Full Disclosure: Down is a supergroup I have a hard time knocking. For starters, they are fronted by Phil Anselmo. I can't even begin to describe how shit-hot this motherfucker was before the heroin, the back injuries, the injuries, the herpes (I've probably read one too many Letters pages in metal mags). I saw him and his boys in Pantera open for Skid Row in 1991, and right there and then, it was official: hairy spandex-rock, out; scary screaming hardcore, in. It seems now that it was inevitable, but back then? It was a jarring transition that left me wondering how I was going to find a band more intense than Pantera once the shock of their style wore off. In truth, I'm still not sure I've heard their din eclipsed, though I've definitely put up with enough Anselmo sound-alikes to fill 80,000 metal comps. (Many would argue that the singer for Exhorder beat Phil to the punch, but whatever.)
As if Anselmo's membership isn't enough, Down counts among its ranks another huge figure from my metal upbringing: that endlessly identifiable and, yes, lovable fat fuck Kirk Windstein from Crowbar, a New Orleans metal band that, come to think of it, sort of eclipsed Pantera's crunch with their eponymous debut album. But there's a catch -- it was produced by, you guessed it, Mr. Anselmo. Crowbar never matched the pure shit-losing anger of their first record, but they stayed heavy and are regarded highly in certain subdivisions of the genre fold. And, oh yeah, there's that Rex dude from Pantera and that Jimmy dude from Eyehategod and that Pepper dude from Corrosion Of Conformity; I'm not a huge fan of Corrosion, but in the early '80s, C.O.C. balanced Sabbath worship with punk and never sounded conventional enough to fit in either category, which was quite an accomplishment in itself.
So forgive me if I cream a bit in my pants when Down comes out with a new album, shitty Southern-metal sophomore album or no. Over the Under is Down's third effort, and its title could be influenced by any number of albums (Soundgarden's Down on the Upside, Led Zeppelin's In Through the Out Door) while its sound is an unmistakably bland combination of latter-day C.O.C./Pantera/Crowbar with more shabby Southern influences mixed in. Oh, and, you know, Sabbath. Too bad, because I would have been satiated COMPLETELY by even a carbon-copy, note-for-note retake on Down's first album, which transcended influences to create something unique and exciting.
The worst part of listening to OTU is getting all excited about the momentary sparks of inspiration, only to be grounded again by so-so riffs and half-assed, half-mast Anselmo action. "N.O.D." is the most frustrating track. It flashes its teeth at times with lovely twin-guitar phrases mixed with straight riffing and a few jolting stomps, but it's really just a so-so slap in the face of good taste, too traditional and too tacky to be medicinal to the metal soul. I don't even know if it's necessary to delve too deep into the tracklist. I can sense they're trying to break new ground on tunes like "Beneath the Tides" and "Pillamyd," but it's just not quite happening. Each song carries a similar tempo, each a patented Anselmo growl that seems more resigned -- tired, even -- than angry, and though his parts don't lack soul, they most definitely lack that special something.
I have friends who insist that many of the groups we enjoyed together as teens -- Pantera, Down, Soulfly, et al. -- haven't changed. (The implication is that I, gumshoe, have.) But I beg -- no, demand -- to differ; I'm 100 percent sure I wouldn't have been moved by this latter-day crap when I was a kid. It doesn't sound dangerous and it doesn't sound cool and it doesn't sound inspired and it sure as shit doesn't sound forbidden. I'm not even sure if my religious mom would have cared if I listened to this watered-down shadow-of-a-legend stuff, a far cry from the days when a single Pantera lyric would send her running for an Elder. (One of my most vivid memories is of my mother reading the lyrics to Pantera's "By Demons Be Driven" from cassette-tape liner notes and growing more indignant with every word; "Boiling my corpse in the blood of his children/ Praying for his god to PREVAIL???" she said as she crinkled her nose, wondering how her little boy had turned into a devil's spawn.) I still admire the members of Down, but I'm not down with this album in the least.
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