Downset.

Did You Know?

• Downset headlined the second stage at Ozzfest in 1997.
• The band toured with Linkin Park, Pantera, Slayer, Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Korn, Snoop Dogg, Testament, and Anthrax.
• Though its members came from an urban hardcore tradition rather than from metal, Downset is regarded as a noteworthy influence on nu metal and rap metal.

Band history

Before they were Downset, the band was called Social Justice and played hardcore punk. Their first lineup featured Rey Oropeza on vocals, Jesse Garcia and Steve Sain on guitars, David Acosta on bass, and Luis Garcia on drums. They put out their debut album, Unity Is Strength, in 1989. The band fell apart the next year, leaving Oropeza as the sole original member. He built a new group with guitarists Don Ward and Rogelio Lozano, bassist James Morris, and drummer Christopher Lee. This version released the mini-album I Refuse to Lose in 1992 and was recognized as an early hardcore act to blend in hip hop and funk. In 1992, Ward left and was replaced by guitarist Brian Schwager. The group then changed its name to Downset and issued the Our Suffocation demo in 1993. That material tackled social issues, including the killing of Oropeza’s father by the LAPD, and critics praised it. Around this time, the band’s sound shifted heavily into rap metal and funk metal. Downset signed with Mercury Records in 1994 and released their self-titled album the same year. They gained a following in Europe after touring there with Biohazard and Dog Eat Dog, and later with Pantera and The Almighty. In early 1995, they headlined a European tour with Sullen and played major festivals like Roskilde and Dynamo. Their biggest commercial success, Do We Speak a Dead Language?, came out on Mercury in 1996. After leaving Mercury, they signed with Epitaph Records and released Check Your People in 2000. The track “Pure Trauma” from that album appeared on the 2001 compilation Punk-O-Rama Vol. 6. In 2004, they put out Universal on the independent label Hawino Records. The band broke up in 2009. On July 21, 2014, they released their first album in a decade, One Blood, worldwide.