Trippy Wicked - Lowering The Tone [EP]
 

This is awful, just plain awful. As a self proclaimed fan of most forms of stoner/doom/drone metal I feel I am more than qualified to view this collection subjectively and there is nothing here that hasn't been done before hundreds of times over and hundreds of times better. The guitars have a real meaty crunch to them and the lo-fi production (recorded live I'm informed) suits the style but the vocalist sounds like a severely drunken Ozzy Ozbourne who is almost always off-key and the drums might as well not be there.

I understand stoner/doom rock is meant to create a foreboding atmosphere, but 'Lowering The Tone' isn't engaging, inventive or even listen-able enough to warrant deeper analysis. Trippy Wicked conjure up an intensely boring atmosphere which had me looking at my watch half way through the first song.

Bands such as Orange Goblin, Electric Wizard, Neurosis and especially Earth and Sunn 0))) have proven over the years that music this sonically deep can also provide us with emotional resonance but here the recycled riffs and strained, unpleasant vocals leave a lot to be desired. It's not until closing track 'Because of Euph' that we finally get to see some potential and ambition in Trippy Wicked with a muted French Horn providing a suitably haunted refrain. The horn has been used once previously on 'I Wanna Leave' but on that track it simply comes across as a gimmick.

All in all this is a pretty redundant record, the guitars are effective in parts and the horns add a fresh twist in the few moments they are actually used but everything else stinks to high heaven.

1. I Wanna Be
2. Hang em High
3. The Water Can Make Us Clean
4. I Wanna Leave
5. Sea Shanty
6. Evil
7. Because of Euph

Re: Trippy Wicked- Lowering The Tone [EP]
 

Ha ha. Damn. Slam. You even tried to be nice towards the end there but it still turned out bad for them. Made me smile, and weirdly, I quite want to listen to them now.

Re: Trippy Wicked- Lowering The Tone [EP]
 

People always cry about these negative reviews without realizing the exposure it brings. Unfortunately though, exposure doesn't not make your band shit so I can see why some get a little bitter.

Re: Trippy Wicked- Lowering The Tone [EP]
 

hehe well I guess we gotta take the rough with the smooth. I'd rather an honest opinion than no opinion and I don't mind if someone doesn't like my music. That was quite a dissing though.

Re: Trippy Wicked - Lowering The Tone [EP]
 

Fair play to you for coming on here and not slating the reviewer for offering his opinion - that says a lot about you as a person.

Others would do well to learn from your example. It's all about opinions and everyone is free to express them here.

Re: Trippy Wicked - Lowering The Tone [EP]
 

seconded, kudos sir

Re: Trippy Wicked - Lowering The Tone [EP]
 

Thanks guys. There's a lot of sites and blogs that wont review stuff if they don't like it which means you end up with a very one sided view of a record; there's far too much back-patting that goes on in niche genres. Obviously nobody wants only bad reviews but as long as there are good ones to balance them out then I'm happy. Music that doesn't provoke a reaction is boring music.

We've actually just finished recording our first full length album so the big question is do I send that to you guys when it's done?......OF COURSE I DO!

Westicle I really like the way you think, more people in bands should take
note of this as not everyone can expect the world to like their music. ^5
mate.

Re: Trippy Wicked - Lowering The Tone [EP]
 

And yeah send us your album - we'll give it to someone else to get a different opinion (not that there is anything wrong with DLO's - it's just cool to get a different take on the same artist's work). We try to do that anyway if we can.