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Down - Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow...

New Orleans is a dying whore - 82%

gasmask_colostomy, November 1st, 2016

I have a deep hatred for this album, but it's not on an issue that will greatly affect other people. You see, when I bought A Bustle in Your Hedgerow from my local music retailer, I was sold a disc that did not work in my CD player, not even once. So I've never actually listened to the album from the disc, but have been listening from the ripped files on my computer, which is exactly the same I guess, just a source of infinite annoyance. As for the music itself, I've long held the impression that this album is a bit disorganized and boring, largely because there are a whopping fifteen songs and I always start to feel sleepy during 'Learn from this Mistake'. However, it's pretty good all things considered.

Moving on from the groovy Southern metal of NOLA the Louisianans opted for a more varied offering of metal and rock styles, of which the many songs provide a smorgasbord of blues, sludge, country, and rock jams. If you have a problem with albums that opt for looseness over specificity and feelings over riffs, you might want to look outside Down's discography or at least towards the following Over the Under instead, but for those who have time (Sunday afternoon is best) and don't mind taking it easy, this will hit the spot. My comment about 'Learn from this Mistake' making me sleepy is because it's the first song that strips back the fuzz and aggression to loping Southern country clean guitars and definitively lazy soloing, spreading out comfortably to over seven minutes. That comes on the back of a more energetic opening brace, whereby harder numbers such as 'The Man that Follows Hell' and 'Ghosts Along the Mississippi' cruise in with majestic sludgy grace that just about hits the highest notch of this band's output.

Of course, it's necessary to mention the players involved in Down, since they seem to have formed something of a natural band setup despite all being from different parts of the New Orleans sludge scene. Pepper Keenan and Kirk Windstein are extremely important to the sound of the record, it being a traditionally guitar-led affair, and push the riffs nicely, though neither quite manages to exceed the peaks of their original projects, the crushing Crowbar and cooler Corrosion of Conformity. However, they instantly deliver the goods in 'The Seed', 'Ghosts Along the Mississippi', and 'Beautifully Depressed', kicking those songs off with big slabs of meat, especially the fat doom riff of the latter. The solos also rule in the heavier songs and appear frequently in the chilled out numbers to relaxing effect. Rex Brown has some cool moments on bass, sounding particularly potent during 'New Orleans Is a Dying Whore', and often playing something individual, which he hasn't always done elsewhere. Jimmy Bower has a great style for Down's songs, drumming with vigour and aggression but contrasting it with vastly different beats on 'Lies, I Don't Know What to Say But...', which is another good one for Brown. Another thing that impresses is the way that the instrumentalists manage to step out of their respective roles at times, Bower giving us the surprisingly awesome 'Doob Interlude', Brown adding a little organ on 'Where I'm Going' in addition to the guest Hammond on 'Stained Glass Cross', while Keenan can be caught playing something called "dobro resonator guitar" (also on 'Where I'm Going'), which I have frankly no idea about yet sounds cool.

Notice who I haven't mentioned? Phil Anselmo is there too, but he doesn't seem to be able to capture the essence of these songs like the rest of the band does, rasping and screeching his way through songs that need more finesse, even if he adds something extra to the more pissed blasts of 'Lysergik Funeral Procession' and 'New Orleans Is a Dying Whore'. The lyrics here are sub-par and often rather boring, which is odd because the third Down album had great lyrics, although by contrast the song titles are actually fairly awesome. Anselmo's weakness might be one factor in the album missing the mark, since he can't lend focus to the hazy quieter songs and doesn't have the finishing touch for the others, so I occasionally feel like I'm at a distance from the action. The band might have found that they had a lot of styles in which they were good, but I might have preferred them to adhere more closely to the authentic "Down sound", which they largely did on the following full-length, simply because the listener can be distracted too easily during the overlong 'Learn from this Mistake' and 'Lies...'.

My conclusion on A Bustle in Your Hedgerow is that this would have made a fucking awesome 40 minute sludge album with 'Where I'm Going' and 'Doob Interlude' included, while there's material here for a country/blues rock EP that could follow the jam tendencies without impinging on the rest of the material. Aside from Anselmo going slightly astray, there isn't much to complain about in terms of musical quality, while almost every song is good in its own right, with special prizes going to 'Ghosts Along the Mississippi' and 'New Orleans Is a Dying Whore'. You should probably listen to this, but you may want to separate the material for better results.

A vastly Underrated Album - 85%

hexen, June 1st, 2013

Down has only ever written one great record, NOLA. Their history has been somewhat scattered, firstly because they were a side project of the infamous Phil Anselmo (one reason why they got so much attention to begin with), and secondly because they seemed to release a record every decade. Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow was released when Anselmo was still an active member of Pantera, having just released an album with them - a huge reason why it never got the attention it deserved as a record.

Now, a third reason I believe this record never got the coverage it needed was because the band didn't 'market' this record as they should have. Whatever you may think of capitalism or marketability, NOLA had done one thing very right, "Stone The Crow" was a terrific single. As anyone in the music industry will tell you, it is the single which draws more people to listen to your record, period. This is antithetical to the fundamentals of heavy metal, which is supposed to be an honest layout; a tapestry woven by the band members only, but it is still unbelievably true.

However, this is an absolutely terrific CD. First of all, the lyrics here speak of darkness - on behalf of Phil Anselmo, this is a time of serious drug abuse, hedonism and absolute recklessness. I still remember his unyielding attitude towards life and himself, this man did not give a fuck about anything or anyone - he wanted to do his own thing his own way, and didn't want to hear anything about it. You can only do this for so long, but he lives every moment of that on this record. Melancholic, dark, despondent - those are the words I'd use to describe Phils voice.

The songs here speak of similar themes as the precursor to this Down record does, although there is perhaps a little less melody here and the songs feel a little more professionally put together, which is no surprise since everyone is a lot older. "There's Something On My Side" is a song I'd consider a classic, it's heavy as fuck and has a beautiful riff to it - I have no idea why this song never took off like it should have. Another brilliantly written piece is "Learn From This Mistake", a soft, dark piece about dying, or getting quite close to it. Another song I'd consider a classic is "Ghosts Along The Mississippi", a track you certainly don't hear often - with some absolutely beautiful guitar work. Those are really some of the best pieces of rock music I have ever heard really, from any band, at any point in rock history - but they kind of get brushed aside by rock fans for some reason.

That being said, a criticism of this record is the presence of fillers, there are at least a couple of them here. With 15 tracks on this CD, you can bet at least a couple of those songs have no purpose of being on this record, and serve only to dilute the integrity of the music. If however, you enjoy southern, stoner rock and sometimes mindless lyrics about New Orleans, suicidal struggles - all coupled with some of the heaviest riffage you'll ever hear out of a rock record, and some classic rock type solos - then this is something you must check out.

A New Orleans jam session - 92%

NocturnalHolocaust, December 5th, 2008

Down’s second album Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow is, in my opinion, the best album this band has released yet. Yes, it’s even better than their critically acclaimed debut album, NOLA. Unlike NOLA, Down II concentrates more on the bluesy and heavy riffing style of some of the first heavy metal bands, namely Black Sabbath (although Led Zeppelin is a definite influence, as pointed out by the band themselves).

Bassist Rex Brown has stated in interviews that NOLA was more of a "demo album", and that this album was more of a bluesy, drug-influenced jam session, which is exactly what it is. Considering the short twenty-eight days it took to record, the production is notably better than the first album. Despite this, it doesn’t take away the hazy atmosphere that all of the songs are filled with. I won’t go through and describe every song, but I will skim through some of the songs that I feel are the true highlights of this album.

Down II starts out with a somewhat short heavy track in "Lysergik Funeral Procession". This track immediately starts out with a riff very reminiscent of the Gods themselves, Black Sabbath. However, it’s not a song I’d like to start an album out with, as it’s very slow and lethargic. Things pick up with "There's Something on My Side". It starts out with a nice bass intro courtesy of Rex and kicks into a nice, fast riff by the sludge masters Pepper and Kirk. "Ghosts Along the Mississippi" and "Beautifully Depressed" are two solid tracks that’ll keep listeners interested between the more softer and bluesy tracks.

"Learn From This Mistake" is a mostly an acoustic guitar dominated song which is inspired by Phil’s past heroin abuse, a lot like "Where I’m Going". The album picks up once again with "New Orleans Is a Dying Whore", which is, in my opinion, the heaviest and perhaps best song on the entire album. This song is fucking perfect. It has a strong riff that is accompanied by Bower’s powerful drumming and Rex’s excellent bass playing. The awesomeness doesn’t stop there, however. "The Seed" is on par with the previous track and features the awesome quote that has become a trademark for the band, “The power of the riff compels me!” This song has "Bower Power" written all over it. The album’s closer, "Landing on the Mountains of Meggido" is an eight minute long acoustic track that features backing vocals by Phil’s now ex-wife Stephanie Opal Weinstein. It’s a nice way to end the album, but not as great as "Bury Me in Smoke" from the previous album.

Down II is unfortunately Down’s most overlooked and underrated release. There isn’t one bad track on this entire album (well, the two interludes weren’t all that great and could’ve been left off the final release). I definitely recommend it to fans of doom, sludge and stoner metal, maybe even just casual heavy metal listeners. I consider this album to be a diamond in the rough in the metal scene. Hopefully in time, people will realize what a great album this is. Hail the leaf!

My personal favorites: "There's Something on My Side", "Learn From This Mistake", "New Orleans Is a Dying Whore", "The Seed", and "Where I'm Going".

Beautifully Shitty - 36%

pinpals, April 19th, 2007

It seems difficult to comprehend how a supergroup that released such an amazing debut can sink so low for their second release. Yet here it is, in all its quarter-assed glory. The riffs are almost universally pedestrian and the acoustic songs are boring as hell. "Lysergik Funeral Procession" would be an amazing song if they actually finished it. It starts off with a powerful riff and seems to be building up, when, three minutes into it, it ends all of the sudden! Dammit. Then you have the dull mid-paced rockers such as "The Seed," "Dog Tired," and "Ghosts Along the Mississippi." There's one, simple unimaginative riff or two throughout while Phil Anselmo hacks out vocals over the whole thing. Then, there are the more laid-back, acoustic numbers like "Learn From This Mistake" and "Where I'm Going" which are enjoyable for the first few listens, but get old fast.

The only bright spots are "Stained Glass Cross," with its Hammond organ and utter simplicity in structure; and "The Man that Follows Hell," the only song on here that could be described as "dynamic," and even that would be a stretch. "Beautifully Depressed" isn't bad either; I believe that it was the single from the album. But even these three songs would not have made it on NOLA. And in none of these is there a riff that grabs hold of the listener and forces him to pay attention. Like many other bands around today, Down seems to think that having a riff is enough, but don't seem to put any thought into writing riffs that are actually memorable or commanding. Rumor has it that this album was recorded in a haze of marijuana smoke and other narcotics in Phil's house in Louisiana in a couple of months. It's no surprise that this album fails because there was such little effort put into it.

Another disappointing aspect is just how blatant Down's influences are. Did someone say Black Sabbath? There's no innovation or imagination. Part of the draw of NOLA was that Down took their influences and crafted something new. There were few bands that sounded similar (other than the bandmembers' main bands) and it was refreshing to hear a supergroup actually do something new. Here the influences are used more as a crutch than a springboard.

That being said, one surprisingly positive aspect of the album are Phil's vocals. He uses a gruff singing voice as opposed to his normal, metalcore sounding growling. It's probably his best performance since "Cowboys from Hell." Keenan and Windstein obviously fail because of the weak riffs and generic solos that occasionally pop up. The AMG review for this album brings up a great point in saying how utterly dull the rhythm section is. Rex Brown was never anything special and Jimmy Bower just plays standard rhythms, it might as well be Lar$ behind the kit. At least Sabbath had Geezer Butler and Ward/Appice to make things interesting. "Down II" pretty much has only Anselmo to make the songs worthwhile; those riffs sure aren't doing anything to help. This makes "Down II" so one-dimensional that, once again, it's no surprise that this album failed.

This album offers nothing that can't be found on dozens of other stoner metal or sludge metal albums, other than a cool-looking lineup. 7 years and this is all they can think of?! To be fair though, the two guitarists were in the midst of putting out albums for their main projects, and since "Down II" came out, both have released solid albums, so perhaps this album is just a fluke. A new Down album is currently in the writing stage, and it had better be much stronger than this, because if I wanted southern/sludge/doom/stoner metal with a heavy Sabbath influence, I would just get the annual Black Label Society album, because at least most of those songs have a cool guitar solo.

Comforting - 80%

Noktorn, April 18th, 2007

The problem with supergroups is the agonizingly slow pace at which they release material. There's a number of reasons for this. Obviously, there's the issue of coordination: rarely will there be so many 'great' musicians located in an area close enough to each other to facilitate a speedy writing process. But another, and perhaps the more profound issue, is a peculiar strain of perfectionism. In a band with so many heralded members, each is not only attempting to do justice to their origins, but to prove themselves the 'top dog' of an even smaller cadre of creators.

This is one of the reasons that supergroups seem to fail so often. Such bands are often signaled by a lack of stylistic consistency, as each member is not just incidentally bringing in previous influences, but doing them intentionally, like bizarre autobiographies that simply MUST be dripping from every note of every composition. So these bands often don't last long, and only end up releasing material with a considerable lack of focus, despite a theoretical wealth of talent involved.

Down is one of the few supergroups that is capable of escaping this common trap. Possessing both a startling longevity as well as quality, they've been able to succeed where the majority of supergroups fail, mostly due to possessing a singular sonic vision devoid of pretense or overweening egotism. Perhaps their most telling feature is how they've been able to stay in the public eye despite their lengthy gaps between releases: even now, five years after the release of 'Down II', people are talking animatedly on forums across the world about the next album. Clearly, Down is a band that exceeds the typical image of the supergroup.

Down's music is a blend of traditional, stoner, and sludge metal, wrapped up with a heavy dose of blues. However, the band isn't content to merely replicate this fusion again and again; the various influences, much like the members of the band, shift and bend to give each individual piece its own specialized portions, devoid of aggravating battles for the spotlight. The music is composed traditionally and very naturally, as the band sees no purpose to experimentation in what is supposed to be a very traditional brand of heavy metal. The dreaded verse-chorus structure is prevalent, and the band makes no apologies for adhering to such a rigid structural form. And yet, despite this structure, the music is the very antithesis of rigidity; 'Down II' is an LP full of organic, laid-back tunes the exude a sense of cool, collected strength even during their most frantic moments.

The pure level of variation presented on this album is stunning. Opener 'Lysergik Funeral Procession' is plowing, churning sludge, while 'Stained Glass Cross' moves into hard blues rock complete with rhythmic claps and Hammond organ, and 'Where I'm Going' into introspective acoustic territory. each of these fifteen tracks are very unique in style, though they can mainly be broken down into three categories: more brutal sludge/stoner style compositions, rock/blues tracks, and acoustic pieces. Each has its own qualities, and there aren't too many of one variety in a row before it changes to another, keeping the album interesting throughout.

This is not terrifically original music in content, but its presentation is undeniably effective. A track like 'Learn From This Mistake' is most certainly emotionally affecting, despite being quite familiar to the average music listener. But this is intentional: Down harnesses this tradition and familiarity to enhance the album instead of using it as a crutch. No, not much new is going on in this album, but this is unimportant, as what makes this album good is the retelling of old stories instead of the creation of new ones.

It took a while for this album to grow on me, but now I can safely say that its tracks get a number of spins from me. Be sure to give the whole album a chance: listen to the CD all the way through to grasp the subtle shifts between tracks and great structuring. This is a solid, comfortable piece of music that deserves attention, but does not demand it. Turn on the CD player, turn out the lights, and lay back.

Very Good Comeback - 95%

mike584, July 25th, 2004

After a six year hiatus, the members of stoner metal side project Down finally found the time to record their follow-up to 1995's NOLA, which had over the years had become an underground classic. The only differences here were the replacement of bassist Todd Strange by Pantera bassist Rex Brown, and their recording procedure. The entire band decided that rather than go to a comfortable studio, they decided, along with producer Warren Reiker, to all move into the guest house on Pantera vocalist Phil Anselmo's vast property deep in the Louisiana swamps.

And if having six people living together under one roof wasn't crazy enough, they rented a whole truck load of instruments for a month, thus giving themselves only a month to record what would become their second release. To top it off, the tripped out on weed, perscription drugs, and anything they could get their hands on just to bring in the hazy vibe of albums like Led Zeppelin III, and Black Sabbath's Sabotage.
But if anything, it finally paid off. On this record, they lived up their original mission of being stylistically diverse while still showing off their Sabbath influences. Listen to the amazingly soulful "Lies (I Don't Know What They Say But...)", and "Where I'm Going " to hear what I'm talking about. And Phil Anselmo makes yet another landmark. Where he speaks about his problems for the first time on the first Down record, he practically sings through the entire album for the first time on any record. But not to worry, for he still sings about the same bleak themes of depression and addiction that make the first record a classic.

Musically, this album has it all, blistering heavy metal, long, laid back jamming, a blues saranade, and Zeppelin-esque closer written entirely by Phil on acoustic guitar, featuring his wife on backing vocals. There can be diversity in metal if it's done right. And these guys know how to do it right.

Key Tracks:
Lysergik Funeral Procession
There's Something On My Side
Ghost Along The Mississippi
Where I'm Going
New Orlean Is A Dying Whore
Lies (I Don't Know What They Say But...)
Dog Tired
Landing On The Mountains of Meggido

Ah, THIS is more like it. - 90%

HealthySonicDiet, January 23rd, 2004

Out of Down's debut album Nola and this one, the latter is the one that really gets my juices flowing. Why, you ask? Well, first of all, gone are the harsh screaming that sounded out of place on Nola. Pantera was trying to do something different with Down and stray away from Pantera's sound, so why add these little 'vestigial structures' in the music? Eh? It could be just me, but it also seems as if Anselmo's vocals are much deeper and resonant this time around. It really adds to the whole soulful effect of the album. It's like a large bowl of homemade chicken soup.

Overall, the riffing is heavier and more memorable on A Bustle in Your Hedgerow as well. It's still not technical, but that's not what matters. Also, the acoustic playing stands out more here, most notably on the last song Landing On the Mountains of Megiddo. Am I the only person who thinks that song title is out of place for this band, sounding more like a song title for reHtaFruO or some other satanic black metal band? Anyway, it's awfully quirky and the music is no exception. It's a very soothing acoustic piece featuring weird instruments , Anselmo howling "Haunted" in the background, and an eerie voice or choir chanting the same thing.

However, even though the riffing is heavier, a fair part of it still isn't overtly moving. This band is plagued by a 'lazy' sound that might fit better with a blues artist like B.B. King or Muddy Waters. Haha.

So, there we have it, Down's second and best album, still quite boring in some places, but overall a solid release.

Groovy and Unoriginal - 82%

langstondrive, September 25th, 2003

This is a good album. The only problem (big problem at least here is that some of the riffs sound tired and recycled (did we hear Pearl Jam do some of these??). Phil Anselmo does very little screaming but his voice seems to be good anyway. The production is nice and the softer songs are better than the heavier ones.

The songs fit into 3 catogories - Drunken Sludge, Drunken Ballad, and Misc. The sludge songs have nice riffs with a typical song structure (verse chorus verse chorus), but are still done very well. Phil's vocal style is pretty aggressive on there. Sludge - Lysergik Funeral Procession, There's Something on My Side, The Man that Follows Hell, Ghosts Along the Mississippi, Beautifully Depressed, New Orleans is a Dying Whore, The Seed and Dog Tired. As one can see, these heavier songs make up most of the album.

The ballad's are few. Learn from My Mistake is an awesome song with a great build-up that finally explodes at the end, but stays soft for most of it. Can get a bit tedious though. Where I'm Going is the best ballad on here. It doesn't get heavy, but man it's good. That little (banjo? guitar?) riff is really cool and Phil's deep voice compliments it perfectly. Landing on the Mountains of Meggido is the closing track and is kind of boring. Has a pretty preditcable chord progression with no backup instruments until like 4 minutes in.

There are a few songs that I couldn't put into either of those. Stained Glass Cross sounds like a fucking ho-down but with Phil singing. They even use an organ! Doob Interlude is a nice little...well...interlude... Lies, I Don't Know What They Say But... is a real jazzy song with a nice bass line which is very mellow and relaxing. And Fambeaux's Jamming with Staug is nothing at all, just Jimmy Bower screaming drunkenly and playing drums.

Overall, a decent album but can get boring due to most of them sounding exactly the fucking same.

Very, very good. - 85%

Sinner, October 15th, 2002

Down?s debut album Nola can in my opinion only be described as a masterpiece, so I was really looking forward to their second release, even more so because it took them 7 entire years to do it.

I?m glad to say that the band, still consisting out of Pantera, Crowbar & Corrosion of Conformity members easily manages to fulfill my expectations by delivering an excellent rock album, which, in due time will probably be considered as much a classic as their first one.

The biggest change musically is the fact that, while Nola sounded very energetic and aggressive at times, this one seems to be a lot more laid-back and groove-orientated making for a much warmer & bluesy sound, with a lot of references to Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin.

From the 15 songs on offer here, 2 are small interludes (DoobInterlude & Flambeaux), while the rest seems to be about evenly divided between heavy grooving rock-tracks and more bluesy, balladesque material with a southern touch. It has to be said though that the first half of the album is the most interesting, with such killer tracks as There?s Something On My Side, The Man That Follows Hell & Ghosts along the Mississippi, all of which can be considered personal favorites of mine, together with New Orleans Is A Dying Whore (gotta love that title) & Landing On the Mountains Of Meggido.

A final note must go to Phil Anselmo, who shows that he can sing with a lot more feeling and variation than he ever did (or will do) on the Pantera albums, delivering what probably is his most outstanding vocal performance so far.

I?d advise anyone to go and check this killer band out as it definitely has something special and unique about it. Superb album, now let us hope that there won?t be another 7 years between this and their next one.