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.

Many hold the band’s debut album, NOLA, in rare esteem, with few albums (by Down or otherwise) comparing on a riff-by-riff basis. The Purple EP, however, does its damndest to pack in the quality with heaping doses of down-tuned chugs, string bends, and wailing harmonies. It’s devoid of the tranquil moments of albums past, but those presumably will surface on parts two through four — when our metal superheroes resume their dauntless journey.

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