(((O))) Live: Lowen – The Black Heart, Camden Town

Do Not Go To War With The Demons of Mazandaran warns the title of Lowen’s second album, launched tonight to an eager, sold-out audience at London’s Black Heart. Peering through the rowdy throng, the fearsome ensemble of cobwebbed medieval maces, daggers and cudgels which adorns Lowen’s drumkit becomes visible. All this weaponry alongside the Conan-like warrior on the band’s t-shirts at the merch booth frames the show as a battle. Lowen are certainly at war: against the Iranian authorities which prevent the band’s frontperson Nina from visiting her ancestral home, and which continue to oppress the women of that nation. But, while this political protest is present in lyrics and themes, they’re not made explicit tonight as the band focusses on showcasing their new record. Rather than the battle itself, this feels more like a welcome party for heroes returning from triumphant victory. And, as we will see, it’s difficult to imagine a more successful launch or a more powerful performance. 

Choosing doom and stoner bands as support reinforces Lowen’s roots in those genres, although Mazandaran shows that Nina and Co have now travelled quite far beyond these generic confines. First up, Turkish three-piece Congulus certainly grasp our attention with their bass-player’s wonderful outfit, consisting of blue dungarees, rainbow guitar strap, and an unusual Mohican. While their guitarist builds complex looping drones over more straightforward rock foundations, the band ease into mid-tempo psych that’s somehow both more relaxed yet more intense than your average driving stoner fare.  

Congulus. Photo: Talie Rose Eigeland

Our flamboyant bass-player comes out into the crowd at one point, casting out his head-piece and scattering something everywhere. “They are cigarettes!” someone next to me realizes; “that’s really strange and disturbing”. Now he’s given someone a tambourine, and they rise to the challenge like a pro, adding percussive flair to those solid basslines and swirling guitars. “Cigarettes are on me after the show!” 

Making the most of a tight half-hour set, Congulus keep building: adding live tabla and noisy synth to Clutch-like boogie riffs and heavy metal gallops. This is a genuinely progressive set from a band who stand out from the stoner rock multitudes by keeping it fresh and allowing themselves to have fun.  

Witchsorrow. Photo: Talie Rose Eigeland

Having seen Witchsorrow several times now, I know that they never surprise and they never disappoint. Sticking squarely to the tried-and-tested doom principles of slow, warm, heavy, this three-piece sound better every time I see them and seem to step a little further away from the Electric Wizard template too. It’s not clever, but it sure is big – absolutely, floor vibratingly massive – and delivered with the kind of passion and sincerity that only true fans of the genre can do.  

A phantasmagorical ziggurat; temples lined in coral reefs and tentacles, with vulvic openings; extra-terrestrial forms preside; UFOs hover; and robed figures engage in obscure ceremony. It’s the Mazandaran canvas hanging behind the stage, of course, in all its surreal, Bosch-like glory. Lowen’s stage is colourful enough, even before Nina steps out, clad in a purple and gold traditional robe, and launches into the acapella intro of ‘Ashurbanipal’s Request’ – “Rise from your slumber, lord of the ziggurat!f” – from Lowen’s debut album, A Crypt in the Stars: Aside from this genuinely goose-pimple-inducing opener, tonight’s setlist is Mazandaran in its entirety but rearranged.  

Lowen. Photo: Talie Rose Eigeland

Nina is a wonderfully expressive performer, constantly shifting through terrifying, wide-eyed anger, solemn introspection, and beatific grins as genuine as they are beautiful. At one point she pulls something from a leather fob on her belt and brandishes it to the heavens. “It’s cool…it’s a mace!” someone next to me observes excitedly. The crowd may not have nailed the pronunciation of the Farsi lyrics to ‘Najang Bah Divhayeh Mazandaran’ yet, but we give it a damn good shot.   

Lowen. Photo: Talie Rose Eigeland

It’s difficult not to be blown away watching Nina perform but, seeing the Lowen band do their thing in front of me, I’m appreciating the music more than ever. Tracks like ‘Corruption on Earth’ and ‘Waging War Against God’ – with their deep eight-string riffs and strategic chugging drops – are designed to get the pit going; and they sure do. One of the most memorable moments of the set is when cellist Arianna Mahsayeh takes to the stage to perform ‘May Your Ghost Drink Pure Water’. There’s a brief technical hitch, smoothed over by jovial crowd banter, before the haunting intro finally comes in. The cello is mournful, slurring: the perfect complement to, and mirroring of, Nina’s vocal style. Arianna plays each note with her full body and a beaming smile – and it all sounds twice as heavy when the full band kicks in. 

Lowen. Photo: Talie Rose Eigeland

Despite the crowd begging for an encore, the show concludes as does Mazandaran with ‘Ghazal For The Embrace Of Fire’. In the spirit of heavy-metal theatrics, Nina brandishes a leather-bound spell book and begins intoning the distinctive Arabic poetry at the centre of the song, as the band deploy nauseatingly low sub-bass drops.  

Lowen. Photo: Talie Rose Eigeland

Do Not Go To War With The Demons of Mazandaran is a startlingly good and original album, which rewards repeat listens and absolutely slays at a live show. Everything about Lowen – from the ecstatic reviews of Mazandaran to this sold-out release – screams metal stardom in the making. There are probably no other metal bands in London (or elsewhere) with a British-Iranian woman at the helm, singing about women’s oppression and Persian folktales in Farsi.

Lowen. Photo: Talie Rose Eigeland

Lowen sure have the records, and tonight’s show demonstrates that. With their progressive song-writing, huge riffs, Nina’s magical voice, and the glorious melodrama of their performance, this band put on a spectacular heavy metal show that aligns them with the greats of the genre.

Go and see Lowen immediately before they get as huge as they deserve.