Face Down – The Runway

Not to be mistaken with the Swedish band that once featured Marco Aro, who spent some time with thrashers The Haunted, this Face Down comes from Paris, France and has elected Pantera as their ultimate source of inspiration.
Honestly, the Pantera influence is so outrageously obvious that I almost felt tempted to turn this off after opening song “One Last Walk” ends and slag them off as mere Pantera clones. That bridge riff sounds like it was nicked from “Fucking Hostile” so for the French’s sake let’s just hope that Vinnie Paul never gets the chance to listen to it, otherwise they should be saving every euro they earn for the lawsuit that will be filled against them.
Apart from their evident lack of personality, the four-piece are actually a competent unit, churning out some solid and bad-ass riffs with a southern rock vibe on top of a crushing and tight rhythm section, while the furious and whiskey-soaked vocals of Warren recall a Phil Anselmo on top form.
In the end, the music scene is full of bands shamefully mimicking Pantera and even tough the formula never gets tiresome or worn-out, Face Down’s “The Runway” is only a valid proposition for those of you diagnosed with Pantera-dependency. (2 for originality 6.2 for the music/10)

David Alexandre

For fans of: Pantera, Down, 2Ton Predator

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