| CD REVIEW Lower Definition |
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Band : Lower Definition Founded in 2002 to join a long line of Screamo Core bands in the San Diego area, Lower Definition (Lower D for the die-hard fans) has grown out of their purely local status to more international standards step by step. Starting out as a fun thing to do when they were still in highschool, getting an ever growing fanbase through local shows. A first sign that the band was on the right track came when local venue Soma started calling the band on a weekly basis to come and do a show. In 2006 the guys got invited to join the Taste Of Chaos Tour, and got re-invited the year after.Up to March 2007, when the band started recording their 6-track EP Moths (which they released in Summer), the guys had never recorded a serious demo (usually, they just recorded some songs, wrote their name on it with a permanent marker and handed the things out). They also were still at a point where they wanted to keep the business side of the band very firmly in their own hands, so they'd turned down any offers from labels (small and major) because that was simply not what they were at back then. More touring opportunities presented itself with 2007's Van's Warped Tour, the band also being invited to support bands from Angels And Airwaves to Atreyu and to play at the Saints And Sinners Festival...and along the way they established themselves as a force to be reckoned. Regretfully, the line-up suffered from the rough life on the road. Although singer Matt Geise, lead guitarist Eddy Marshburn, bassist Stefan Toler, and drummer Valentino Arteaga hung on, the position of second guitarist has been filled by several people, and at this very moment you'll only find the core members mentioned at the band's MySpace page. Eventually Lower D gave in to the offer done them by Ferret Music, and in February of this year they recorded the 11 tracks which were to become their debut full-length with producer Kris Crummet (of Drop Dead, Gorgeous and Kaddisfly repute. Second guitarist John "Death" Martinez (formerly of A Static Lullaby, and having only joined in October) had just left for personal reasons, but that didn't stop Lower D from putting every bit of the technical evolution they'd gone through since the release of the EP into the new material. Cleverly constructed and executed songs with a good feeling of what's needed to make the necessary changes in pace and aggression, both in the instrumental and vocal department. Apparently, although one of the guys will be used to do backing vocals on stage, it's the lead singer who does both the clean (and occasionally lulling) vocals as well as the Screamo type ones...and that is a positive thing, because it creates a bridge between the two (something which often gets lost in the case where a band uses a different singer for the clean and for the rough singing). Anyways, there's a lot of leag guitar play with a somewhat Progressive build on top of an already exhilerating rhythm riffing (which would make many bands green with envy)...but why try to tell you all this? If góód Emo Core with a bit of Screamo elements is what you like, you have to surf to myspace.com/lowerdefinition nów to compare the two new tracks posted against the three from the EP. There's also a bunch of videos for you to view (click on the "View all videos" link found down on the left side of the page). Personally, I'm generally somewhat bored with Emo/ Screamo, but in this case one gets songs with a decent technical content...and that makes all the difference. I won't go as far as to put the album in my year-lists, but I wíll call Lower Definition one of the better bands in the genre I know! 84/100 Tony. |