THE DROP
Down have announced *Volume V*, out November 20 via Nuclear Blast, and dropped lead single "Blood Oath" with a video §‡‡. It's their first full-length since 2007's *Down III: Over the Under* — and Kirk Windstein is back after sitting out *Down IV – Part II* ††‡‡.
WHAT TO KNOW
- Ten tracks, opening with "The Myth" and closing with "Twice-Told Tales" §‡‡.
- King Diamond duets with Anselmo on "Merciful Fate," with Livia Zita also on the track §‡‡.
- Most of it came from two writing sessions at Anselmo's Nodferatu's Lair, with Keenan and Windstein tracking guitars at the same time instead of separately §.
- Eddie Mapp produced with the band; Dave Fortman mixed, Maor Appelbaum mastered §.
- Consequence calls "Blood Oath" doom-driven New Orleans sludge with Trouble and St. Vitus riff touchstones ‡‡.
THE TAKE
Two guitarists cutting parts in the same room is the detail that matters here — that's how *NOLA* felt alive, and it's the opposite of the file-swapping that killed the *Down IV* EPs' momentum. Keenan says "You'll know it's DOWN right off the fucking bat. It's heavy in its attack." § Nineteen years is a long time to be owed a record, and naming a song "Merciful Fate" is a hell of a swing to take with King Diamond standing right there.
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