Band:	Lowen
Album:	Do Not Go To War With The Demons Of Mazandaran
Style:	Doom metal
Release date:	October 04, 2024
A review by:	RaduP

01. Corruption On Earth
02. Najang Bah Divhayeh Mazandaran
03. Waging War Against God
04. The Seed That Dreamed Of Its Own Creation
05. May Your Ghost Drink Pure Water
06. Ghazal For The Embrace Of Fire

"Do not go to war with the demons of Mazandaran! Biggest mistake of my life!"

The Hieronymus Bosch looking cover aside (it's actually L'Initiation by French artist Hérve Scott Flament), Do Not Go To War With The Demons Of Mazandaran's title itself promises a dash of occult and mythology. Not only does it warn the listeners of demons, but demons from a place whose name evokes a certain specificity. A quick Google search reveals that "Mazandaran" is a region in Iran, on the shores of the Caspian sea, a region that does seem to have a very specific history, demography, and mythology, though one that I was hoping that the albums' Bandcamp page would have more info on. But even without reading any interviews, it's clear that the band is doing more than mere orientalism when seeping into that sound.

Singer Nina Saeidi has some history with the region, and that personal exploration is what makes Lowen's music feel more authentic at injecting that Middle Eastern sound into their music. That is a sound that, possibly because of the desert rock connotation, has often worked well with doom and stoner metal, yet the shared connection makes Lowen's music avoid feeling like music of the desert from an outsider's perspective. Though there is not a lot in terms of tangible folk influence in the instrumentation aside from a few specific interlude-like moments, most of that specific feeling comes from Nina's vocal performance, with most of the imposing vocal melodies carrying a ton of culturally specific affectations.

Middle Eastern influences aside (or Persian to be more specific), the sound of Lowen is a type of doom that feels more grandiose and imposing than melancholic and desolate. The fact that a lot of its paces are much faster than usual for the genre does indicate that the band exists on the borders of the genre, being not quite epic doom nor gothic doom, but having just a bit in common with both of them. But most of all, the intricacies in the genre, some coming from the folk undertones, do create a progressive feeling that reminds me of something like King Goat, Pallbearer or Eight Bells. With such a powerful vocal performance that grabs all the attention, guitar highlights might be a bit harder to observe, but they exist nonetheless.

The songwriting is strong enough as far as that matters, but Lowen's strength continues to be just how unique and authentic that sounds like, and a huge part of that continues to be singer Nina Saeidi and her pipes.