles" from the first single "Medicated."
But on the other hand there are moments when the beauty and originality of their lyrics are shocking, like in the song, "Listen" that opens with, "Lullaby skies, unfinished symphony/ illuminate, your stars align/ they will lead you until they fade." It's moments like this that almost make me want to change my mind about this band. Which may be hard since the constant flux of this album hasn't let me have a chance to form a solid opinion.
One moment they seem like a typical new-metal band complete with two vocalists - I imagine they had a friend who wanted to be in the band but couldn't play an instrument - a few tattoos and spiked armbands. The next a glimpse of real talent rears its ugly little head only to be squashed down by another chorus of such abysmal lyrics as "Eye confide in you!"
All in all this CD is an exercise in frustration. I suppose if you like thrash-metal you'll love this CD for the same reasons I hate it. But if thrash isn't your thing, this CD will only be worth the total of two songs. "Lucas Toole" and "Listen," both of which resonate with moments of inspiration and emotion.
My only question is, why is this band trying to hide the fact that the band has some real talent buried somewhere in its twisted and repetitive soundscapes? I guess the answer is simple - good is bad. If the band were to include more than two songs using acoustic guitars and vocal constraint, it would be labeled sell-outs and its pre-assigned fan base of Slipknot fans would vanish like so many scary clowns after the circus leaves town.
If you are into Slipknot, Slayer or any other death-metal/new-metal band, this may be just what you have been waiting for.
If your taste runs more towards The Strokes, you just may want to avoid this album at all costs. This is not your grandmother's rock and roll.
Downthesun will be opening for Soulfly Saturday, Oct. 19 at the Sunshine Theater at 120 Central Ave.
