Down

About

Few bands can claim a lineup packed with as many heavy hitters as Down, the New Orleans supergroup built around vocalist Phil Anselmo, guitarists Pepper Keenan and Kirk Windstein, drummer Jimmy Bower, and bassist Pat Bruders. Their members collectively span Pantera, Crowbar, Corrosion of Conformity, Eyehategod, and Goatwhore, yet Down has always sounded like its own beast: a slow, swampy, Sabbath worshipping crush rooted deep in the Louisiana soil. Their 1995 debut NOLA is the cornerstone, a landmark slab of sludge and southern doom that earned near perfect reviews and debuted at number 55 on the Billboard 200. The follow ups Down II and Over the Under kept the momentum going, with Over the Under landing at number 26 on the same chart and covering heavy personal ground including the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the death of Dimebag Darrell. The band has gone on hiatus more than once, but keeps pulling back together, releasing two EPs under the Down IV banner in 2012 and 2014.