I swear to God I used to hate Seattle, or the music scene there at least. After all, grunge helped to kill the music I loved back then. I retrospect, the scene neede a cleansing, but I'm still a little pissed at Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vedder. But NOW comes Zero Down, who completely blown away any stereotype you have of Seattle Alternative Music.

Simply stated, I freakin' LOVE this band. They have taken the NWOBHM and modernized it a bit, adding a few twists and turns and coming up with one of the best damn Hard Rock and Metal albums I've heard in ages. Mark "Hawk" Hawkinson's voice has an amazing versatile and diverse voice that can bring back memories of the days of Classic Metal, but still has a modern edge so it's not completely "retro".

The guitars too have elements of the Classic Metal days, but the tones are modern enough to let the kids think they have found something cool that their dad's didn't listen too. For fans of duo of K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton are also going to love what they hear from Lenny Burnett and Fred Speakman. They are very tight and obviously know their Metal.

The music and songs are very well-written and avoid the Metal Cliche's but still have the Big Arena Athem sound to them. "Knotty Pine", "Die Wasted", "Sweet Thing" and the title track are just a few of the huge rockers on the album. The truth is that the whole damn release is powerful. It's the kind of CD you crank the shit out of in the car stereo, especially if you're sitting next to some fucking loser listening to rap. These guys are the real deal, they should be doing festivals in Europe for crying out loud. They give me hope for rock in the United States and have changed my impressions of Seattle again! Go Mariners and for fuck's sake bring back my Sonics!!!!