Lo-Pan – Get Well Soon

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · April 22, 2025

Lo-Pan is heavy riff rocking band from Columbus, Ohio. Formed in 2005, the quartet have been writing infectious, and catchy rock songs since their inception and have released six full length albums and one EP. The list includes: 2006’s Lo-Pan, 2009’s Sasquanaut, 2011’s Salvador, 2014’s Colossus, 2017’s In Tensions EP, 2019’s Subtle, and 2025’s Get Well Soon. The band consists of Skot Thompson on bass, Jesse Bartz on drums, Jeff Martin on vocals, and Chris Thompson on guitar. Get Well Soon is Lo-Pan’s first album in nearly six years and it was released on April 4th 2025, on Magnetic Eye Records. It features nine tracks around forty four minutes long.

I discovered Lo-Pan around the time Salvador was released. I remember hearing their Sasquanaut album and digging their heavy driving rhythms and excellent vocals. Savador was on Small Stone Records and it was a great album. I really connected with this band when Colossus came out. Those are some of the best viscous riffs and soaring vocals ever recorded! I enjoyed Subtle also, as they toned down the intensity but broadened up the raw emotion. Lo-Pan had their share of misfortunes around Covid too, with drummer Bartz fighting cancer. The band never surrendered and fought through all of the turmoil. They leave us with a new collection of nine songs that really fire on all cylinders!

“The Good Fight” begins with a guitar psych intro that rips right into the track! The band connects and rages a killer rocking flurry of heavy, grooving, and melodic tones. Lo-Pan sounds as good as ever! They are a welcome and familiar reminder of my beloved Only Living Witness, with Jeff Martin’s vocals sounding as dynamic as Jonah’s did. “The Good Fight” is a fantastic opening track that reminds you on how relentless and powerful this band is and always dishes out the rocking grooves. It’s definitely a sound and style that I have missed since their last album, around six years ago. “Northern Eyes” cranks in next with a fuzzy onslaught of brutalizing riffs just stacked on top of each other. The band keeps the riffs simple yet driving and overlay a glorious vocal melody over it. They are such masters of heavy rock grooves mixed with melody. Their catchy and dynamic rhythms are fantastic!

“Wormwood” is another wonderful piece of sonic savagery! The music pounds in a nice flow of chugging riffs blended with just the right amount of rock sensibility. Jeff’s voice adds a powerful and majestic piece to this band. It fits in nicely with the music and really amplifies these songs. “Ozymandias” is another heavy and catchy rager that really delivers the metal surge to the track. The thrashy chugging is elegantly crafted along nicely with the assortments of melodies. “Rogue Wave” kicks right in with a heavy rhythm that has some progressive textures included. It’s another masterful song that really excels in a new orbit. The shredding guitar leads are electrifying courtesy of Chris Thompson. The whole band is playing in true form and sounds fresh and galvanizing.

The second half of Get Well Soon starts with the sixth track called “Harpers Ferry”. The six minute monster of a song showcases Lo-Pan’s growth as a band, despite the long gap between records. The more stoner metal sound ignites “Harpers Ferry” with a slower heavy groove that strikes just as vibrantly as all the others. The slow burning rhythm is a nice platform for the vocals to unleash their power and emotion. The riffs are more metallic with this one but Lo-Pan still captures a wave of heavy psych within the mix. The next track, entitled “Stay With The Boat” is a hard driving gloriously smooth rocker. The bass guitar starts the song off with a nice low growling rhythm delivered by Skot Thompson, that erupts into the heavy groove throughout. The band splash textures of noise ambience between the heavy riffage. This is where the full fueled rocking sound takes over. The song is an upbeat fuzzy rocker that uplifts everything in its path. The ultra-driven uptempo sound from Lo-Pan has returned with Get Well Soon. This band delivers a walloping rocking sound with a hook laden melody that is so intoxicating. “Gods Favorite Victim” is another blast of metal monster riffing with a contemporary vibe lurking. The longer tracks on this album are found on the B side. The band has added another compelling component to their sound. The riffs have time to flourish and grow within the structure of each song. The result is that the songs grab and hold on to the listener, and reels them right in. Lo-Pan reminds me a little of Boston’s power house Cortez, with the way the songs build up and are commanded perfectly with the vocals.

The ninth and final track, “Six Bells” boasts the longest track on the record, at nearly eight minutes long. It’s a crushing and entrancing song! The music and melodies get inside your soul on this one. Again, the song effectively glides along with a sonic repetition and captivation to it. Midway through, the band explores some airy psychedelic elements and transcends the song into another dimension. The spacy essence to the music hypnotizes the listener as it floats along. Lo-Pan proudly embrace the heavy rock riffing and derive the epic closing sequence around it. The band explodes into the riff and makes it sound heavier than it is because of the mellow noodling before it. Another huge element to their sound is what drummer Jesse Bartz is dishing out. His percussion skills are heavy and bombastic throughout this recording.

I am very happy to see Lo-Pan return and continue to kick so much ass with their music. Get Well Soon is a glorious record for Lo-Pan to reclaim their stake in the heavy underground rock music scene. They have been dishing out the grooves for over twenty years now and continue to grow and expand their sound to new and exciting heights. Get Well Soon is the type of album that keeps growing on you. Who knows, in two months time, this release could be a top contender for my album of the year.