Lo-Pan is an American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band from

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

. The band has been praised for its "ability to write a driving, catchy rock song in a well-established aesthetic while still sounding original, vibrant and exciting," and for "performing heavy rock that's at once infectious and distinctly ambitious." Their most recent album, ''Subtle'', was released in May 2019.

History

The band formed in 2005 with bassist Skot Thompson, drummer Jesse Bartz, and guitarist Brian Fristoe. Singer Jeff Martin joined the following year. The band shares its name with a villain in the comedy-martial arts film ''

Big Trouble in Little China ''Big Trouble in Little China'' (also in known as ''John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China'') is a 1986 American fantasy action comedy film directed by John Carpenter and starring Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun and James Hong. ...

''. Lo-Pan started with a

stoner rock Stoner rock, also known as stoner metal or stoner doom, is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of doom metal with psychedelic rock and acid rock. The genre emerged during the early 1990s and was pioneered foremost by Kyuss and Sleep. ...

sound but have since added elements of traditional

and heavy metal. They released a self-titled album in 2006, then signed with Small Stone Recordings, which released the album ''Sasquanaut'' in 2009. Small Stone released their third album, ''Salvador'', in 2011. That album was praised by

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

for achieving "a fluid balance of guitar-driven muscle and songwriting immediacy," with a nod to "remarkable singer" Jeff Martin. Lo-Pan's 2014 album ''Colossus'' received widespread praise from the hard rock and heavy metal communities. For example, ''

MetalSucks MetalSucks is a heavy metal music-themed news website. The site features reviews, interviews, information on latest metal releases and blog-like posts from the writers, most notably Vince Neilstein and Axl Rosenberg. History The site was foun ...

'' called the album "heavy, hooky" and "a juggernaut that will bring joy to your bros." Reviewer Birdie Garcia described the album as "a unique high steppin’ tune in its unusual doom presence, something that has a groove but can also be blasted on the road while going a million miles to nowhere," while ''SputnikMusic'' praised the album for "bludgeoning the listener with a cavalcade of gargantuan riffs from the ground up." Brian Fristoe left the band shortly after the release of ''Colossus'' and was replaced by Brujas del Sol guitarist Adrian Zambrano. Lo-Pan released the five-song EP ''In Tensions'' in early 2017; ''The Obelisk'' named the EP as its best short release of the year. Shortly after the EP was recorded, Zambrano departed due to the rigors of the band's touring schedule, and was replaced by Sleepers Awake guitarist Chris Thompson (no relation to bassist Skot Thompson). The band's fifth full-length album, ''Subtle'', was released in May 2019. The album earned positive reviews from ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

'', which praised its "intense, swirling tunes that float with both an otherworldly grace and a devastating menace," ''

Decibel The decibel (symbol: dB) is a relative unit of measurement equal to one tenth of a bel (B). It expresses the ratio of two values of a power or root-power quantity on a logarithmic scale. Two signals whose levels differ by one decibel have a po ...

'', which called the album "a gem," and ''

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...

'', which noted "Jeff Martin’s soaring vocals over sludgy riffs, providing a nice dichotomy of melodic and heavy." In 2022, drummer Jesse Bartz was diagnosed with cancer of the tonsils, and received surgery and treatment funded by a crowdsourcing campaign.

Members

Current members *Skot Thompson – bass (2005–present) *Jesse Bartz – drums (2005–present) *Jeff Martin – vocals (2006–present) *Chris Thompson – guitar (2016–present) Former members *Brian Fristoe – guitar (2005–2014) *Adrian Zambrano – guitar (2014–2016)

Discography

Albums

*''Lo-Pan'' (2006) *''Sasquanaut'' (2009, re-released 2011) *''Salvador'' (2011) *''Colossus'' (2014) *''In Tensions'' (EP, 2017) *''Subtle'' (2019)

References

{{reflist Musical groups from Ohio Musical groups established in 2005