You know it’s Down as soon as you hear them. That’s the way it’s always been, and nothing will ever change that. There’s no mistaking those gargantuan riffs, swamp blues leads, crashing drums, and hypnotic howls for absolutely anybody else under the sun. Phil Anselmo, Pepper Keenan, Jimmy Bower, Pat Bruders, and Bobby Landgraf uphold a certain tradition that countless fans celebrate, expanding their own musical mythos as they leave its pillars intact and untouched.
With a collective resume encompassing Pantera, Corrosion of Conformity, and Eyehategod, the quintet puffed out its first haze of sonic smoke from the belly of gritty old New Orleans on this, their 1995 platinum-selling landmark debut, NOLA. Featuring themes of death, suicide and drug abuse, NOLA is home to the bludgeoning singles "Temptations Wings," "Lifer," "Stone the Crow" and "Bury Me in Smoke."
Anselmo on Down and NOLA's synthesis: "We were still growing and finding out what we were as a band, and we were into a lot of bands that were influenced by Black Sabbath, like St. Vitus, Trouble and Witchfinder General."