Downer (band)
| Downer | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| origin | Orange County , California , United States |
| Genre (s) | Alternative rock , nu metal , hardcore punk |
| founding | Early 1990s |
| resolution | 2001 |
| Last occupation | |
| John Scott | |
| Aaron Silberman | |
| Jed Hathaway | |
| Tracey Sledge | |
Downer was an American alternative rock , hardcore punk , and nu-metal band from Orange County , California that was formed in the early 1990s and split in 2001.
history
After the bands Headfirst, in which the singer John Scott had worked, and Mission Impossibles, in which Aaron Silberman had played as guitarist, broke up, they both decided to form the band Downer in the early 1990s. Scott and Silberman had known each other since the mid-1980s. The line-up was completed by bassist Jed Hathaway and drummer Tracey Sledge. Shortly after it was founded, the group played as the opening act for The Offspring in a pizza restaurant. In 1995 the EP Pinman was released . In addition, local appearances were held. The following year Ammunition Records released their debut album Wrestling With Jesus , before going on tour with Ignite and Earth Crisis . In the years that followed, the group continued on tour and performed with Sublime , Korn , Deftones and Agnostic Front and was seen at Lollapalooza . In 2001, Roadrunner Records released the second, self-titled album, which was produced by Bob Marlette . However, since the band felt neglected by the label and the release had only taken place many months after completion, the band decided to split up in early September.
style
laut.de found that Pinman mixes old-school hardcore punk with “more up-to-date sounds”. The band matured significantly on the second album. Christian Graf described the music in his Nu Metal and Crossover Lexicon as melodic hardcore . In addition, the group crosses “hardcore and noise tradition with contemporary metal ideas”. According to Joel McIver in The Next Generation of Rock & Punk Nu Metal , the band is somewhere between hardcore punk and nu metal. Scott and Silberman were influenced in their youth by bands like Inside Out and The Offspring. Allmusic's Mario Mesquita Borgeswrote that Downer was influenced by various styles of hardcore punk. Martin Popoff wrote in The Collector's Guide of Heavy Metal Volume 4: The '00s about the self-titled album that the band tried, like Tool , Hüsker Dü , Korn, Pavement and At the Drive-In, to revive rock that was believed to be dead. The group is on the verge of Nu Metal, but hasnothing to dowith rap elements that other artists would use, but a bit more with Nonpoint and on par with A Perfect Circle . The vocals are particularly memorable, reminiscent of Dexter Holland from The Offspring. It also sounds like a Metal version of Big Country in places. Elmar Salmutter from Ox-Fanzine could not agree with a comparison to Tool and A Perfect Circle in his review of this album, only occasionally the group reminds of the latter band. The vocals don't sound like Maynard James Keenan's , but more like Dexter Holland. The band doesn't play melodic or traditional hardcore, but progressive post-hardcore with a tendency towards alternative rock. It is difficult to categorize the music, although it sounds original and varied. According to Matthias Weckmann from Metal Hammer , the band mixes heavy riffs with alternative rock or hardcore punk rhythmson their self-titled album, reminiscent of Tool, Jane's Addiction and Sugartooth . The songs have a dark timbre .
Discography
- 1995: Pinman (EP, Ammunition Records )
- 1996: Wrestling With Jesus (Album, Ammunition Records)
- 2000: Last Time (single, Roadrunner Records )
- 2001: Downer (album, Roadrunner Records)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Downer. laut.de , accessed on February 3, 2016 .
- ↑ a b c Mario Mesquita Borges: Downer. Allmusic , accessed February 4, 2016 .
- ↑ a b Joel McIver: The Next Generation of Rock & Punk Nu Metal . Omnibus Press, 2002, ISBN 0-7119-9209-6 , p. 49 .
- ^ Christian Graf: Nu Metal and Crossover Lexicon . Lexikon Imprint Verlag, 2002, ISBN 3-89602-515-5 , p. 74 f .
- ^ Martin Popoff , David Perri: The Collector's Guide of Heavy Metal . tape 4 : The '00s. . Collectors Guide Ltd, Burlington, Ontario, Canada 2011, ISBN 978-1-926592-20-6 , pp. 136 .
- ↑ Elmar Salmut : DOWNER . Downer CD. In: Ox-Fanzine . No. 43 (June / July / August), 2001 ( ox-fanzine.de [accessed on February 4, 2016]).
- ^ Matthias Weckmann: Downer . Downer. In: Metal Hammer . June 2001, p. 88 .