Down

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’s Phil Anselmo announces Housecore Horror Film Festival

Heavy metal has always paired well with horror. The album covers, the lyrical content, the feeding of celebrities to your god on stage (thanks, GWAR!) — it all lends itself to an image of fear and darkness. Well, Phil Anselmo of Down and Pantera is taking things to their logical conclusion.

ALARM's 50 Favorite Songs of 2012

ALARM’s 50 (+5) Favorite Songs of 2012

Last month ALARM presented its 50 favorite albums of 2012, an eclectic, rock-heavy selection of discs that were in steady rotation in our downtown-Chicago premises. Now, to give some love to tunes that were left out, we have our 50 (+5) favorite songs of last year — singles, B-sides, EP standouts, soundtrack cuts, and more.

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.

Primate

Review: Primate’s Draw Back a Stump

PrimatePrimate: Draw Back a Stump (Relapse, 7/3/12)

“Silence of Violence”

Primate_Silence_of_Violence

Featuring members of Mastodon, Brutal Truth, and The Despised, Atlanta’s Primate is a new hardcore super-group — a furious bastard child birthed by hardcore, punk, grind, and metal. Heavy-music geeks quickly will recognize the names of vocalist Kevin Sharp and guitarist Bill Kelliher, but the rest of the lineup is no less impressive or important in crafting the band’s maiden opus.