FOR THE SHOWDOWN, HEAVIER ISN’T NECESSARILY BETTER

I kind of lost track of The Showdown over the past couple of years. I absolutely loved their 2007 southern-metal-meets-cock-rock Temptation Comes My Way because of the way the band so seamlessly mixed those two styles and melded them into a cohesive, song-focused effort. Their 2008 release Back Breaker was significantly more aggro and heavied the fuck up; gone were the Motley Crue-inspired guitar riffs and hip-swingin’ Southern grooves, and in their place was a whole lotta aggressive, downtuned riffing and double-bass drumming. Despite Back Breaker being a perfectly fine effort — and despite the fact that heavier is usually a good thing — I just couldn’t get into it as much as I had Temptation.

Two years later The Showdown are back with another full-length in Blood In The Gears (August 24th, Solid State); the title track and, most recently, “Heavy Lies the Crown” are both available on their MySpace page. The songs are in the heavier, more modern vein the band moved to with Back Breaker, and while this isn’t necessarily a bad thing it just doesn’t have the same appeal to me as Temptation Come My Way. I know a lot of folks love the band’s pre-Temptation album A Chorus of Obliteration and for them these last two albums probably mark a welcomed return to form… but not for this guy.

Oh well. Tell me why I’m wrong in the comments.

-VN