Down III: Over the Under

Down 3 is a much slower and more morose affair than before. Slow, morose music is usually Down's forte, but this goes to new lows of slowness resembling a dirge at times. This is still the chunky and smoky Down you know from before, but it seems that something has gotten them in a much more solemn mood. Hurricane Katrina was hard on New Orleans and the metal bands of the area suffered hard. After nearly seeing their city destroyed, this would of course leave the band members in a state where writing morose material would seem natural. Down 3 begins with a bang, then lags for 3 songs, only to pick back up with gloomier material going forward. It's not as catchy as past Down fare, but this does hold strong with its groovy gloom.

The Down style is fully intact on here with more classic rock and blues inspired stoner metal. It sounds murkier and heavier before, but that's probably just the production talking. Though they make use of this, with the slower and more stoic tempo applied on Down 3 to a decent effect that reminds me a lot of the heavier and more grim sound used on Corrosion of Conformity's In the Arms of God which Down guitarist and COC singer Pepper Keenan played a big part in making great. Everything is covered in a thick wall of guitars that pour like sheets of rain in a deluge. It fits the mood here, as Down settles into a sluggish pace that retains a chunky groove like the pace of a lost hunter trudging through hostile swamps in the rain. The whole album emanates an aura of despair and many of the songs alternate between more sorrowful, melodic affairs and mud-stomping walls of imposing riffs, with "Pillamyd" being the most forbidding out of all of them. Like previous Down albums, the music is big, heavy, and fat, but here it's noticeably more melancholic all throughout.

The course this album takes is a strange one. It starts off with "3 Suns and 1 Star" which is the most riff-heavy song on here with plenty of swirling grooves and banging energy. You then get three relatively middling rock tracks that come up afterwards and don't do much of anything. It just sounds like what someone would write if you told them to make "regular stoner metal" with relatively little passion and plenty of repetition. It's a series of doldrums that bores me for a bit, but thankfully it only lasts for a short time before more interesting and gloomy songs take over, starting with "On March the Saints". The slower rhythms and lyrics have heavy baggage with many of them revolving around the usual drug themes, as well as the chaos and sorrow unleashed after Hurricane Katrina. "On March the Saints" itself sways like a ship in a storm with its strong bassy underside. Much of the late album consists of a series of bluesy dirges that just give off an aura of lethargy and sadness even at their heaviest. This is an album that has every reason to be depressed in comparison to Down's older output and revels in the thick miasma of bluesy riffing and downtuned trudging rhythms. The constant deluge, whether at ease or riled up always keeps on. Structure-wise, Down 3 rains riffs down like the storm that inspired it, even if it goes by slower than on previous efforts. It deals out the doom and the heavy guitar-work as well as Down always have.

For the Down faithful, this is a good album to continue their path creating smoky dirges chock full of heavy grooves. It's a more melancholic beast, but still a very strong one. If you can make it past the doldrums in the early album, a fierce hurricane of sludge is waiting to be braved by the listener. Some people don't like this album for slowing down, but with all that's going on, it can be appreciated, as this reveals a Down in mourning for their old hometown and the music matches extremely well. This is no NOLA, and it's not as catchy, but it's also more enveloping. It's a grower. This has a sound to itself that I'm happy was made.

Now, Down have never been the sum of their parts. Regardless of what some people thought of Pantera's later groove output, there's no denying that all 5 of the guys in Down have played on some great albums and made some awesome music. It seems that the thing that draws them together is their common home, New Orleans, as exemplified by NOLA, the title of the band's debut album. For me, that album and the one that followed were strongly connected to the place from which they emerged, with an attitude and atmosphere that certified the "southern metal" genre. (Although that seems to have been made quite arbitrarily - for starters, South of what, are these guys from Antarctica?) However, they frequently missed the spot, particularly on the sophomore effort, which lacked cohesion and enough killer songs to justify its length.

This third release from Down shows a certain shift in focus away from the preoccupations that identified the earlier material and towards a wider sphere. Fewer of the songs are influenced by the southern states sound and there is a noticeable move away from the lazy feel of some of A Bustle in Your Hedgerow, except on 'Never Try', which is one the weakest songs here despite some great soloing. For the most part, the band sound more serious and focused, with a generally denser and more sludgy tone to all the instruments, which leaves the album feeling far from relaxing. However, it's actually Phil Anselmo who dictates the mood of these songs, despite lacking power in his own performance. His lyrics have changed a country mile from the time when he was in Pantera and suit him better. He sings about a variety of subjects in a slightly oblique fashion (I have had numerous guesses about the meaning of his words), which gives the album another interesting dimension compared to his previous output. On the other hand, he sounds tired, a mood that occasionally suits the intention of the songs, but more often than not he needs to take control and show his authority, like on 'In the Thrall of It All', when he holds weak notes over a dynamic chorus riff. His frustration and determination shine through at times, which gives the line "Be my eyes" a strong emotional impact in 'Mourn' and encourages the band to play heavy and intense too.

The instrumentalists have reined in the experimentalism that made A Bustle... feel messy at times and settled for a distinct couple of moods. The main operation of the guitarists is to find a riff and hold on to it, perhaps making small adjustments with timing and groove to ensure it stays fresh. They don't sound like they're improvising at all - their style doesn't go as far as that - though the loose quality of many of the sections is quite welcome, since the swaggering sludgy riffs are more powerful and threatening than any Down have previously laid down. The bounding, scrambling riff of 'Three Suns and One Star' is brilliantly unexpected, plus a few slower gems on 'The Path' and 'On March the Saints'. The other mood is weird, because it sounds gentle and floating, in the same way that 'Jail' from NOLA did, but it isn't a countryside atmosphere: in fact, there's a quality of desert mirage to some of these sections, perhaps suggested by the back-to-back placing of 'Beneath the Tides', 'His Majesty the Desert', and 'Pillamyd', all of which are far removed and less earthy than any southern metal I know. Solos are not as frequent as one might expect, which is a little annoying, given the quality of Kirk Windstein and Pepper Keenan. Jimmy Bower does a good job with the drums, since he often has to manage playing round long, loping riffs: he keeps the band just slow enough to always be heavy, but knows when to change things up. Rex Brown is recognizable though not distinctive beneath the rolling guitars, doing just enough to justify his place in such a supergroup.

The songs on Over the Under are less varied than those on A Bustle..., but they feel more complete and fit together satisfactorily. ‘Three Suns and One Star’ and ‘I Scream’ are the fastest, the former providing some of the most pleasing riff-work and vocals, while the latter is aggressive and groovy, though not very deep. Generally speaking, the first half of the album contains a more song-based formula, with stand-alone cuts, and the closing part is subtler, building song upon song to create a broad, encompassing atmosphere. The earthy riffing of the first 7 songs is replaced by ethereal themes and slow-burning ideas that come off best on the soothing ‘Beneath the Tides’ and ‘Nothing in Return (Walk Away)’, which gradually builds to a curiously defiant and emotional climax.

With Over the Under, Down made some necessary alterations to their sound without losing the components that made them enjoyable in the first place. The songwriting is tightened up and the place of heaviness in the band’s sound is reconsidered to produce a set of songs that lasts longer and runs deeper than the rather simple material that the band originally made.

Down is a band alot of people equate with Black Sabbath inspired Southern sludgey goodness, myself being one of them. Yet on "Over the Under," we are given a peak at something different. As far as musicality is concerned, not to mention the average fan's begging question "is it any good?" this album takes a few looks back at "NOLA," this band's highly acclaimed debut. I don't know if this was due to the lackluster reception of "A Bustle In Your Hedgerow" five years earlier or just a natural change in creativity, but old time fans will love to know this has more in common with the debut.

At the time this album came out, Phil Anselmo was not a well liked guy. His rampant drug problems, erratic behavior and that tough guy persona was getting pretty fucking old. Everybody and their mother knew about his not so subtle feud with the Abbott brothers following Pantera's collapse in 2002. Naturally, when "Dimebag" Darrell was taken from this world, most fans instantly looked to the Pantera frontman as a culprit in this supposed conspiracy. I never bought into this, it was naturally all media conjured nonsense as I doubt very seriously Anselmo wanted Dime to be "beaten" or even killed. All bands go through turmoil, and I never once bought into the idea that Anselmo held any kind of extreme hostility towards his former bandmates.

This all plays into "Over the Under." Aside from Dime's murder, New Orleans was also embattled by massive flooding which affected all of the men involved in this band. Such sobering events, whether percieved as the hand of God or as life giving you a sobering wake-up call can play big into your outlook on life. Maybe I'm reading too much into this (as is sometimes the case with bands I like) but I sincerely feel Anselmo's ego took a beating. From the album artwork, he seems almost humble in some ways (what? Anselmo humble?) though this may just be posturing for what is a very serious album about very serious events. Forget the drug induced blues cascade of the previous album, "Over the Under" deals with some real skeletons in the closet for this band, including some issues that I'm sure they were itching to write about. This presented us with a more unified band, one I can particularly hear when I sit down to ponder this album as it plays as opposed to it being background music.

Pepper Keenan and Kirk Windstein roll out some delicious riffs as if you'd expect anything else, but they also add a little more emotion. All the band members carry a sense of vulnerability, not something you'd expect from this collection of beerdrinkers and hellraisers straight out of the humid and gritty South. Anselmo sticks a clean voice for the most part, though we do get variation thrown in. In addition, this is the only Down album thus far not to include any profanity.

"Three Suns and One Star" contains a "running" riff at the beginning that reminds me a bit of "Children of the Grave." It instantly shows us this new band, how they percieve emotion once not shown to the audience yet refuse to relent their usual heaviness and power. This continues all across the album, with a few exceptions the most notable in "Never Try." Some people don't like that song, but it comes to me as the direct spawn of Black Sabbath and Lynyrd Skynyrd. That song in particular remains one of my favorites with its more laid back atmosphere. "The Path" is another must hear for Down fans, and its lyrics are a nice change of pace. This song shows Anselmo longing for something, something other than a good joint. "N.O.D." mixes this new found soulful band with their constant heaviness in a perfect way. One of the best songs on the album for that very reason.

"On March the Saints" is particularly notable, not only for its devoted Sabbath influence but also the song content. Anselmo was adamnant to ensure everyone knew it wasn't about the New Orleans football team. Instead, I've heard the song was about the Hurricane Katrina devastation and/or the people who came to help the victims of the floods. That speficially speaks to me, as I attended a mission trip a few summers ago for that very thing. It was undoubtedly a sobering experience, one I'm an positive played into the new found soul that this band is oozing out of this album. "Mourn" covers a different topic, about Dime's passing in late 2004 and his inaccessibility to the funeral due to the resentment by Dime's family. Again, more sobering experiences put into song.

"In the Thrall of It All" isn't as strong as the other tracks but I like it for its well written lyrics. Anselmo has always been capable of such good lyrical writings. "Nothing In Return (Walk Away)" is the closer, and as set forth by the two previous albums, the closer must always be a highlight. Fear not, as it is. Its a little more experimental than "Bury Me in Smoke" but not quite as long winded as "Landing on the Mountains of Meggido." Still, its a definite highlight from an album where the quality is good enough that picking highlights almost becomes a chore, something I do not regard as a negative statement.

In the end, "Over the Under" is not as strong of an album as "NOLA" was, though it remains just as good in my mind for different reasons. The injection of emotions and soul will turn away some Down fans, but I always appreciate it when a band has a new outlook on life or at least are trying to express emotions other than anger and being high. I like this new Down, and though Anselmo sometimes struggles with his vocals, its an excellent performance for him including his lyrics. I never imagined in my lifetime we would hear something like this from the same guy who wrote the grating nonsense of Superjoint Ritual. The other band members are equally impressive, though a couple of these songs run out of ideas. Nevermind that, this is still a solid album that pushes new ground for this band. I can easily recommend this to any Down fan and it would even make a good introduction to them for the curious listener. Forget all the "generic" labels thrown at this album, it still beats the living hell out of anything mainstream rock was putting forth in 2007 and was far more emotional and truthful.

This is Down alright. Nothing in the music has changed drastically since Down II as this band sure puts out a consistent brand of southern doom yet there is a sense of retrospection in these lyrics and slower melodies. Pepper Keenan from CoC, Phil Anselmo and Rex Brown from Pantera and a couple guys from Crowbar round out the veteran roster on Over the Under. And all of these members are associated with New Orleans and this band found that it was time to do another album after relevant events. This album is a very mature expression from the band with interlocking themes touching on Hurricane Katrina, sobriety and past mistakes…’You can’t come clean beneath the tides of the washout’. Is it the best album the band has put out? That’s hard to say. I didn’t warm up to it as much as NOLA or II but it is a very strong album and as I stated, this is played pretty straight from what they did before but mined for deeper spirit. The lyrics and songwriting are very authentic. The veteran-ship of all the players is strongly felt here. Hence, this is an extremely mature album. It’s also one of the saddest.

The very first riff on 3 Suns and 1 Star will sound very familiar to you if you remember their last album. The first song on that record opened with the identical riff to this one. It’s a reminder that this band is back but having traversed certain occurrences since, the outlook is even more jaundiced. Same sound, different lessons. You’ll want to listen in to what they have to say. It doesn’t require that you are too knowledgeable about this band to know who this song is about. All I can say is that, while it’s not the best song on the album, this is Phil’s most humbling experience in a song.

I want to touch on Phil for a moment. He’s always been a very caustic personality who wears his emotions on his spiked leather wristbands. More importantly, I’ve always thought he was a very good vocalist throughout his long and varied career. I’ve noticed many have commented that his vocal range has taken a hit on this album and it has. But you know what? I think Phil’s bogged voice is even more of an attribute on this record. It’s very appropriate to the drugged and regretful tone. I think he realized that and used it to great advantage. That this band plays southern doom metal is also befitting of this. Some people want to only know if the doom is good. Yes, it is great and highly flavored doom. These guys know their influences and it shows. This is excellent musicianship right here. And those solos. wow.

The Path is sludgy and stony. Kirk Windstein and Pepper splice chords in great doom fashion. That solo toward the end of the song is beautiful. N.O.D. feels right at home from II. Rex is such a great bassist as he returns from last time as well. Jimmy Bower plays mostly guitars and bass for Crowbar but with Down he is the other half of the rhythm section. He and Rex are a gifted duo on the album. Their presence is strongly felt and you can tell they had a hand in writing a lot of these songs too. On March the Saints sounds like a track that they lead on. Bower’s cymbals sound pretty dense because you can hear the choice of purer alloy ringing through in those wonderful beats. They’re the most noticeable in the lightness on Never Try.

Diversity and fluidity are what Kirk and Pepper contribute with their guitar playing that stands out at as the most awesome. Just listen to The Tides. That’s some pretty complex soundship that makes that track so powerful. Where the diversity aspect is shown is on the first solo that sounds inspired by early Skynyrd and then there is the second which it closely resembles by note except it is given a perfect Jimmy Page air to it. Very cool! His Majesty the Desert is a two and half minute somber trip that flawlessly leads into and will be instrumental to Pillamyd. Phil’s singing is very powerful here on Pillamyd. The whole band actually is at their most powerful all at once on the song. Rex’s bass is a giant on this because it gives it a big doomy ambience throughout. Take note of the solo that bursts through so majestically because you can faintly hear the His Majesty of the Desert riff as the underlay rhythm.

Down is three for three when it comes to awesome closers. These dudes know how to end an album in a spectacular manner. The final song on NOLA was a glorious song with aggression. Standing On a Mountain of Megiddo was very epic and it’s more similar to this on here but you might want to break out the Kleenex for the song Nothing In Return. I would like to see this band continue to put out more work but I get the sense that they probably won’t since this last song comes through so powerfully as a grand culmination of what this band has accomplished and what has taken place. Like many other great bands, Down probably has just a trilogy in mind. Five salty Cajun metallers make III as good company. If III-Over the Under is this good, IV can’t be a crowd.

The world's most famous doom/southern/sludge/stoner metal band is back with their much awaited 3rd album. Down's current lineup is Pepper Keenan (Corrosion of Conformity) and Kirk Windstein (Crowbar) on guitars, Jimmy Bower (Eyehategod, Crowbar) on drums along with Rex Brown and Phil Anselmo. These guys went through a lot of shit in recent times. Just to highlight, the tragic death of a close friend and guitarist Dimebag Darrel and a disaster due to the Katrina shitstorm. So in a way, they are all making a come back to the scene with this album.

Face it, they get the World's most famous tag because Phil is in this band. Therefore they get the reach, the attention and the exposure, a more recent instance would be the slot in the high profile Heaven & Hell tour. This band is invariably the first exposure to this genre for metalheads. To the band's credit, they've been catchy and have released two solid albums. It helps though, with the cream of the crop for band members, anyone who likes this band can venture into their main bands and then go neckdeep into this ever burgeoning genre.

The riffs on Over the Under are big, heavy and generally good. There's a lot of variety in the guitar playing and the songwriting departments, while still keeping it accessible. Beneath the Tide and The Path are really good choices to get this album up and running and Mourn is the band at its sludgiest best. On March the Saints sounds like a cover of a song from Badmotorfinger albeit in a different tuning, not a bad thing mind you. Nothing in Return(Walk Away) is when the band attempt to write an epic with good payoff. His Majesty The Desert is a little ditty that shows a lot of love for Robin Trower's Bridge of Sighs leading into the marauding Pillamyd. In the Thrall of it All is worthy of a place in any of COC's later period albums. The Bower Power especially is at its finest on this album, his drumming is totally kickass.

Having given due credits earlier to Phil's presence doing good to this band and the genre, I've got to mention this. He's also the band's weakest link on this album. Phil trying to do clean singing should be good news for long time fans but he falls completely flat here. He's trying to do the southern vocals but guess what? Call it coincidence this time too, but Kyle Thomas has again done it a little earlier and much better(Refer:Alabama Thunderpussy's Open Fire). Phil struggling to sing brings the quality of this album down almost singlehandedly. Still, this album is good but I definitely prefer NOLA and II in that order over this album.

I'd have Pepper Keenan do the vocals, Mike Dean play some of his cool bass licks and get Woody Weatherman to belt out some of his quirky solos with his signature harmonics and while I'm at it, I'd also get John Custer to produce it. If it isn't clear yet, all I'm saying is that I'm ready for a new COC album. Is that too much to ask?

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Down III is a record that has been hyped to death for a long time now, and picking it up, I had lofty expectations for it. The way it was being hyped, I couldnt help but feeling that this was going to be an epic masterpiece of a record, the kind of record the band were capable of making if they were on their A+ game. Is this the record I hoped for?

Not really, no.

But that being said, this is still a fucking class record, with much better songwriting than the previous Down II and an overall vibe that is actually quite epic at times, but always grooving and badass. While Down II was a rather unfocused record, this one is a lot more focused and concise, with songs concise with a sound that, while definitely recognizable as Down, shows a willingness by the band to try new approaches.

The most recognizable change in the sound lies with the vocals of Phil Anselmo, whos singing is far more ambitous than with previous efforts. Some seem to say that his voice sounds "weak" on this one, and while he definitely doesnt sound like he can truly hit all of those registers hes aiming to, and he does sound aged in some parts, overall his delivery is far more impressive than on Down II, and is still well-done overall. Personally, I think he might of been a little too over-ambitous with this one, perhaps to prove detractors wrong and show that he still , but his performance is nothing to write off.

But, as with all Down records, its all about the riffs. This batch is as potent as any, with songs such as "3 Suns and 1 Star" and "I Scream" rocking out solid. Most notable is the song "Nothing in Return", an epic song that is the strongest track on here. Pepper Keenans C.O.C sound seems to have the most presence on this, with the song "Beneath the Tides" almost sounding like it came off of COCs last one. Really there are not too many throwaways on here, all the tracks are solid. The only ones that dont grab me so much are "Never Try" and "Mourn". Everything else definitely jams.

The one thing that really bothers me about this record though is the production. While it seems the band was defintely aiming to have some mud in their sound, this cd sounds far less clear than it should be. It seems that the drums and bass kind of come together to sound like mud alot. the bass drum is definitely not at all good sounded (sounds muffled to me). But really, although it should sound better than it does, this shit-soundingness to it adds a bit of character to the reocrd, which is cool.

So overall, this album may not be the perfect 10 fans were hoping for, but it is a good record in its own right. If the band can build from this one, the possible and probable Down IV may be that masterpiece fans so badly wanted. As it is, this record is still one of the best of the year 2007 thus far. Far better than that Machine Head Metallica-aping bullshit.

Down III, the (obviously) third album released by the 'supergroup' know as Down. Does it impress? Well yes, it does impress, but one feels that this is very much a bridging album, to test the waters before embarking on more ambitious projects.


The album starts off strongly to a very familiar drumming pattern, a nice riff and ominous vocals. It turns out that the particular song that this is the introduction for is easily one of the best on the album, retaining a strong guitar/drum/bass presence mixed in with Phil's vocals. The next two songs aren't that special - they are certainly decent but unlike 'Three Suns...' they wouldn't find their way onto a compilation CD.


'I Scream' is a slower song that feels very doomy, and is quite a depressing track (that's a good thing!). The riffs aren't pounding, more laid-back, but the drum-work is impressive here. Of course, Phil's vocals make the song sound the way it was to be intended. My favourite track on the album is next, 'On March the Saints' - detractors might say this is overly groovy, but I really enjoy the track - nice atmosphere created from the bass and the simple drum lines. The guitar is the highlighted here, great, simple riffs highlight with clarity to myself that you do not need to play exceedingly complex instrument patterns to produce a killer track.


The next three tracks are much of the same, and are impressive, but they are really a meld of the styles encapsulated on the earlier tracks. The album takes a softer approach with the frankly beautiful 'His Majesty the Desert', a very gloomy and spacey track that I find very harrowing. The next two tracks are a return to the heavy riffs, and of particular delight is the guitar playing on the second of these. Probably my second favourite track, "Nothing in Return" gives the album a good sendoff (unless you have the bonus track, which is pretty average) with a superb blend of slower parts, bluesy riffs and some highly sorrowful vocals from Phil makes this way ballads should be approached, metal style.


This album has really been a great record, the reason I have not given this a higher rating is that I feel it is still inferior to their debut and it really needed one more track of the quality of "Nothing in Return" to blast it into a 90% score. That said, anyone who is a fan of Down or bands similar to them - definitely check out this album and hope that they can release more of the same (only better!) in the near future.