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The Onion (A.V. Club)

What seemed like a radical departure two years ago now sounds like a waystation on the journey to this more disjointed, more fragmented, more demanding, and ultimately more rewarding work.

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Stylus Magazine

It’s still identifiably Low, but richer and more diverse than before.

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Tiny Mix Tapes

It is still more accessible than previous Low records, as The Great Destroyer was, but doesn’t ever compromise the pure sincerity that the trio have conveyed throughout their career.

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Playlouder

This is no mere regression into a tried and tested formula for the Duluth trio. Each of these tracks is more than their trademark guitar, bass, drum soundscapes with delicate vocals hovering above the mix.

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Boston Globe

Magnificent.

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The Phoenix

Here the material has the swagger and toughness of loud, sloppy rock.

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Lost At Sea

However early in the voting period we may be, Drums and Guns will undoubtedly go down as one of 2007's strongest albums.

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Filter

The downer record of the year. [#24, p.92]

Pitchfork

I doubt Low fans who've held on this long will rebel against these new textures, more the way they're employed-- the band has added an almost disconcerting levity, and subtracted the gentleness.

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PopMatters

Drums and Guns... represent[s] another pinnacle for the band after a long climb, building on the experiments of their recent output but with reawakened confidence and vigor.

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Sputnikmusic

At times, it can be a difficult piece of work and its dark themes may require a few spins to grow on the listener. Irrespective, Drums and Guns is a fine piece of work, Low's best since Things We Lost in the Fire.

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Dusted Magazine

It's dark, lovely and slow to blossom, but leaves an impression once it does.

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Drowned In Sound

Drums & Guns is likely to split opinion to a greater extent than any other piece of Low's extensive catalogue, but avid fans should not be put off as behind the challenging production and at the centre of all their controlled experimentation lies one of the band’s strongest releases to date.

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ShakingThrough.net

An unflinchingly grim set.

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All Music Guide

It's a lean, potent work, and even if it's not one of Low's most superficially pleasant collections of songs, it's certainly among their most necessary ones.

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musicOMH.com

Music this sparse, this abandoned and this beautiful... you can never have too much of it.

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Uncut

They may have defined a genre, but Low can clearly still move forward. [May 2007, p.99]

Mojo

A record that sounds like absolutely no one else on the planet. [May 2007, p.102]

Q Magazine

A purely musical delight. [May 2007, p.126]

No Ripcord

This is probably the hardest Low album I’ve heard to appreciate, but it’s certainly worth it.

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Alternative Press

One of the better nuanced and layered compositions we're likely to see before 2007 ends. [May 2007, p.152]

Prefix Magazine

The sound is still layered and textured, and those gut-achingly gorgeous seamless harmonies between Sparhawk and wife Mimi Parker are still there.

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New Musical Express

The trio have discovered a few new sonic tricks, but it's the celestial duel-vocals of Parker and Sparhawk which continue to ensure that Low always reach such beautiful highs.

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Under The Radar

Though the subject matter (war, murder, apocalypse) is undeniably heavy, the band has never sounded like they’ve had this much fun before in their career. [#17, p.92]

Urb

Dependable? Yes. Beautiful? Definitely, yes. [Apr 2007, p.107]

Slant Magazine

The record is gloomy but never disturbing—a bummer that doesn't leave you bummed.

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Paste Magazine

Some of the most expressive tracks of Low's career. [Apr 2007, p.57]

Almost Cool

At the end of it all, Guns And Drums feels more like an inconsistent experiment than a full fledged step forward.

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cokemachineglow

Another wildly uneven affair.

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BBC collective

The subject matter takes them closer to Nick Cave than ever before, yet, whereas he displays a knowing black humour, Low’s earnestness sometimes makes them unwittingly hilarious.

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The Guardian

Long, luscious songs and cinematic melancholy are their usual preserve; their eighth album see these traded in for short, sharp shocks, metallic percussion, bullet-brusque sound effects, and frequent references to war, hate and death.

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Spin

The production is as overwrought as the antiwar themes. [Apr 2007, p.88]

Delusions of Adequacy

It’s not quite the doom-laden disaster that provisional plays suggest but neither is it an easy-to-recommend addition to the Low catalogue.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.1 (out of 10) based on 17 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Bob M. gave it a4:
A huge disappointment. The production sounds like the earliest stereophonic vinyl discs, where instruments and voices were placed at the extremities of the sound stage, leaving a sucked out centre stage. When listening to the tracks, through high quality headphones, music and lyrics take second place to the "arty-farty"electronica. My verdict: remix and Low will have a little masterpiece on their hands.

Kyle gave it an8:
No weaknesses in this album, pretty solid.

Rick H gave it an8:
After many many listens, on headphones and on a home stereo, I still don't get the point of putting all the vocals in the right channel. And I still don't get some of the things Fridman did on the new CYHSY album either, like basically destroying the first track to the point of being unlistenable. I've had the chance to see Low perform material from Drums and Guns four times now live and within that live context, these songs are some of my favorites. Murder, Sandinista. There is some very very strong material here. But on the album, there's so much bitterness and emptiness, that it's a painful experience. The production takes these songs, which are dark and frought with anxiety and makes them even more sinister by taking out all the warmth that comes across on most Low albums and is ever present during a live show. I'm an advocate of production being an art in itself, but Fridman really puzzles me at this point. He almost seems to sabotage beautiful songs out of spite. I love noise bands, I love experimentalism, I love the avant-garde, but sometimes a song should be given a chance.

Nick C gave it a9:
With "Drums & Guns" Low have once again defied expectations, redefined their entire sound, and created an astonishing and painfully understated album. The vitality of the album comes natrually from the duets of Parker and Sparhawk, their voices often times being the only consistent anchors for every song. The album consist largely of sparse keyboards, drum samples, and tape loops. Sparhawk's traditionally dominating and lush guitar playing is all but absent, barely strummed in the background of a few songs, and Parker's brushed percussion is replaced with samples. But change is something that Low fans have come to expect, and this album does not dissapoint on any level. Not as towering an achievement as The Great Destroyer, but an incredible step forward for a band that just refuses to stagnate. Sublte yet scathing, "Drums & Guns" is high on the list of contenders for most original and best album of the year.

mlee e gave it a10:
Some of the most amazing, haunting music I've ever heard. I absolutely love it and cannot stop listening to it.

Ruth V gave it a10:
Incredibly progressive. Spot-on commentary regarding wartime.

Richard H gave it a10:
Each Low album is a new experience. Very few of their albums sound 'the same', but each is undeniably "Low". This album continues their experiments in sound by going in a completely opposite direction from their last album. On "Great Destroyer" they went full on distortion and lush atmospherics. Here they've stripped their music to the very bone. The voices are honest, the production is sparse. With the introduction of more complex and more skittering drum patterns and the re-introduction of looped samples their sound has taken yet another turn. It's as though they've combined all their knowledge and experience to craft yet another signature sound. They've forgotten the distortion pedals of Destroyer and crafted another spacial realm for their sound to exist in. It's an enjoyable and rewarding listen.

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