EP Review

Down - The Purple EPDown – The Purple EP

New Orleans heavyweights Down have returned with some new material! At long last since the arrival of 2007’s “Over The Under” we have some fresh stuff to feast upon! After a bruising set at last year’s Download Festival there is still a fire burning which is excellent news! Being a dominant force in the heavy stoner rock scene with a very prestigious back catalogue and a “super group” status that outmatches most being put together of extreme metal heavyweights, one can imagine anything new will fit the predominant style.

From what I can feel, I just don’t feel the raw power from the likes of “NOLA” or “Over The Under” nor the gritty stoner rock tone that they’ve put years of effort into perfecting and using it to produce heavy music, this stuff however feels much mellower and not particularly like the band I once knew. “The Curse” has a ringing tone but the flat distortion is just missing and you can feel that it should be there, very off-putting in my opinion but it’s not just limited to this song, its every song on the EP. The 9 minute long “Misfortune Teller” is a bit more like it though with a bit more of an upbeat pace and Phil’s dirty rock vocals get their chance to shine through.

I wouldn’t really recommend this to people, I mean if you’re a diehard Down fan and want to own all their material fair enough and if other huge Down fans love this material then fair play to them, I just find myself wanting not only more from the material I really want the familiarity of their back catalogue, it doesn’t even seem like a Down release apart from its few moments.

3/5

Review By James Webb

 Band Members

Philip Anselmo
Jimmy Bower
Pat Bruders
Pepper Keenan
Kirk Windstein
 Track Listing
1. Levitation
2. Witchtripper
3. Open Coffins
4. The Curse
5. This Work Is Timeless
6. Misfortune Teller
 Band Related Links
Down Facebook
 Review Score Code
- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
- What Was That?