RockMusic

Originally five and a half minutes long; ‘Showdown’ has been stripped down to three minutes fifty for its commercial release as a single. The opening track from the band’s ‘In Silico’ album, ‘Showdown’ fuses drum and bass with rock, and Pendulum really produces an incredibly powerful sound here. The track has a real kick about it, a lively, energetic atmosphere about the music at all times.

Every second of the track is packed with excitement; ‘Showdown’ is arguably the best track from the band’s ‘In Silico’ album, and the decision to release it as a single really does make a lot of sense. Although not as good as past pulsating Pendulum anthems such as ‘Slam’ and ‘Tarantula’; ‘Showdown’ is still a pretty decent effort from Pendulum, and the best the band has released as a single in a long time.

The video to the track is almost as excellent as the music itself; the video works incredibly well and really does combine brilliantly with the music. Directed by Nick Bartleet, the video for ‘Showdown’ is one of the very best I’ve seen in a long time; it’s a powerful piece of video, and the fast cutting really does work well. Separately the music and the video are both excellent; combine them though and this really does provide for an absolute masterpiece.

For artists combining components of drum and bass and rock; you won’t find any better than Pendulum. Admittedly there are some absolutely terrible tracks on the bands ‘In Silico’ album, there are also some absolute gems on there though, and ‘Showdown’ is most certainly one of them.

Whilst ‘Showdown’ is an excellent drum and bass/rock crossover track though; Clipz remix of the track most definitely isn’t. Clipz awful clownstep remix of ‘Showdown’ is without doubt the worst drum and bass track I’ve ever heard. Clipz remix of the track really needs to be heard for its badness to be believed, and as it’s currently available to listen to from Pendulum’s MySpace page; a trip to the band’s MySpace page is most certainly recommended if you’re up for hearing a comedicly bad drum and bass remix.

Pendulum’s ‘Showdown’ is a great crossover track, not the best that the band has ever written, but a very good four minute effort nonetheless. It probably won’t be remembered in years time as a classic of its genre, if you’re looking for a fast and fun piece of music though then ‘Showdown’ will most certainly deliver. The Nick Bartleet directed video is provided below, and I highly recommend watching it as it really is very impressive.

‘Showdown’ will be Pendulum’s 14th single release, and is to be released through Warner Bros. on January 5th 2009.

Rating: 4/5