By Tim Bolitho-Jones
The opening track on ‘Phantasma,’ the new album by Finnish rockers Lowburn is called ‘Doom Dealer.’ And in some respects, that tongue-in-cheek title tells you everything you need to know about this band. It’s got all the hallmarks of traditional doom but it’s also remarkably upbeat and could even pass for party music if you’re drunk enough. This is not funeral music, it’s a hard rockin’, cider drenched bad ass sporting a big beard and a patch jacket. If you’ve ever attended Roadburn festival, get ready to meet your new favourite band.
They were formed by Battlelore members Tomi Mykkanen and Henkka Vahvanen during a brief downtime in their main band. There’s no trace of the power or Goth influences though, this is pure Sabbath worship with a splash of Motorhead thrown in as well. Once upon a time this would simply have been called ‘heavy metal’ and Lowburn are a great example of how to pay tribute to the early days while still sounding fresh and vital.
‘Phantasma’ you see is surprisingly energetic. Songs like ‘Freaks’ are rump-shaking, boogie-metal that’ll get even the most stoned longhair pogoing like a Less Than Jake fan, while the brilliantly titled ‘Urban Funk Campaign’ is pure good time groove. It’s a bruising sledgehammer packing some seriously gnarly riffage and it could only be more macho if it turned up on a motorcycle.
‘Cloud Valley’ on the other hand is a bluesy, gravel voiced barn burner straight out of the Down playbook and an early highlight. The pace drops in the second half, leading nicely into ‘Walking On Thirds,’ which is perhaps the most psychedelic cut. It’s part swamp rock, part eighties sci-fi movie soundtrack and if we didn’t know they originated from Scandinavia, we’d swear these guys were coming straight out of the New Orleans underground.
Best of the bunch though is ‘Song Of A Preacher.’ Here, Lowburn really hit their stride with a hugely enjoyable slab of retro fun. Starting off with a lazy, monged-out swagger, it turns into what can best be described as the moment the sixties died. It’s spiteful malevolence hiding in the hippie community, it’s missing backpackers buried in unmarked graves in the Arizona desert, it’s dying of thirst because no-one trusts hitchhikers any more…it’s bloody great is what it is. It’s the best track that Uncle Acid And The Deadbeats forgot to write and the chorus will be stuck in your head for days.
‘Phantasma’ then is an album that’ll make sure you have a great time scratching the nostalgia itch. Battlelore’s commitments will probably keep them busy but this is still worth investing time in. Its bass heavy rumbling is pure old-school worship and if you’re into riff-tastic stoner rock, this is pretty much unmissable.
- ‘Phantasma’ is released today (Friday 25 October). You can get your copy HERE.
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