It's around 15 minutes before Lowen are due on, and you already get the sense that this is going to be something just a little bit different. The stage is bedecked with candles, incense, plants and a traditional Persian daf drum, hinting at the burst of primal mystic power that is to come.
These British-Iranian metallers' blend of crushing, progressive doom and Middle Eastern melody has marked them out as one of UK metal's most exciting young bands, 2024's Do Not Go to War With the Demons of Mazandaran one of the best albums to emerge from the modern underground. As they walk on stage and let the riffs rip, the impact on the curious onlookers filling up the Dogtooth tent is immediate - heads are banging, smiles are spreading, energy levels are rising.
@metalhammeruk ♬ original sound - Metal Hammer
Then, a male belly dancer slinks on stage, flowing around frontwoman Nina Saeidi as she lets loose a venue-shaking howl, book in one hand and ceremonial dagger in the other. Download has existed for well over two decades now, and yet this is a performance quite unlike anything this storied festival has ever seen.
Before long, Nina's dagger has been replaced by a huge sword, the singer suddenly looking less like a metal musician and more like a vengeful war queen as she hoists it high above her head, Shem Lucas' thunderous riffs providing the perfect, battle-ready soundtrack.
And then, barely 25 minutes in, it's all already over, a short but superb set confirming what plenty in attendance already suspected, but everybody here now knows: Lowen are a special band, and it won't be long before they're playing much bigger stages than these.
