Down, Ft. Philip Anselmo of Pantera, is Working on New Music

2023-12-29

Metal band Down, photo by Danin Drahos

Down new music update – Author Cat Badra, Photo via Danin Drahos

The guys of Down have started working on their first bit of new music in about a decade. The sludge rock supergroup features Philip Anselmo of Pantera; along with guitarists Pepper Keenan of Corrosion of Conformity and Kirk Windstein of Crowbar; drummer Jimmy Bowar; and bass player Pat Bruders.

Windstein took to social media on on Thursday (Dec. 28) to post a photo of himself and Keenan in the studio. They captioned it, “So…we kinda wrote 2 Down songs today!!!” But the way, if you’re wondering, Pepper isn’t related to Maynard James Keenan of Tool. Although, that would make from some pretty cool stories if the two were cousins or something.

Windstein previously opened up about Down’s future. Since Anselmo is busy playing Pantera shows, fans were speculating just when Down might have the time to regroup. He said on the Loaded Radio podcast (as transcribed by Blabbermouth), “Phil’s attitude is kind of just like, ‘Look, fellas, I’m doing what I’m doing [with Pantera]. I love it. We’re killing it.’ And boy, are they. We (Crowbar) had the pleasure of playing with Pantera in Poland in early June. It was unbelievable. I mean, I laughed, I cried. My emotion was something else, because I was very tight with Dimebag. It’s real — what they’re doing is real.”

He added, “But what Phil said, ‘Hey, man, in the big picture of things, dude, I really don’t have a band. I’m doing a Pantera reunion thing.’ And of course they’re gonna do it as long as they can. I mean, I don’t blame them. Who would? You do what you’ve gotta do. And they’re killing it and doing it heartfelt for the right reasons, and I love it. But like he said, ‘Look, you are the guys.'”

As far as what fans can expect release-wise, Windstein added, “To be honest, we talked about doing like a cover-song EP. But we threw around like a hundred songs and we can’t pick and choose any of them. So, to me, it’s easier to just go, ‘Hey, guys, let’s get in the f***ing room and just write some s***.’ Come out with six songs and do an EP. So I hope that that’s what happens.”

As for Pantera, the band has a load of gigs lined up for 2024. The new incarnation of Pantera features Anselmo, along with Rex Brown, Zakk Wylde, and Charlie Benante. The band has spent much of this year on the road with Metallica on their “M72 World Tour,” and that trend will continue in 2024, as they’ll appear on select dates of the tour. On top of that, Pantera will be touring North America with special guests Lamb of God early next year. While the Pantera reunion got some pushback at first, fans seem to have been really embracing it, as many of the band’s reunion shows have sold out. Pantera also got a big push when Metallica hand-selected them for the “M72 World Tour,” so it appears people are greeting this reunion with open arms.

View the social media post from Windstein below.

Cat Badra
Posted by Cat Badra | Metal, Music, Rock News