What’s emotional, eruptive, and excellent? Well, for one, our latest premiere.
Deep in San Francisco rests a beast of a band named Lowcaster. The quartet dishes out some hefty-ass music using a multitude of approaches – progressive, stoner, doom, and even some post-metal reach. They’re gearing up to release their second album titled Flames Arise on October 25 with the help of Ripple Music, but we happen to have the whole thing right here for you to preview. Don’t worry, we have permission to do this.
Only seven tracks, but boy, do they take you on a journey. By the midway point of “Pilian”, it’s like I’ve listened to three or four distinct bands, and I mean that in a very good way. Some bands live and die by being really good at one or two things, others crave versatility and the challenge of pushing themselves as artists and performers. Lowcaster are firmly in the latter category as made evident with this album which is tighter than my budget at the end of the month.
No matter where you are in the tracklist, Lowcaster wield an immovable energy, replete and endlessly stoked. “Flames Bemoan The Tide” has cascading riffs showering you in melody accompanied by soaring vocals. “Pilian” punches forward with white-hot metal intensity before slowing to a crawl for a doom interlude that grabs you by the ankles where you stand and drags you down to dense depths. “Shore Up The Ashes” presents you with ambiance that tickles your spine with fragile guitars and layered vocals before the hard rocking atmosphere shoots forth with the subtlety of a geyser. Multiple vocalists pitch in to keep you on your toes and ensure that each song has an appropriate orator for the tone.
One thing that’s never sacrificed for heaviness’ sake is a profound emotionality at the core of it all. There’s mournful moments that will rend your heart in two just as their are celebratory moments of overcoming adversity. I get a keen sense of rebirth from this record, perhaps more plainly telegraphed by the album’s title. Fire, although commonly seen as destructive, is a stubbornly resilient force, capable of feeding itself until it consumes all. Maybe Lowcaster mean for Flames Arise to be the story of their perseverance through hardship and tragedy, they themselves rising to the occasion and conquering all in sight. At any rate, it’s a hell of a statement.
I’m sure it would make Lowcaster quite happy to have a few more fans over on their Facebook – go give it a like if you enjoy what you heard here. Flames Arise officially releases on October 25 via Ripple Music, and you can preorder it through the label’s website and the band’s Bandcamp.
