Down - Volume V

Nearly two decades after Down III: Over the Under, the New Orleans brotherhood of Phil Anselmo, Pepper Keenan, Kirk Windstein, Jimmy Bower and Pat Bruders is back with a full-length album. Volume V marks Windstein's return to the fold and the band's first release since the Down IV, Part II EP.

True to a tradition that goes back to Down II, the songs took shape in face-to-face writing sessions at Anselmo's home studio, the band's longtime clubhouse known as Nodferatu's Lair. The result is everything Down fans want: swampy, earthquaking grooves, riffs thick enough to stand on, and Anselmo howling straight from the gut. Lead single "Blood Oath" set the tone, while "Merciful Fate" brings in none other than King Diamond, and "Ozz" pays tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne.

Produced by Eddie Mapp alongside the band and mixed by Dave Fortman, Volume V sounds like a group that rediscovered why it started in the first place: heavy, loose and unmistakably rooted in Louisiana.

This edition presents the album on two LPs of clear orange vinyl in a gatefold jacket.