Zero Down
Pound for Pound

April 2004
Released: 2004, Independent
Rating: 3.0/5
Reviewer: Waspman

It wasn’t too long ago that Seattle was known (musically) for a bunch of shoe-gazing manic depressives playing music in flannel shirts and hating ever single bit of the life that their fame had brought them. Thank fucking God that they’re gone! In their place, Seattle has spawned a number of notable metal bands, most importantly Nevermore. As of 2002, there is a new band on the block, intent on getting the metal message to the masses, and that band’s name is Zero Down.

Formed by a bunch of veterans of the Seattle underground scene, the band fuses their love of pure heavy metal and punk rock into a fairly potent bubbly brew of their own. While a song like “Bronson” winds and grooves like a long punk song, other tracks see the band pounding it out like it’s a 1985 show and they’re opening for Overkill. That’s not to say that the band has thrash influences, ‘cause they don’t, it’s just that the songs exude that aura of underground DIY, sweaty, heavy metal.

The production is suitably crusty around the edges, though each instrument is clearly audible. The guitars have a slight punk hint to their tone, as do the slightly snotty vocals of Mark. However, given the heavier direction that it sounds like the band is headed, he might do well to take his vocals in a more pure metal direction as well as his inflections in otherwise rocking songs like “Bulletproof” are somewhat distracting.

Not much else to be said about this one really. The band is on the right track with this metallic-punk, and I foresee many dented heads in their name in the future. If you’re in the market for a more old-school sounding metal album, Zero Down is a good bet.