Presenting a fast, groovy and electrified fusion of 80’s and 90’s Thrash Metal with traditional Heavy and Death Metal sounding, please welcome a promising new act from the French underground scene.

It’s time for The Headbanging Moose to take a short and extremely fun and heavy trip to Nantes, a city on the Loire River in the Upper Brittany region of western France, to slam into the pit to the flammable Thrash Metal blasted by a brand new group in the French independent scene that goes by the name of Lebowskii. If you’re a diehard fan of bands such as Slayer, Death, Megadeth, Cannibal Corpse, Metallica and Tool, you’ll have a great time listening to the music by this four-piece act comprised of Damien on vocals and guitar, Jonathan on vocals and bass, Boris on the guitar and Laurent on drums. Together those four French horsemen are releasing their debut EP, titled Liquidators, presenting a high-octane, groovy and electrified fusion of 80’s and 90’s Thrash Metal with traditional Heavy and Death Metal sounding.

In the opening track, titled Why Are We Falling Down?, we already get to know who Lebowskii are, as we face four metallers crushing our heads with their fiery mix of Thrash and Groove Metal. Moreover, Laurent shows all his fury through his fierce beats in this great composition highly recommended for banging your head and cracking your spine, while Damien leads the battle with his enraged screams. Then we have Haunting A Shell Of Flesh, slightly slower but heavier than its predecessor due to the smashing drums by Laurent, also presenting hints of the Thrash Metal by Slayer and Testament, with Boris bringing a welcome balance to the song’s neck-breaking core rhythm with his precise guitar lines. And leaning towards modern Thrash Metal (without losing its old school vibe) the band offers us all the title-track Liquidators, bringing forward a great riffage by Boris while Damien effectively screams and shouts the song’s violent lyrics,supported by Jonathan and his backing vocals, who also delivers groovy, solid bass lines during the entire song.

Their feast of contemporary metal blended with traditional riffs and beats from Bay Area Thrash goes on in Your Brain Is Just Insane, another song tailored for headbanging nonstop with the band where Damien and Jonathan once again make a great duo on vocals, pumping up the listener to scream and shout together with them. Lastly, closing the EP the band blasts more aggression in the form of music in Narrow Minded, a song where you’ll be able to enjoy Lebowskii in their most Groove Metal mode, with the sound of bass and drums being truly thunderous. In addition, when you reach this point of the EP you’ll realize that although all five songs are longer than your usual Thrash Metal tune (mainly due to the progressiveness added by all band members with their refined techniques), that doesn’t mean they get tiresome or boring. Quite the contrary, Lebowskii are a band that knows how to captivate our attention for an extended period of time, no matter how long their compositions might be.

If you are a fan of straightforward heavy music with no shenanigans nor any artificial elements, then you should definitely give Lebowskii a try by liking their Facebook page, and obviously by buying your copy of the ass-kicking EP Liquidators through their BandCamp page or through the M.U.S.I.C. Records webstore. This is the type of music that once it gets into your day-to-day playlists, it will stay there forever, and you’ll find yourself banging your head to the flammable riffs and hardcore attitude by Lebowskii over and over again. As a matter of fact, remember we’re talking about a five-track EP only, which makes me wonder how insane a full-length album by such promising band shall sound like (and I hope Lebowskii deliver that sooner than later, for our total delight).

Best moments of the album: Why Are We Falling Down? and Liquidators.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2018 M.U.S.I.C. Records

Track listing
1. Why Are We Falling Down? 5:50
2. Haunting A Shell Of Flesh 5:58
3. Liquidators 5:12
4. Your Brain Is Just Insane 5:47
5. Narrow Minded 6:26

Band members
Damien – guitar, vocals
Jonathan – bass, vocals
Boris – guitar
Laurent – drums