Cookeville High School - Cookeville, Tennessee

Pure bliss

Josh Mattingly, Charger Staff

We’ve all heard of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Southern Rock, but there are very few of us who have heard of Down and their unique style of heavy metal, a style that I like to call Southern Metal. This group of Texas and Louisiana natives combine the rhythmic patterns of classic country/rock with the crunch and feel of heavy metal. The band’s second album, named Down II, is 15 tracks of beautifully woven riffs and rhythms. From the first track to the last, Down captures their listener’s attention and holds on tight through 15 awesome songs of sorrow, heartache, and resolution.

Armed with the inspiring riffs of Stained Glass Cross and the raw passion of Learn from this Mistake, the new album lives up to the reputations of the members that form the band. Pantera’s Phil Anselmo and Rex Brown cover vocal and bass duties for the band while Pepper Keenan and Jimmy Bower from Corosion of Conformity play guitar and drums with Kirk Windstein of Crowbar who completes the line up with his screaming guitar licks. This all-star cast of heavy metal rockers live up to their reputations as people who know how to lay it on thick.

What started as five friends who got together in a garage to jam quickly turned into Down. In 1995, they cut their first album, Nola- a good album, but not as tight and mature as their sophomore album, II. Sometimes after the release of Nola, Rex Brown replaced the original Down bassist. With their line-up complete, the five friends reunited a few years later to record their second album in their own unique way. The band converted a barn owned by singer Phil Anselmo into a temporary recording studio, locked the doors, and didn’t leave until the album was finished 26 days later.

What they emerged with is an excellent album for listeners of all genres of music. Whether you listen to soft rock, hard rock, country or metal, you’ll be able to appreciate the diversity of Down. It is this variety, emotion and ability to live with four other people without killing them that makes Down and their latest album, II, 15 tracks of pure bliss.