DOWN Set 'Volume V' For November 20 On Nuclear Blast — Watch 'Blood Oath' And Hear King Diamond On 'Merciful Fate'

DOWN will release their long-awaited new studio album, "Volume V", on November 20 via Nuclear Blast Records. Lead single "Blood Oath" is out now.

For over three decades the New Orleans quintet — Philip H. Anselmo, Pepper Keenan, Kirk Windstein, Jimmy Bower and Pat Bruders — have functioned less as a band than as a standing arrangement between old friends. They first crossed paths as teenagers in local bands before each made his name elsewhere: Anselmo fronting PANTERA, Keenan on guitar and vocals in CORROSION OF CONFORMITY, Windstein leading CROWBAR, Bower slinging guitar in EYEHATEGOD.

"We were all excited about this," says Anselmo. "There was a sense of lightness in the air. Everyone's attitude was positive. There was more focus than ever. It just felt fresh again. Each one of us was individually striving for something, and I believe we achieved what we wanted to achieve. The record is a journey. It's classic DOWN, but it's also unique."

Windstein reaches further back for a comparison. "Everybody played their asses off, wrote great riffs, and Philip is singing amazing. To me, it's the same vibe as our debut 'NOLA', but we've got another 35 years of experience as songwriters."

Two writing sessions produced the bulk of the album. Keeping a tradition that dates to "Down II", the band decamped to Anselmo's home studio and de facto clubhouse, Nodferatu's Lair, and wrote face to face as they jammed through 2025. Keenan and Windstein tracked their guitars simultaneously, which gives the record a distinctly live punch.

Opener "The Myth" arrives as a barnburner of precise down-picking and pummeling rhythm. "Merciful Fate" brings in King Diamond for a vocal duel at a breakneck 120bpm, with solos to match and dark accents from King's wife Livia Zita. Closer "Twice-Told Tales" ends the trip hypnotically. "It's a conglomerate of tight riffs and blues rock mixed with the diligence of classic metal," Anselmo says. "It's an important song to us. I could feel Ozzy Osbourne's influence on me in the strangest way."

"Blood Oath" itself rides a riff that is alternately hard-hitting and hummable before opening into a clarion-call chorus, and it bleeds old gold, black and white. "Anybody who's from New Orleans is going to get a kick out of the references to the city," grins Anselmo. "Musically, it's got a big hook. It's a DOWN song, but it takes a turn." Keenan is blunter: "You'll know it's DOWN right off the fucking bat. It's heavy in its attack."

"Volume V" was produced by Eddie Mapp and DOWN, mixed by Dave Fortman and mastered by Maor Appelbaum in California. It arrives on CD, digital and 2xLP across seven colour variants: orange (worldwide), yellow and red galaxy (Nuclear Blast US exclusive), orange and red galaxy (Nuclear Blast EU exclusive), black and clear/black/red smoke (band exclusives), orange and black galaxy (Decibel exclusive) and smoke (Revolver exclusive).

"Volume V" track listing:

1. The Myth
2. Merciful Fate
3. Turn Out The Light
4. The Message
5. Causeway Grief
6. Blood Oath
7. They Walk The Night
8. They Came From Dust
9. Ozz
10. Twice-Told Tales

The tour is already underway. DOWN play Aftershock in Sacramento on October 3 and Sick New World Texas in Fort Worth on October 24, then headline day two of Decibel Magazine Metal & Beer Fest Denver on December 5 — their first Denver show in more than twelve years.

Remaining dates with HELMET and SPIRIT IN THE ROOM:

* Berzerkus Fest with LAMB OF GOD, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY and more — no HELMET or SPIRIT IN THE ROOM ** With SLAYER, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES and HATEBREED

Tickets for all shows are on sale now.

Stream and order:

• Stream "Blood Oath": down.bfan.link/blood-oath
• Preorder "Volume V": down.bfan.link/volume-v