DOWN is in the studio working on new material for a possible 2024 release
DOWN, the heavy metal supergroup featuring iconic vocalist Philip H. Anselmo, guitarists Pepper Keenan and Kirk Windstein, drummer Jimmy Bower, and bassist Pat Bruders, has stirred excitement among fans as they hint at the commencement of the songwriting process for a forthcoming release. This revelation comes after a considerable hiatus since the unveiling of the “Down IV – Part Two” EP in May 2014.
Yesterday (Thursday, December 28), Windstein shared a photo of him and Keenan in DOWN‘s rehearsal studio in Louisiana, and he included the following message: “So…we kinda wrote 2 DOWN songs today!!!”
Windstein recently appeared on an episode of The Loaded Radio Podcast and spoke with Scott Penfold about the chances of there being new DOWN music at some point soon. Windstein, who is also the frontman for his own band CROWBAR, said: “I talked to Phil a pretty good bit… Phil‘s attitude is kind of just like, ‘Look, fellas, I’m doing what I’m doing [with PANTERA]. I love it. We’re killing it.’ And boy, are they.
“We [CROWBAR] had the pleasure of playing with PANTERA in Poland in early June. It was unbelievable. I mean, I laughed, I cried. My emotion was something else, because I was very tight with [late PANTERA guitarist] Dimebag. It’s real — what they’re doing is real.
“But what Phil said, ‘Hey, man, in the big picture of things, dude, I really don’t have a band. I’m doing a PANTERA reunion thing.’ And of course they’re gonna do it as long as they can. I mean, I don’t blame them. Who would? You do what you’ve gotta do. And they’re killing it and doing it heartfelt for the right reasons, and I love it.
“But like he said, ‘Look, you are the guys.’ And I talked to Pepper about two or three days ago. I think he’s got a few shows in early November with C.O.C. and he’s off for a while. CROWBAR‘s next gig is in Ireland in late February, so we’re off for a good bit.
“And when you have five guys — well, Phil, of course, will be kind of out of the picture for now but me, Pepper, Jimmy and Pat — in a room together, when you’ve got all these guys writing riffs off of each other… And that’s the way I like to write — I like to write spontaneously off the cuff. I don’t like to [go], ‘Okay, this is my new song. Boom. Here y’all go,’ or whatever. I like to write off the cuff, on the spot. I feel what the other guys are giving me vibe-wise and whatnot. And that, to me, is a winning formula. It really is.”
When Kirk was asked if he is saying that there could possibly be some new DOWN music dropping next year, Kirk replied: “I hope. To be honest, we talked about doing like a cover-song EP. But we threw around like a hundred songs and we can’t pick and choose any of them. So, to me, it’s easier to just go, ‘Hey, guys, let’s get in the fucking room and just write some shit.’ Come out with six songs and do an EP. So I hope that that’s what happens.
“To be honest, I don’t know,” he continued. “And this is not from Phil or [PANTERA bassist] Rex [Brown] or anything. They can do [the PANTERA thing] forever. Like as far as festivals in South America, Europe and whatnot, they can — they can always go do a weekend or two in the summer here and there between Zakk [Wylde, PANTERA guitarist] and Charlie‘s [Benante, drums] [schedules]… whatever they’re up to with [their respective] bands. So I hope that they do. I hope they do it forever.
“When we got DOWN together in 1991, that was the first demo tape,” Windstein added. “We wrote ‘Bury Me In Smoke’, ‘Temptation’s Wings’ and ‘Losing All’ in a day. We recorded it. Phil sang. We mixed it off on a four-track or some shit, and that was it. Phil flew back to Texas and Pepper flew back to North Carolina with C.O.C. So when we got together, we always joked, but it’s no longer a joke that this is the kind of band we can grow old with.
“It doesn’t matter what we look like. We can be fat. We can be bald. We’re not attracting 18-year-old girls. If they wanna be a fan of the music, great. If you’re a [Taylor Swift] fan, hey, more power to you. It’s all good. Whatever. But that was not our intention. And it’s kind of ironic or whatever that it’s kind of come full circle where we see ourselves going, ‘Hey, guys, we’re closing in on mid-50s to 60s.
“This is a band that we can actually do and kill it and then retire with it maybe.’ So that’s what I personally believe is going to happen, and I hope that in the near future, that’s what happens and we’re able to do more DOWN in, say, ’24, ’25, whatever. But there’s no time limit on anything. I mean, Phil‘s doing what he’s doing and God bless him for that. And I’m so proud of him. I really am.”
While DOWN has been relatively quiet on the release front, the band made a resurgence with a series of rare live appearances in the spring and summer of 2022. Their three-date U.S. run kicked off in May at the Welcome To Rockville festival in Daytona Beach, Florida, followed by shows in Atlanta and Dallas. After a brief hiatus, DOWN regrouped for three European festival appearances in June, culminating in a noteworthy performance at the Blue Ridge Rock Festival in September 2022 in Alton, Virginia.
The band’s diverse live activities in recent years included a special event in August 2021 titled “NOLA Town Throwdown,” held at the Fillmore in New Orleans, Louisiana. This unique experience blended in-person attendance with virtual participation, allowing fans worldwide to enjoy the performance in real-time from the comfort of their homes.
In August 2020, DOWN marked the 25th anniversary of their seminal album “NOLA” with a livestreamed extravaganza called “The Quarter Century Throwdown.” This high-production event employed cutting-edge streaming technology, delivering a virtual concert experience that resonated with fans globally.
DOWN underwent a significant lineup change in 2013 when Kirk Windstein, a founding member, left to focus on CROWBAR and family life. Bobby Landgraf stepped in as his replacement. However, Windstein rejoined DOWN in 2019, and the band had plans for festival appearances in 2020 to celebrate “NOLA‘s” 25th anniversary, which unfortunately faced cancellations and postponements due to the global pandemic.
The last live appearance of DOWN prior to their recent activities took place in August 2016 at the Psycho Las Vegas festival in Las Vegas.
Reflecting on their discography, “Down IV – Part Two” and its predecessor, “Down IV Part I – The Purple EP,” both made notable debuts on The Billboard 200 chart, with the former selling around 10,000 copies in its first week in May 2014 and the latter opening with approximately 12,000 units in September 2012.
The anticipation is palpable as DOWN gears up for a new chapter in their musical journey, with fans eagerly awaiting the next installment in their powerful discography.