Down
Down IV – Part II
Roadrunner Records
12 May 2014
by Dan Pelic
For those who whiffed at The Purple EP, the second instalment of Down IV may be a homerun.
Down
Down IV – Part II
Roadrunner Records
12 May 2014
by Dan Pelic
For those who whiffed at The Purple EP, the second instalment of Down IV may be a homerun.
Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals
Walk Through Exits Only
Season Of Mist
19 July 2013
by Raziq Rauf
Maybe the slow burning classic rock jams of Down just aren’t cathartic enough for Philip. Maybe the increased vigour that he’s been displaying through Housecore Records has rekindled something deep inside one of the most metal hearts stalking our stages these days. Either way, Walk Through Exits Only is a heavy metal beast of an album.
With Trivium playing across town in Shepherd’s Bush, London is awash with metal tonight. We chose to hang out with the crusty old goons in Camden rather than the young(er) folk out west. It was a good choice.
Six things we learned when we saw DOWN in Camden:
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll have heard the new EP from Down. Guess what? Hugh Platt was less than impressed.
Back in January, I wrote a speculative bit of fluff about Down putting out an EP in 2012, rather than the fully fledged album that their fans have been clamouring for since 2007’s Down III – Over The Under. I glibly suggested that Down putting out an EP meant that we’d be getting just the cream of the New Orleans-based supergroup’s capabilities, rather than them just churning out a longer record that would no doubt contain a couple of songs that would only sound good if you’d smoked as much weed as Phil Anselmo.
Except it hasn’t turned out like that, has it?
Philip Hansen Anselmo, frontman of Down, former frontman of Pantera and Superjoint Ritual, and member of more side-projects and various guest-spots than we could concisely mention, is 44 years old today. And since Anselmo has spent more than half his life fronting some of the most influential metal bands of the last quarter-century, the least we could do to mark his birthday is to post a video of one of those bands, right?
It’s been over a decade since Soilent Green last performed on these shores and in that time they’ve gone from being a band in their own right to the side-project of a side-project. With Jimmy Bower so busy with Down, Eyehategod haven’t had too much time to tour – meaning that Brian Patton has had even less time for Soilent Green. Not to forget Ben Falgoust keeping busy fronting Goatwhore. We thought we’d go and rock out to Soilent Green while we had the chance…
The FOUR new names for Download Festival 2011 that we’ve been waiting ALL day to hear are…
Mike Williams, wasn’t just sitting on his arse while Jimmy Bower was off touring with Down – well, except for the time he was in prison. Amit Sharma caught up with the EyeHateGod frontman earlier this year when the band hit London.
Photo used with permission © Julien Dodinet
It’s fair to say that Mike Williams of Eyehategod has not had it easy these last five years. In that time, he lost his house, and pretty much all his worldy possessions to Hurrican Katrina. While staying in a motel in the aftermath of the hurricane, he was arrested for drugs offences and spent several months in prison. While there, Williams went through the joys of heroin withdrawal.
Yeah, he’s not had it good.