Green Lung // Lowen // These Heathen Lands 2024 Live Review // The Limelight II // Belfast
So here we are, sunny Belfast, Thursday night, a school night no less ready to embrace the slamming hefty riffage of two heavy hitters in The UK’s Green Lung and Lowen.
Green Lung is here supporting their 2023 release This Heathen Land which received critical acclaim. With three full-lengths and one EP under their belt Green Lung is well established and highly regarded by those in the Stoner/Doom community which seems as a genre to be growing year on year. I can certainly see in the local scene here in N.Ireland the impact and pull that both Stoner and Doom have had on the number of bands following down that path, it would have been thrash and groove metal but a love affair seems to be brewing with the slower, heftier vibes of the genres as mentioned above.
This is the beauty of music though isn’t it, you can have a venue packed with music lovers and everyone will have their option on what constitutes good music or a good band. Up first tonight we have Lowen, another London-based band ( there must be something in the water ) and Lowen for sure are a band with a unique take on the genre.
A weighty sound fused with Middle Eastern influences and a pummelling backline that sounds like something out of a Drum and Bass set. The drum patterns are majestic and come out of nowhere to totally transform the feel and vibe of the sound. Nina Saiedi on vocals bellows out these beautiful interwoven vocal lines against a wall of distortion and frantic drum patterns that would make Pantera blush.
The musicality is something to behold as a cacophony of sounds hits you front and centre. The drums though as someone who generally doesn’t appreciate the artistry involved (cos hey they’re not even in the union) are one of the standout aspects of their performance. Of course, it goes without saying alongside the high impact of Nina’s cutting voice. A stellar and highly unexpected performance has the room in awe!
After a short break tonight’s headliners take to the stage, entering from the side door of the venue as so many bands do one by one they take their spots as the Belfast audience whip themselves up into a fury! As Green Lung kick off I can’t help but say to myself, eh this isn’t quite what I thought so was going to get! I’ve said before but when I review a band for the first time I avoid listening to them beforehand as I love that raw, in your face experience of hearing that band live, no heirs and graces, live unadulterated stage passion as the songs were written and intended to be and Green Lung are definitely not what I thought I was getting into tonight!
I was all braced for an evening of slow paced Stoner/Doom Rock but GL have unleashed unholy hell on the LL2 stage, a blistering opening few songs have totally blown me away and I am sold! Everything going on here is the furthest thing from what I normally hear at a lock Stoner/Doom show which generally is quite a laboured sound, GL are classic proggy rock with wailing guitar solos and matching wailing vocals all wrapped up with a stellar backline and that beautiful proggy goodness of a Moog keyboard to warm the cockles and mussels of one’s heart!
As each song ends a glorious roar is let out from the crowd is delirious approval, the guys are tearing it up on that tiny stage, pent up energy overflowing and met with a sizeable response from the crowd down below. Playing tracks like ‘Woodland Rites’, ‘Maxine’ and ‘The Ritual Tree’ Green Lung rip Belfast’s Limelight a new one! Highly recommended by a few of the local musicians who this weekend will be tearing it up over in London at Desert Fest, I can see why they rate Green Lung so highly, their sound is infectious, harking back to days gone by of classic rock, the kind that we all grew up on, deeply embedded in our DNA and now seaping from the pores of this fine five piece! The guys wrapped up the set with ‘The Harrowing’, ‘Old Gods’, ‘Let The Devil In’ and ‘Graveyard Sun’ leaving Belfast with their hearts full of fuzz-laden proggy-rock goodness!
Tonight indeed was a musical education of the finest order! From Lowen’s unique sound to the glorious Green Lung, they moved onto Limerick for the first time and Dublin on Saturday night before closing off this run of dates in Leeds. If you have time, have the money, go check this line up out, it is well worth your hard earned money.
https://www.facebook.com/greenlungband
