DOWN · Volume V | CD

Jewelcase CD.

Background information about 'Volume V'

Down are back, and if you thought the sludge-soaked spirit of NOLA was ever going to stay quiet, you don't know this band. "Volume V" is the sound of a swamp-born machine firing on every cylinder, decades deep into a career that has never once asked for permission. This isn't nostalgia, it's a full-blooded, riff-drenched statement from one of heavy music's most beloved supergroups.

From the first down-tuned groan to the last whiskey-soaked wail, "Volume V" hits with the kind of weight that only comes from men who have lived every note. The grooves are thick enough to wade through, the Southern rock swagger is intact, and Phil Anselmo's voice swings between a wounded howl and a guttural roar with the authority of a preacher at the end of the world. Pepper Keenan's guitar work is pure molten gold, weaving Sabbath-sized riffs with the kind of soul that makes you want to crack a beer and let the whole thing wash over you.

This is an album that understands patience as much as punishment. The slow-burn passages breathe, the rhythm section locks in like a freight train, and when the band decides to stomp, the earth moves. Down have always been about feel over flash, and "Volume V" is a masterclass in exactly that. It's heavy, it's honest, and it sounds like home for anyone raised on the darker side of the bayou.

For fans of:
Corrosion of Conformity, Crowbar, Eyehategod, Pantera, Black Label Society

Manufacturer: Warner Music Group Germany Holding GmbH, Alter Wandrahm 14, 20457 Hamburg, Germany, Contact: www.nuclearblast.com