Lower 13 describes themselves as a Melodic Metal Power Trio. After listening to them, I will not be trying to argue anything different as I heartily agree with them, though I’d expand that description a bit to include some additional influences from Thrash, Death, and Power Metal. With a combination of clean and harsh vocals, powerful rhythms, and intricate lead work, Lower 13 blends multiple disciplines into a tasty feast of Heavy Metal that contains something for everyone on the Metal Spectrum. Varied lyrical themes add to the appeal of the record, giving the listener more to digest as they dig deeper and deeper into these five killer tracks.

https://www.lower13official.com/

Band Members:

  • Patrick Capretta – Guitars/Vocals
  • Sean Balog – Bass/Vocals
  • Eric Kruger – Drums

Released:

November 10, 2023

Tracklist:

  1. More Time
  2. Your Love’s A Curse
  3. The One To Blame
  4. Holding On To Misery
  5. You Just Left Her

This five-track EP opens with a nice chugging riff and has a lot of complex elements mixed in to give it a massive impact. There are clean and harsh vocals with different guitar tones while maintaining a similar rhythm. The bass has a lead section, showing there is more to this band than just a guitarist who can go heavy or melodic on a whim. The drums have variable phrases and patterns, showing the same skill set exists within each of the three band members.

Much like “More Time,” digging into “Your Love Is A Curse” yields the same musical aspects, though the vocals spend more time in the harsh register. More bass leads = more happy me. In a three-piece band, it seems quite important to have all the musicians fairly equal in skill levels. Lower 13 accomplishes this with ease. Three instruments, two voices, one killer sound.

The outlier track, “You Just Left Her,” is on the more melodic side of the band’s spectrum. It still has the heavy, chugging rhythm and guitar work, but the vocals are mostly clean and the lyrical tone appears lighter just from the predominantly clean vocals. There are harsh vocals, but they take the backseat on this one, much like cleans stepped back on “Your Love Is A Curse.” The way Lower 13 can scale to either end of their musical spectrum is a testament to their excellent songwriting skills.

I like how this band has differences in each track while maintaining a solid, consistent sound. All of the songs fit together without all sounding just alike. They manage to make each song have a unique identity, yet you know they all belong together. The mix works well, balancing out the different voices and layering everything together so that the dominant piece is out front, but does not overpower everything else. Overall, this is one hell of a killer EP.

MZ Ratings:

Musicianship:

  • Musicianship:
  •             Guitars – 9
  •             Rhythms – 9
  •             Vocals – 10
  • Songwriting – 9
  • Production – 9

Overall – 9.20