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| Zero Down Live @ 4th Ave. Tavern Olympia, WA November 11, 2005 By Cheryl (SugarBuzz Seattle) SugarBuzz Magazine Live Photos By Cortney Kelly |
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| From Dante's Inferno (loosely translated): "A heavy thunder breaks the deep lethargy within your head causing you to upstart suddenly, like a person who, by force, is awakened. Before you stands an enormous gate with an inscription that reads: 'Come all ye heathens and rejoice in the firm and commanding rock of Zero Down " Abandon every hope, ye who enter here... because there will be hell to pay with this Seattle band's recently released second album "Old Time Revival". Zero Down has been wielding their hefty rock music in the northwest for about 3 years. I had the pleasure of catching their most recent show in my home town of Olympia at the 4th Ave. Tavern last Friday. The impassioned and gritty preaching of lead vocalist, Hawk, provides a combination of guttural shouting and 80s metal howls on such tunes as "In the Name of Satan We Rock." Serving up a heady brew of riffs throughout are dab-hand guitarists Lenny Burnett and Fred Speakman, dueling with exceptional harmonies and solos on "Casino Royale" and "Rock N Roll Kidz". I noticed a dude with long hair, backwards MTV baseball hat and high-top Reeboks who stood in sheer awe of Fred while gripping his pitcher of domestic beer for a good part of the set. |
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Much like a disciplined drill sergeant for Satan himself, drummer Tyler "T-Rex" Lindsley keeps the whole performance consistently fiery, fast, high and tight as heard on "Two Ton Hammer". Ronnie Banner pours out the thick bass on the low end, rounding out the sound on "Rejuvenate" and "Bronson" (ode to our hero, Charles Bronson). You get a sense of the band's influences on their album: the likes of Thin Lizzy, Iron Maiden, Sick of It All and Motorhead, but Zero Down's punk, rock and metal ménage-a-trois shows us their wide range of play within these genres while not tying to sound like everything else you hear today. |
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| And if that wasn't enough, we all enjoyed a reach-around as Zero Down closed the set covering Twisted Sister's "You Can't Stop Rock And Roll". This brought out the girl-on-girl dancers and solo, sweaty, shifty, boogie-guy, while someone shouted from the back, "You guys f*cking rock! ". Amen, my brother. Oh, but there is more rock to speak of on this rainy evening in Olympia. Aberdeen's JED took the stage with their tight, multi-textured rock layered over a sturdy metal base similar to that of Floater, Rage Against the Machine and Tool. Like a rocker possessed, You WILL bang you head to these guys, don't even fight it. Accept your fate. Drawn in from NYC by Seattle's Rockrgrl conference this weekend, supergroup, Brain Surgeons, comprised of (get this) drummer Al Bouchard (Blue Oyster Cult) his wife and former rock critic Deborah Frost on guitar, David Hirschberg on bass and shredding guitarist "Ross the Boss" (Dictators, Manowar) drove it like they stole it with some old school metal. "With a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound", the piece de resistance, "Godzilla", began. Predictably, the crowd went wild for this tune, which took a surprising twist and evolved into a ripping and wondrous, organic free-form jam as JED's drummer, Mike Peterson, hopped on stage and shared the kit with Al (who was wearing a Godzilla headdress by this time). Together, they engaged in a tandem, ex! ceptional pounding that blew us away. |
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| Sinners, the power of rock will compel you to restore yourself to your youthful rock vigor by getting thee a copy of Zero Down's new album, "Old Time Revival". JED and the Brain Surgeons best rate equally high on your action plan. Make it so... and I'll see you in hell.
http://www.myspace.com/zerodownrocks |
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