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Down

Q&A: Down, NOLA’s reigning metal super-group, goes four for IV

Down: Down IV Part 1: The Purple EPDown: Down IV: Part 1, The Purple EP (WMG, 9/18/12)

“Witchtripper”

Down: “Witchtripper”

Last year, long-running metal super-group Down released the first of a sprawling four-part EP series. Aptly titled IV, the releases — the rest of which come in 2013 or later — are meant to comprise a massive new album, and the first takes the band’s Black Sabbath influences to a rawer and darker place.

Singer, songwriting contributor, and former Pantera vocalist Phil Anselmo — who teams with members of Corrosion of Conformity, Eyehategod, and Crowbar in Down — joined us to talk about soaring vocals, his home studio, and that unapologetic Sabbath influence.

Down

Review: Down’s Down IV Part I: The Purple EP

Down: Down IV Part 1: The Purple EPDown: Down IV Part I: The Purple EP (Warner Music Group, 9/18/12)

“Witchtripper”

Down: “Witchtripper”

For a super-group like Down — formed from members of Pantera, Corrosion of Conformity, Crowbar, and Eyehategod — what’s more fitting than assembling a Voltron-style album out of four epic EPs?

Clocking in at a weighty 33 minutes (what many consider a full-length these days), Down IV Part I: The Purple EP is less a return than it is a first repayment — starting to make good to its fans for another five-year wait between albums.