Lowen are the kind of band you just want to shout about. Fronted by Nina Saeidi, a Briton born to Iranian parents who fled their home country during the revolution, they play a twist on progressive metal with themes and melodies inspired by Persian tradition. Their debut album, 2024’s Do Not Go To War With The Demons Of Mazandaran, fascinatingly used Middle Eastern mythology to comment on modern politics, and their live shows are rituals that give Saeidi the presence of a priestess.
Tonight, the five-piece come full circle, playing their biggest headline show at the venue where they formed. Saeidi met guitarist Shem Lucas during an Akercocke gig at London’s Underworld eight years ago, and here they are having almost sold the place out just one album in.
The band honour this ‘back to the beginning’ moment by opening with Ashurbanipal’s Request: a doom metal march from their first EP. Najang Bah Divhayeh Mazandaran does far more to show why they’re special, though, integrating guitar lines that sound like Iranian folk played with distortion. Saeidi, wearing a grand red-and-black dress, gazes wild-eyed at her congregation while wailing in the distinctly Persian tahrir vocal style.
It all feels shamanic and otherworldly, and it only gets more so when a pair of horned belly dancers come out for Waging War Against God. Another performer emerges and wiggles his hips during The Seed That Dreamed Of Its Own Creation. It would have been easy for these back-up appearances to be a distraction, but they fall perfectly in line with Lowen’s sound and aesthetic. Also, these people have the ability to move alluringly in time with avant-garde heavy music, which may be a superhuman feat.
There are emotional spectacles, as well. For May Your Ghost Drink Pure Water, a haunting track about current-day genocides, the power is hammered home by a guest cellist, Arianna Mahsayeh. There’s also a solemn interlude midway through the set, where Saiedi and Lucas take the stage alone to play Lalaei Madar: an Iranian lullaby that the frontwoman’s mum sang to her when she was a child. It’s the strongest proof all night of just how captivating Saeidi’s voice is.
The evening ends with another throwback, this time to the first song Lowen ever wrote, Krenko’s Command. It’s a touching nod to the past, but tonight feels more about laying the groundwork for an impressive future. With their most theatrical show to date, at the biggest venue they’ve ever headlined, the band affirm themselves as one of the UK’s best up-and-coming prospects. If they take this energy into the studio for album number two, they’re soon to be unstoppable.
Lowen setlist: The Underworld, London – December 4, 2025
- Ashurbanipal’s Request
- Najang Bah Divhayeh Mazandaran
- The Fortress Of Blood
- Waging War Against God
- The Seed That Dreamed Of Its Own Creation
- Corruption On Earth
- Lalaei Madar
- May Your Ghost Drink Pure Water
- Ghazal For The Embrace Of Fire
- Krenko’s Command
