Band:	Down
Album:	Down IV - Part Two
Style:	Heavy metal, Sludge metal, Stoner metal
Release date:	May 2014

01. Steeple
02. We Knew Him Well
03. Hogshead/Dogshead
04. Conjure
05. Sufferer's Years
06. Bacchanalia

Rather than take the natural path and make Down IV a single full-length release, southern metal giants Down have instead taken an unusual release strategy and opted to follow up 2007's Down III: Over The Under with a series of EPs. The first of these, the Purple EP, dropped in 2012 and, whilst generally well-received, I found it a tad underwhelming. Thankfully, this second EP offers something of a step up.

The band was always capable of writing heavy, meaty riffs with groovy swagger, and that ability is certainly still present here, even if Crowbar's Kirk Windstein no longer is. Bobby Landgraf shows himself to be a perfectly adequate replacement. In fact, the consistency of the riffs and guitar playing is arguably higher across this album than on the previous EP for which Windstein was still present, on which I felt the guitars were slightly muted and less impressive than usual. And there's a fair variety in composition across the EP, whether it's the fast, rather aggressive intro track "Steeple", with a combustible verse riff eventually culminating in an emphatic outro, or the typically swaggy riff-fests "We Knew Him Well" and "Hogshead/Dogshead" that have Down's fingerprints all over them alongside some nice brief guitar leads popping up throughout. Additionally, the extended, heavily Black Sabbath-inspired "Conjure" sounds like so much of a tribute to that band that the presence of Ozzy Osbourne on vocals (who Anselmo is clearly attempting to channel) could've convinced me this was an outtake from last year's 13. The band's approach on each song is regularly satisfying, even if the more quintessentially Down tracks are personally more interesting. Rounding out the instrumental side of the band, Rex Brown replacement Pat Bruders has some nice moments on bass scattered through the album and Jimmy Bower is still fully capable on drums.

However, having held Phil Anselmo's vocals in such high esteem earlier on in his career, particularly on this band's debut album NOLA, I must admit his vocals seem to have been somewhat ravaged by time. They sounded weaker than expected on The Purple EP and haven't fully returned to past strengths in the intervening 2 years. His partial Ozzy impression on "Conjure" was quite convincing, but some of the swagger seems to have gone from his voice, and he actually sounds rather forced and even rushed at times on "Steeple" and "We Knew Him Well" in particular. The coarse edge to his vocals that made them so appealing are still present, as can be heard on "Sufferer's Years", but it would appear 20+ years as a professional musician has had an impact. That aside, the two other main complaints I might've made against the Purple EP have been mostly resolved here - even though the songwriting still isn't quite at the levels they once accomplished, "Steeple" and "Bacchanalia" in particular are fairly inspired tracks, and the production is a lot heavier and more satisfying than it previously was.

In conclusion, the band isn't quite operating at their greatest, but despite slightly rough songwriting and a somewhat sub-strength Phil Anselmo on vocals, the band still produces some solid southern-styled heavy metal with enough of their riffing ability and power on display to properly satisfy. Following the slight disappointment that was the first EP in this planned series, this one acts as a promising return to form and demonstrates an ability to move on the loss of Kirk Windstein with their vitality still intact.

Highlight tracks: "Steeple", "Hogshead/Dogshead", "Bacchanalia"