Low Roar‘s (IS/US) performance had obviously created some buzz because the venue became jam packed right before they got on stage at the relatively early hour of ten to nine. The band’s carefully crafted slow electronic rock soundscape was performed with much confidence. The audience seemed extremely pleased as there was a lot of woo-ing and clapping, a feedback unusual for a performance that one would rather describe as cerebral than upbeat. When the venue became uncomfortably crowded and I stepped back into the hallway to take a few notes, it was only to overhear concert guests discuss their joy and excitement over Low Roar.
Iceland Airwaves festival
“Former Audrye Sessions frontman Ryan Karazija’s solo debut album is one that could easily be described in glittering generalities: “beautiful,” “stunning,” and “marvelous” are all words that fit, but feel glib in praise. Those words simply don’t cover what Low Roar accomplished. Instead of working over the tired singer-songwriter material that focuses more on personality than craftsmanship, Low Roar takes a marvelous approach to building songs around mellow vocals and brilliantly played acoustic backing, with “Rolling Over” being a perfect track. “Patience” takes the album to its musical extreme, with mournful vocals and perfect arrangement. The whole album takes heavy vocal cues from Nick Drake and arrangement cues from Sigur Ros, which gives the album an incredibly deep feel to it. This is as perfect of a debut singer-songwriter album as you will ever hear.”
Verbicidemagazine.com
