When I first heard the name The Showdown, for some reason I got Throwdown stuck in my head. I have no idea why — although I guess it could be the shared down in their names. They do have a couple of things in common, at least to my ears. Both bands have a crunchy heaviness featuring pit churning breakdowns, and both acts' sound seems to have strong southern influences, as if they both listened to a lot of Pantera. However not all is identical, thankfully, with Throwdown easily being the heavier of the two. Beyond that I cannot compare much more as I am unfamiliar with the majority of Throwdown's work, and this is my first exposure to The Showdown.
The Showdown is a Christian metal act that recently signed with Solid State records, home of other Christian metal acts such as Norma Jean and Demon Hunter. Back Breaker is their Solid State debut and their third full length overall. I have read that this album combines the styles of the prior releases while heading in a different direction.
Upon receiving the CD, the first thing I noticed was a big black sticker covering the entire front of the case. What were they hiding, I wondered? I mean, they are a Christian act after all, so it could not be anything too graphic. I took the wrapper off and revealed a ripped man wearing a loincloth and sporting a body pierced by a great number of arrows. What? Sorry, maybe I am dense (which could very well be the case), but I don't get it.
I took the disk, put it into my CD player, pressed play and began my first listen to The Showdown. All right, heavy riffs, some nice lead work, I can get into this. The next song begins after the short instrumental open. Heavy, but not too heavy, riffs pick-up, semi-growled vocals enter the fray and Back Breaker is off and running.
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