DOWN guitarist Kirk Windstein says the sludge metal supergroup's long-awaited new album is finished and being mixed, promising that frontman Phil Anselmo's vocal performance will surprise longtime fans.
"People are not gonna believe how well he sings on this," Windstein said, adding that Anselmo's vocals were recorded without digital correction: "There's zero AutoTune or any of that bullshit." Drummer Jimmy Bower echoed the praise more bluntly, saying simply, "Phil sang his ass off." Windstein also highlighted Anselmo's expanded songwriting role on the record, noting that "three of the 10 songs on the record are pretty much his songs; every part is his."
The 10-track album was recorded beginning in January 2024 at Anselmo's own studio and will arrive via Nuclear Blast Records, which signed DOWN in April 2025. It will be the band's first new full-length since the "Down IV – Part Two" EP in May 2014, closing a gap of over a decade for a band that has otherwise remained active mostly through sporadic touring.
DOWN's current lineup features Anselmo on vocals, Windstein and Pepper Keenan on guitars, Bower on drums and Pat Bruders on bass. Windstein, also known for his work in CROWBAR, rejoined DOWN in 2019 after a six-year absence, a return that has since coincided with the band finally completing new material after years of stop-and-start sessions.
Formed in 1991 out of the New Orleans scene, DOWN built its reputation on releases like "NOLA" (1995) and "Down II: A Bustle In Your Hedgerow" (2002), blending Southern rock groove with the members' backgrounds in death and doom metal via Anselmo's work in PANTERA and Windstein and Keenan's in CROWBAR and CORROSION OF CONFORMITY, respectively. With the new record now complete, fans have reason to expect an announcement on release timing in the coming months.