Review: Down, "Down IV: Part 2"

On this second in a series of EPs which will eventually add up to Down’s fourth studio album, the band continues to dish out the same Sabbath-inspired punishment that marked the first EP released in late 2012.

Nowhere is that more evident than fourth track “Conjure,” which follows the Sabbath template to the letter. The eight and a half minute track opens with a ten-ton, doomy slab of a droning riff that probably has Tony Iommi hitting his lawyer’s speed dial right about now. Then Phil Anselmo (Pantera) comes in on vocals, also sounding a bit Ozzy-ish, at least on those first lines. Then about halfway through, guitarist Pepper Keenan (Corrosion of Conformity) kicks the speed up with a galloping break in the old Sabbath tradition. Finally, they settle back into that heavy dirge to finish things out.

Best of 2013: Hard rock and metal honorable mentions

I'll start my look at the best hard rock and metal albums of the year with a few that didn't quite make the cut, some random thoughts, and a look ahead at 2014.

Honorable Mentions


Philip H. Anselmo and the Illegals -- Walk Through Exits Only. Though this record narrowly missed my top 10, it's certainly the most interesting I heard this year. Dubbed by Anselmo as anti-music, the album is loaded with hooks while, at the same time, being very chaotic and jarring.

Saturday Shuffle: Down, Alestorm, Jon Oliva's Pain, Pantera, Philip Anselmo

A very Phil-centric shuffle this week ...

Down, “The Seed.” From the album Down II (2002). The power of the riff compels me. Down II, despite what some think, may just be my favorite album from the band. This tune is a great groover with the usual Sabbath and stoner rock overtones that you get from the band. Good stuff that’s as sludgy as the south Louisiana swamps it was born from.

Review: Philip Anselmo and the Illegals, "Walk Through Exits Only"

Phil Anselmo is angry. And he’s going to scream at you until you get it. That’s the general gist of his first solo album Walk Through Exits Only.

The record opens with a nearly two-minute intro track, “Music Media is My Whore,” which is dissonant, choppy and uncomfortable as he announces his intent to make a type of music that’s never been made before. I’m not quite sure that he achieves that lofty goal, but the eight tracks on this record are certainly different.

There are portions of the album that are like a hard slap in the face or a baseball bat pummeling you over the head. They’re ugly, gnarly and beastly. But nearly every time, those passages are balanced by others where you find yourself bobbing your head and locking into the groove, the way you would with a Pantera or Down record.

Saturday Shuffle: Down, Jamey Johnson, Metallica, Dio, Pantera

A couple of Phil Anselmo's finer moments, a couple of bona fide metal classics, oh, and a country song wedged in there ...

Down, “Mourn.” From the album Down III: Over the Under (2007). I thought this was a very tastefully done tribute to “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott and a very good way for Phil Anselmo to address the controversy surrounding it, with him being blocked from the funeral and blacklisted by members of Dime’s family.

Review: "The Merciless Book of Metal Lists" by Howie Abrams and Sacha Jenkins

I think there’s something innate in music fans that drives them to want to make lists. And then, of course, to argue about those lists to the death.

With "The Merciless Book of Metal Lists" ($18.95, Abrams Books), Howie Abrams and Sacha Jenkins take it to a new level. After a foreword by Slayer’s Kerry King (which is really more of a Q&A, actually), they jump right into all of the obligatory lists — best metal bands, best guitarist, best singer, best drummer, best bassist and so on.

Sure, those are fun to agree or disagree with, but it’s the other pieces of the book that actually make it so entertaining. It’s quite possible that even the hardcore metalhead might find something to explore in some of the lists where they play it straight.

Review: Philip H. Anselmo/Warbeast, "War of the Gargantuas" split

Long rumored and long awaited, this split EP from Phil Anselmo’s Housecore Records gives fans the first taste of the former Pantera and current Down frontman’s upcoming solo work.

Warbeast, a Texas thrash/speed metal outfit which is out on the road with Down now, was one of the first signings to Anselmo’s label and rounds out this four-song collection with two abrasive, breakneck tracks — “Birth of a Psycho” and “IT.” Both are solid efforts, calling on the classic thrash sound of the 1980s, but bringing a modern edge to it. There’s a lot of Slayer, particularly in “IT,” but a taste of Pantera, too, along with some European influences.