Lowen UK

Contact : Gee@durbuyrock.be

Lowen is a London based Middle Eastern progressive doom band comprised of Nina Saeidi on vocals, daf, santoor and more, as well as Shem Lucas on guitar alongside Flow Toulman of Damim and Richard Stevenson on bass when playing live.
 
Lowen mainly focuses on the displaced identity of vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Nina Saeidi, who lives in permanent exile from Iran.
 
The ancient world, its art and languages form a backdrop for an exploration of the pain and longing of the diasporically dispossessed in her mournful wails and use of traditional tahrir vocals unique to Iran.
 
Guitarist Shem Lucas adds his distinctive style to the bass and guitar sections of the music, drawing on both western and eastern influences to create a progressive soundscape that is totally unique to Lowen.
 
In 2023 Lowen played shows across the UK including Desertfest, Doomlines, Masters of the Riff, Uprising Festival and recently as a support for Conan in London. In 2024 they will be playing Warhorns Festival, Brighton Doomsday and are currently planning shows in Scotland, London and beyond.
 
Their debut album “A Crypt in the Stars” was released in 2018 and in 2021 they released a live recorded acoustic EP entitled “Unceasing Lamentations” in which 2 of 3 tracks were fully improvised and sung in the ancient languages of Sumerian and Akkadian.
 
Lowen’s second full length album Do Not Go To War With the Demons of Mazandaran will be recorded with producer Lewis Johns and Kel Pinchin (Ithaca, Pupil Slicer, Svalbard) in January 2024 and released in autumn.
 
The songs Corruption on Earth and Waging War Against God are named after and written about the death sentences placed on women protesting against the Islamic Republic of Iran during the ongoing Woman Life Freedom movement that kicked off last year.
 
One of the many fables of the Shahnameh, the Persian book of Kings, concerns the folly of rulers who jealously extend their empires despite the warnings of their own people. It is during this tale that he is warned not to go to war with the demons of Mazandaran.