NOLA - Down

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Anybody who listens to rock music more than on just a casual basis, has been around for the last decade or two, and while doing so has delved into the hardrock / metal subgenre, will probably at least have heard of a band called PANTERA. These Texas-based, self-proclaimed "Cowboys From Hell" (album #5) have played heavy and hair metal in their early days, went on to thrash and groove metal, or "Power Metal" ...
...kicked some serious ass: pounding, grating, shredding, screaming and shouting their way into living legend status. Thinking of musical neighbours, various bands such as BLACK SABBATH, ANTHRAX, SKID ROW (with whom they once toured), TESTAMENT and MEGADETH spring to mind, but basically PANTERA did their own thing, becoming more and more aggressive during their course. The era that spawned what many fans consider their three classic albums ("Cowboys ... more

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Anybody who listens to rock music more than on just a casual basis, has been around for the last decade or two, and while doing so has delved into the hardrock / metal subgenre, will probably at least have heard of a band called PANTERA. These Texas-based, self-proclaimed "Cowboys From Hell" (album #5) have played heavy and hair metal in their early days, went on to thrash and groove metal, or "Power Metal" (another, earlier, album title), whatever you might call it, and kicked some serious ass: pounding, grating, shredding, screaming and shouting their way into living legend status. Thinking of musical neighbours, various bands such as BLACK SABBATH, ANTHRAX, SKID ROW (with whom they once toured), TESTAMENT and MEGADETH spring to mind, but basically PANTERA did their own thing, becoming more and more aggressive during their course. The era that spawned what many fans consider their three classic albums ("Cowboys From Hell", "Vulgar Display Of Power", and "Far Beyond Driven") really began when then 18-year-old Philip Hansen Anselmo from New Orleans joined the band, slowly shifting the focus of vocal outbursts from shrieks via screams to grunts and shouts.

It was not until after the release of "Far Beyond Driven" that the time was ripe for some new project. But boy, the time was just right then!

Anselmo teamed up with Pepper Keenan, New Orleans resident, guitarist and singer of CORROSION OF CONFORMITY (one of the best Southern Metal bands around; check out their opus magnum "In The Arms Of God"), Kirk Windstein & Todd Strange (guitarrero & bass-slinger of Sludge Metal band CROWBAR), and drummer Jim Bower (also guitar player with Southern Hardcore Blues & Noise band EYEHATEGOD). Together they formed DOWN and put out "NOLA" (short for New Orleans, Louisiana) in 1995.

When Phil's mothership PANTERA came close to its final disbanding after releasing their ultimate studio album "Re-Inventing The Steel", their bass player Rex Brown joined forces with DOWN, replacing Todd Strange. The band went on to produce "Down II: A Bustle In Your Hedgerow", which struck a similar vein as its elder sibling. The second album was released in 2002 and added a somewhat bluesier and more melancholy tone to the band's trademark style, a heavy-hitting combination of riff-orientated Groove Metal, Southern Rock, Thrash Metal, Doom and Blues with even some subtle Country undertones.

Currently, the band is producing their third album bound for release in 2007.

1.: Temptation's Wings

Starting with a dull, low, heavy bass drum and a goddamn electric bass line humming along like a swarm of mutant bumble bees, the first song slowly comes into full swing. Anselmo's forced vocals grind along hypnotically. After a wailing guitar riff winds its way into stratospheric heights, madness takes reign over the song, boiling it down to a heavy and hot sludge brew.

2.: Lifer

...combines raw and pounding drums with a really laidback guitar-groove that is nevertheless heavy as hell. Two minutes into the song, a sonorous slow motion shredding breakdown has it go down in smoke. With burning wings. Here's a toast to fatalism. Strong while it lasts. Smoke!

3.: Pillars Of Eternity

Yet another raw groove from the doomsters of bloody blues metal. Sabb off! This song makes you wonder how Phil manages to sing with such a hoarse and brutal voice throughout without actually choking on the pieces of lung tissue he must surely have been chucking up while extorting sounds from his throat in such a forced manner. Like carrying the weight of the world on his tonsils.

4.: Rehab

If monotonous, grinding, repetitive, yet hypnotic rhythms aren't your cup, sorry: bottle of Jack Daniels, then you're probably bound to hate DOWN anyway. However, if you continue banging your head with zest until reaching 'Rehab', you are sure in for something slightly different here: Bass and drums entangle and rub each other against the grain, which makes for a nice effect. Especially so, as combined with the well-timed dynamics of stop-and-go. In essence, this song really emerges out of the contrast between its capriciously jumpy, dirty, bouncing rhythm, and the smooth flow of its melodic guitar lines and grainy voice. Phil gives one of his best performances, Zakk Wylde of BLACK LABEL SOCIETY fame couldn't have sung it better. A great Southern Rock tune with a heavy bend towards BLACK SABBATH.

5.: Hail The Leaf

One of the heaviest Stoner Rock hymns ever written, 'Hail The Leaf' rolls megaton-riff by megaton-riff up the Rocky Mountains in a sysiphean effort to built the highest altar ever to the gods of smoke. Though shalt grind away all day and all night in immortal toil, from the first day to the seventh. And thou shalt do so day in, day out for weeks to come. And cometh the eight day of the week, thou shalt be stoned.

6.: Underneath Everything

Another behemoth of a song, this one - at least in the context of the album - will most certainly overwhelm you. DOWN just go berserk on themselves. Again, not with fast speed delivery, but with long and grinding groove metal excursions into blues territory. This is probably their most heavy song on "NOLA", with bass and drum inertia providing enought weight to just ram it down your throat once this tower of power has been lifted from heavy metal tainted soil. The guitars just cut, cut, cut and bleed, all the while Phil vomits gravel, granite rocks and millstones.

7.: Eyes Of The South

By now we have about reached the second half of the album, been pressed down with all kinds of heavy hitters, stompers, and groundbreaking exercises in how to stone a giant to death with blunt blows of Southern Metal riffs. So, now it's time for some more easy-going grooves. 'Eyes Of The South' is still heavy as fuck, but it has a more steady, even flow, with sonorous, vibrating riffs that blend into each other just fine. Southern Rock harmonies, passages of sheer beauty and hypnotic mosh-parts weave into each other, providing a lush texture: One of the most catchy, and blues-laden tunes ever written for "NOLA".

8.: Jail

...gives us some time to just chill out:
An acoustic, very ambient and tmospheric track with Western guitar sounds, soft bongo and tambourine drippings, warm bass, and cool and ghostlike vocals, it evokes the air of a calm and lonely midsummer night.

9.: Losing All

This one would have made a great single. It is one of their faster ones, with breezy drum patterns, scorching guitar licks and seemy chord progressions with a brilliant Southern Rock tinge. Although it is really melodic and catchy, it also has a certain whiplash quality. To sum it up, it just sums up most of DOWN's qualities while being more directly accessible than most of their other songs.

10.: Stone The Crow

...comes with yet another great melody, and its nonchalant bass-line is one you won't be able to get out of your head soon. A very distinct riff to start out from and always come back to, some great guitar solos and a very catchy and laidback chorus make this an almost radio-friendly song. Some reverb and amp action keep it swarming with buzz.

11.: Pray For The Locust

The second half of the album is surely the more varied one. 'Pray For The Locust', in that respect much like 'Jail' but otherwise different, is another acoustic gem, but more of an interlude really. Also, it is the last one of the somewhat lighter pieces on "NOLA". Afterwards, DOWN will return to their initial density of heavy riffs and weighty drum punches.

12.: Swan Song

Built around a very groovy blues riff, thereby displaying DOWN's ability for very efficient songwriting, 'Swan Song' slowly increases tension albeit starting out from an already very intense opening. The interaction between bass and drum, and between guitars and vocals (which seem to constantly challenge each other in a weird metal version of that good old blues pattern called 'call and response') is what provides much of this song's natural force. Some rhythmic alternation only adds to its strength.

13.: Bury Me In Smoke

The last song on "NOLA" contains the first riff ever written by DOWN. This seed is what truly spawned the band. It remains to date one of their most heavy, uncompromising and epic songs. Seven minutes of sheer swamp sludge, and thus a perfect conclusion to one of the grooviest albums ever written.

Sorry for the heavy use of superlatives featured in this review, but DOWN are my 'Leib und Magen' band, as we say in German; the be-all and end-all of visceral music to my personal taste. Even if you are only remotely into Hardrock with a capital Groove, Southern Metal, Heavy Blues Rock and/or Doom, don't let "NOLA" pass you by. It's one of the few true classics around! Although DOWN are the archetypal supergroup, this Thing From The Swamp did receive cult status not only because of the legendary status of its members, but even before the facts became known, which is due to "NOLA"'s incognito release into the underground tape trading scene. It was only after its initial success (far from commercial structures), and after a couple of local DOWN gigs in and around New Orleans, that the record company approached the band members and offered an official release. DOWN have been, to my humble knowledge still are, and hopefully always will be, a very down-to-earth band. And I guess, that's what makes them so fucking great.

Biography:
---> http://www.down-nola.com/bio.htm

Videos:
---> http://www.down-nola.com/video.htm

Reviews:
---> http://www.roughedge.com/cdreviews/d/down.htm

Future:
---> http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1551037/20070129/down.jhtml

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