Rock N Real Reviews DOWN IV Part II
June 20, 2014
About a year and a half ago I had the opportunity to review the official fourth Down release which was the first part of their EP collection. ‘The Purple EP’ as it was dubbed, was a difficult release not to award maximum marks on the website!! It brought every aspect of the Down sound into a concise tight little 6 track package and showed that Down had found the perfect avenue to put out further releases.
Things have moved on since then though!! Founding member and uber riff writer Kirk Windstein has since left the group to focus exclusively on his other band, the mighty Crowbar, which had left me worried as to how any future release might sound. I love Pepper Keenan but those two collectively are responsible for some of the finest southern riffs ever written and I genuinely thought this new EP might suffer from the lack of Windstein….Oh how I was wrong.
If it is even at all possible…Down IV Part II is even fucking better!! And without going track to track like I did on the previous release, allow me to tell you exactly why I think this album is a superior release to Down IV Part I.
Firstly the riff are so much more sludgy and doomy and without actually speaking to the band themselves, I am not sure if Pepper was the sole riffer here…if so I can’t wait to hear him on a future Corrosion of Conformity release. The riffs are so much more heavy and southern doom than I expected. If you check out the opening riff in Steeple you’ll see exactly what I mean, almost like a southern Slayer meets Type O Negative. Phil Anselmoonce again delivers a truly excellent vocal performance (how this man is still delivering the goods at his ages is mindboggling).
We Knew Him Well is one of the heaviest tracks Down have ever written with a main riff so crushingly heavy that just the thought of headbaning to it gives me whiplash!! It’s like a monolithic version of old school doom but with that groove that only this southern band can deliver.
The longer tracks on this EP are where the band OWN the fuck out of this EP though!! Bacchanalia is such a wonderfully classic stoner metal anthem. And Conjure by contrast is a Black Sabbath fuelled almost dirge styled doom metal song.
The production on this EP is once again the thing that ultimately more than assists the songs. It has an almost practice room like rawness that coupled with the generally crushing sounding guitar tone, makes it overall what you hope for and expect from a Down release. Jimmy is solid on the drumming and even pushes himself out with a few comfort zones we have seen him use on the past two releases. Patrick has come into his own on the bass, demonstrating a bit more in the way of prowess than the previous EP. And finally, as always, Pepper andPhil just show up and steal the show for sure!!
This EP is possibly my favourite Down release since NOLA, I think I made the same claim on Down IV Part I, but it really is that fucking good!! So when I recently read that Phil stated the band were only ever going to do the EP format from now on…I’m right there with you brother!!!
