Roadrunner's Middle Eastern catch provide an enjoyable if unoriginal album.
Israeli band Betzefer (their name being the Hebrew slang for 'school') teaches us in their album 'Down Low' only one lesson; a lack of originality does not stop a band from making an impressive album. Israel is not a country famed for its metal acts (except perhaps for the ever impressive Orphaned Land), this is Roadrunner records first Israeli signing, and although this album lacks originality it is refreshing to see music of this quality coming from a country almost unheard of in terms of heavy metal until recently. 'Down Low' not only references the work of such bands as Sepultura and Soulfly but also almost seems like a slightly inferior release by these bands. This does not mean however that it is without its redeeming qualities and their mix of metalcore with more traditional metal values will certainly go down a treat with fans of the genres if they are not looking for a groundbreaking release.
Explosive drumming mixed with the crunching heavy guitar work of guitarist Roey Berman form an impressive backdrop for the music as heard in the two album highlights 'Under' and the title track 'Down Low', although throughout the album you get the impression that you have 'heard it all before' which doesn't do Betzefer any favours. The bass provided by Rotem Inbar, whilst being functional and suiting the flavour of the metalcore Betzefer play, is nothing worth writing home about (if you are the sort who enjoys writing letters about bass sections, of course) but is by no means lacking in quality. However throughout the CD I did feel the need to constantly check I was not listening to 'Roots Bloody Roots' by Sepultura.
All this of course is merely a background to the vocals of singer Avital Tamir who was really the only element of the band to truly impress me on 'Down Low'. His grunted harsh vocals, whilst not being truly different from the plethora of other bands offering such wares, suit the music exactly and convey a suitable amount of rage considering the style of Betzefer's music. The lyrics are of a typically angry and misanthropic nature such as in the songs 'Running Against' ('I'm running against all odds trying to be something more than you'll ever be you fucking poser') and '6's & 7's' ('I blame all of you fucks for taking the light and hope from people'). Whilst these lyrics are not exactly groundbreaking to the genre they are conveyed with sufficient power behind them for this not to be noticeable.
Betzefer therefore are not a band who will go down as a 'classic' in 10 years time, I imagine, and frankly if you want music of this nature you would do well to go through Sepultura's back catalogue. However if you are looking for an enjoyable 40 minutes of heavy Metalcore then you can't go far wrong with picking up a copy of 'Down Low'.