Drown

at The Middle East Cafe
by Paul Lee

Darkness abounds when Drown lets loose. They tap into the pain and anger of life with their tortured industriametal. They don’t sound like any of those famous industrial bands. This is not a clone band. With Hold Onto The Hollow (Elektra), Drown rip and tear into the fabric of your tormented should with power and originality. They brought their pain to the Middle East with Prong and Clutch.

Hold Onto The Hollow is about as dark and enraged as music comes these days. Drown makes ou feel their anguish. They use their roaring power chords and thundering drums and electro-rhythms to blast forth their music and message. It seems likely that the guys in Drown have gotten fucked-over marjorly in their lives. I feel sorry for them, but they’ve come up with some great stuff because of their pain. Singer Lauren Boquette has a twisted and painful voice that drive the spikes even further into your spine. He makes Trent Reznor sound like a happy-go-lucky Publisher’s Clearing House winner.

It’s funny how the names of the songs on Hold On don’t reflect their brutality. There are titles like “I Owe You,” “Reflection,” “Beautiful,” and “Longing.” But don’t be fooled. They are all tortured and powerful tunes. With their tech-enhanced metallic sound and despondent lyrics, you can’t go wrong.

Live, Drown projected their tormented anger. The crowd that was at half capacity seemed to feel the effect. The problem with Drown is that Boquette needs to use more of his vocal range than he uses. After a while, it got a bit tiring hearing him use the same wail without any variation.