LO PAN is a quartet from Colombus, Ohio and its music is American Rock & Roll. The album is a mix of modern American Hard Rock / Metal like BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, VELVET REVOLVER with a lot of Southern Rock influences especially on the groovy parts.

The first song, "El Dorado", is the only song that I think is a little different than the others on the album. Maybe that is why they chose this one to open the album? This is a rather more metallic song with a very ALICE IN CHAINS like verse and a very IRON MAIDEN style chorus that is even funnier because IRON MAIDEN also have their own "EL DORADO". From the second song, "BleedingOut", and on, these guys took a journey of Southern Hard Rock with shuffle grooves, high power choruses, and smooth vocal lines. "Spartacus" is my personal favorite on the record. It's the most complex song and it has an awesome chorus. "Struck Match" is another great one, very BLACK SABBATH influenced with a low tempo, and a very doom like vibe.

The thing with this band is that even though the songs in general are good and fit the style of music, the production is no good. The record sounds good, but it feels as if it was a live rehearsal. I may have came to that because it seems that there is no production at all, no backing vocals, the guitar solos are not arranged and often sound off-key and in overall, very mediocre.

The rhythm section of Bartz and Thompson sound excellent and reminded me a lot of DOWN's "Nola", an album that sounds very "live" as well, but Nola is very well built and even though it is a very monotonic style of music, the songs are not boring at all. On this album I got the feeling that sometimes all I wanted was that it will end already because almost every tune has the feeling that the same riffages are over and over.

Largely, the album is good and I believe that with a good production this album could have been a great one. However, the low production made the songs sound too simple and less interesting. Grotto did an excellent job mixing the record and making it sound live and clear but production wise the rate is very poor. It really sounds like a very well recorded rehearsal. In conclusion, if are in for a Stoner/ Southern Hard Rock style you will definitely like this one! And a tip for the band: On the next record please try to give your songs the production those deserve, because those do!