down-Edge
Human Lost (Demo)
6.5
The first thing that came to mind while listening to down-Edge was the fact that it’s going to require an open mind for most of the younger readers here who are growing up on a New Wave of American Heavy Metal diet. No shouted vocals? No tough guy posturing? Slow riffs? Actual melody? Songs that are given a chance to develop? Honestly, what is this? Seriously though, listening to this demo took me back to the late eighties and early 90s, when the music scene in Seattle was just hitting its stride and grunge was becoming as fashionable as wearing a bowtie to a Louis Farrakhan lecture. Somewhere between Nirvana, the Melvins, and Lacuna Coil, down-Edge takes influences from so many different genres and groups that their sound could easily fall flat on its bastardized face. Fortunately, they manage to pull it off with a surprising amount of flair and professionalism. Down-Edge is something of an international band, with the vocalist coming from Portugal and the drummer having American parents, and the music reads as such. Certainly, knowing that the group is from Copenhagen does absolutely nothing in describing down-Edge’s style. You really have to approach the music with a clear mind and no expectations as to how the group is going to sound, because what you hear will probably surprise you. There’s sweetly depressing elements lifted from some of the more poppy goth groups, but the guitar tone borrows heavily from both Nevermind era Nirvana and even the second wave of black metal. For the latter, check out the first 20 or so seconds of the first track on the demo. It easily sounds like something borrowed from Burzum. Even though I personally like Klaudia Santos’s voice, I could see it annoying a fairly considerable amount of its potential listeners. She often stretches out words, elongating them to inject the three songs recorded here with melody. Some might find it either excessive and/or wearing on the nerves, but it fits perfectly with the riffs and that’s really all that one can ask for. It IS a little nasally sounding at times, though, and THAT I could see being a legitimate complaint. She doesn’t seem to have a lot of range, but she does stick to a nice formula that stresses the tone of guitarist Christoffer Sevaldsen. Two of the songs were recorded in the studio and the last one was recorded live. The latter is actually the best of the three. Upbeat and running at a much faster pace than the previous two, “Stop” is a fantastic track with a lot of attitude, and, gasp, a solo. Santos can sound uninspired at times throughout the demo, but here she sounds quite passionate when singing. During the live recording, before the group starts playing, she says its an old song, which makes me think that the group has explored with their sound a bit, as the two newer songs before “Stop” sound more gothic. Knowing that really makes me wish they had stuck to that earlier, more grunge-oriented style, because it really matches well with Santos’s voice. Both “Waiting” and “Emergency Break” sound similar, with a more atmospheric direction being taken than “Stop,” and, frankly, both are pretty boring, except for the chorus in “Emergency Break,” which sounds borrowed from a punk album. I don’t want to make it seem like I am bagging on Klaudia Santos, as she really possesses a pretty voice, but it just sounds more passionate on the more upbeat track than the first two songs, and in a group like down-Edge, where vocals really do act as an additional instrument, a complaint like that is important. Down-Edge could really benefit from tightening their sound and taking more influences from the punk/grunge scene. The demo is really solid, though. In fact, if they record a more extensive EP, I could see them being picked up by one of the more well-known independents and establishing a pretty respectable fan-base.
