Album Review: "Devil Down" by Twingiant

Devil Down

Today's review subject hails from the desert city of Phoenix, AZ.

Can you think of any other bands from that area? I believe that Godhunter is from Tuscon, AZ...but I also have no idea how far apart these cities are and the aforementioned Godhunter has very little in common from Twingiant.

The similarities end at playing high gain guitars and metal.

Formed in 2010, their idea was to play loud as all get out rock'n'roll, but in today's society, grooving rock music gets classified under the Stoner Metal category...

Our good friends Crobot can attest to that I think.

Twingiant has been fairly active in their short time in existence. Today we're looking at their sophomore LP, Devil Down, but aside from their debut, they also have an EP to their credit and will be releasing a Split EP next year and going on tour.

Twingiant

There is certainly a lot to enjoy about this record.

I make a lot of noise about vocalists using more than one delivery, especially in metal, because it helps to break up the monotony of metal vocals.

Jarrod LeBlanc's (bass/vocals) primary delivery is somewhere between Orange Goblin and Morbid Angel. It's a little bit heavy and a little bit melodic.

The drums, played by Jeff Ramon, are straight forward and hard pounding. There's the usual rock fills, but no double bass blast beats. Ramon plays it right in the pocket.

The guitars handled deftly by by Tony Gallegos and Nikos Mixas. Together Gallegos and Mixas make a formidable duo of axe slingers.

They're certainly not shreddy by any stretch, but they riff and groove. They play a wah drenched style of rhythm guitars with some nice little solos and melody lines.

All in all, if you're a fan of Crobot, Orange Goblin, or any other such grooving band, these are the new kids on the block and you should be checking them out today.

Release: 12/02/14
Label: Medusa Crush Recordings
Genre: Stoner Metal
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