DOWN — NOLA (review)

DOWN — NOLA album cover Album · 1995 · Stoner Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
thellama73
Down is a sludge metal supergroup based in New Orleans, Louisiana (hence the album name.) Ordinarily, I am no fan of supergroups and feel that too many dominant personalities ruin the group dynamic, but this one does a pretty great job of coming up with some first rate metal. he music is distinctly southern, not surprising given the musicians, and has something of a "good ol' boy" feel, which I find very appealing.

The songs are generally riff based, relying on just one or two guiatr patterns for their duration. With some groups, this can come off as tedious and unimaginative, but the riffs are strong enough here that the result is an undeniable catchiness. Although classified as Sludge, there are also plenty of uptempo numbers to be found. The album opener, "Temptation's Wings" is an obvious example. On the other end of the spectrum, "Underneath Everything" offers a delightfully slow stoner metal groove.

The vocals are my favorite kind in metal. Not death metal growling, but way rougher than the polished crooning of many power metal singers, and all of the other musicians more than hold their own. While only a few of the songs contain proper solos, they are uniformly impressive without descending into self indulgence. My only complaint is that the bass is practically inaudible for most of the record,

Overall, this is a great album, and while none of the songs are really bona fide masterpieces, they are all of high enough quality that I can unhesitatingly award it four stars.
Share this review

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Deviance Deathcore
ASHES INTO BLOOD
Buy this album from MMA partners
Equilibrium Atmospheric Sludge Metal
BESRA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tension Between Rot And Genesis Sludge Metal
ANTHESIS
Buy this album from MMA partners
Recycle Brain Crust Punk
C.P.G
Buy this album from MMA partners
Cartography Of The Mind Deathcore
TETHERED
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us