Album Dive
There’s something downright mysterious about DOWN II. Something about the vibe of the album sounds like it was recorded and produced by Roger Bain in some haunted, abandoned church in an alternate dimension during the early 1970’s and then teleported back to 2002 for a boost in production value and loudness thanks to the generous spell of a wizard who loves Metal.
But that’s not what happened.
No, there was something else that amplified and enhancified the mystique presented on DOWN’s sophomore effort DOWN II: A Bustle In Your Hedgerow. Something more organic, more natural, and even more mystical and powerful than interdimensional teleportation and wizards:
The swamplands of Louisiana, home to NOSFERATU’S LAIR!
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DOWN II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow
Released March 26, 2002 on Elektra Records
Produced by Warren Riker
Recorded at Nodferatu’s Lair (Phil’s place) in Louisiana from Sep. 28, 2001 to November 26, 2001. (Yeah, it’s technically a “spring” album, but it feels more like it should have come out during Sabbath Season, which is technically “autumn”, but I digress).
When LYSERGIK FUNERAL PROCESSION comes on, it’s like you’re being led into a different world much than what you’re used to in everyday life. Obviously, it can’t be loud enough. And obviously, it’s a killer opener. But it’s like that early part of a psychedelic trip where things begin to slowly morph and dissolve into alternate realities, and almost instantly you feel like you’re transported to Nosferatu’s Lair in the beautiful, bayou wilderness of the Southern Louisiana swamplands. You slowly materialize from a gigantic bong in the middle of the studio, unsure of how you got there, but thinking to yourself “THERE’S SOMETHING ON MY SIDE” (and there was definitely something else in that bowl)!
Everything is kicking in now. Brutal heaviness, giving a mild nod to the crushing, Sabbathy groove of Tomorrow’s Dream, launching into Jimmy Bower’s snare drum assault on THE MAN THAT FOLLOWS HELL. Philip H. Anselmo paints some very dark lyrical imagery with his words, but it adds to the overall feel of relaxing yourself into another dimension. A dimension where the band is about to take a break to go make more cocktails and reload the bowl with whatever interdimensional relaxer they had in there before. Time to go deeper down into that rabbit hole…Hell, let’s dial in the 1970’s…
Organ on a DOWN album? You’re goddamned right! STAINED GLASS CROSS has all the trappings of the 1970’s; guitar solos with a very Ace Frehley kinda feel, the Hammond Organ, the groove. (Good Lord, WTF did those boys load the bowl with THIS time!?). You can almost smell the jam room; the stale beer, the cigarette smoke, the relaxer smoke… Say what you want about DOWN II, it’s most definitely a “70’s album” that was released a few decades later, in a VASTLY different time.
GHOSTS ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI paints a darker picture (yes, even darker than what we’ve heard thus far) about the consequences of decisions and the accompanying regret. The jam room is almost completely a foggy haze at this point. Time for more beverages and another bowl of relaxer to be better prepared to LEARN FROM THIS MISTAKE. It definitely feels (and smells) like the 1970’s in here, and the dark, brooding melancholy of regret can be felt, the haunting presence of so many ghosts, so many regrets, so many memories. Take it as you will, but Phil always had a message in his words.
Read. Those. Lyrics. These 2 tracks were a warning, with the following message: Don’t. It’s not worth it.
Alright, we took a break, got more cocktails and another bowl or three of Relaxer and decided to lift up the groove with the BEAUTIFULLY DEPRESSED. The brilliantly heavy riffmastery of bolth Keenan and Windstein keep that heavy ass southern fried Sabbath sound swaying with a bit of ZZ Top boogie. The heaviness.
WHERE I’M GOING is certainly a lonely, bleak sounding tune. Very stripped down; dueling Dobros. Rex ran to the store to get more beer and Jimmy had to heed the call of nature (Line #2), so me, Phil, Pepper and Kirk are all sitting out here by the fire watching as the sun slowly sets in the south of Louisiana, capturing a very strange kind of natural sorcery. In the meantime, they reload the bowl with more of that fancy Nodferatu’s Blend and we’re off into DOOBINTERLUDE mode. The boys literally sound just like the Allman Brothers for what seems like hours…actually it was just a few minutes. Okay, let’s bring that energy back…and the aggression. NEW ORLEANS IS A DYING WHORE is back to that brutally heavy southern fried Sabbath on steroids kind of sound. You can literally see all of that smoky haze move with the movement of the band. I’m glued to the couch at this point, and I can’t fathom how they’re actually playing without needing to lay down, but that’s why THEY are DOWN! The power of the riff (and the relaxer) compels them. Don’t Deny the Power of THE SEED. And for the record guys, I’d like some of those seeds to go. I think you’re cultivating World Peace, but I might just be super-mega relaxed. Yeah, I don’t even know what any of that even means.
“LIES, I DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY SAY BUT…” You can say it’s lies, but maybe they aren’t lies. Maybe it’s the truth. Or maybe they’re full of shit. I know one thing; those boys know how to groove. Not as chock full of crunchy ball riffs like some of the other tracks, but that’s what makes DOWN II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow such a killer album; it’s transportive. This album is very much a 1970’s kind of album, that transition towards the end going into the climbing harmonies and the heavier, groovier riffs really highlights this particular sonic quality about this album.
Y’know, I’m really not sure which one of us motherfucker’s drank all of your fuckin’ kool-aid, all I know is that everything looks like it’s melting and someone just got thrown in the water, and now someone sounds like a parrot on LSD. There must have been some mushrooms in that motherfuckin’ kool-aid; and that definitely made FLAMBEAUX’S JAMMING WITH ST. AUG an interesting experience. Needless to say, I’m completely DOG TIRED in the fast lane after partying with these boys. But I’ve never had more fun, and I’ve never been more relaxed than this. Like, super-mega, fucked up RELAXED.
LANDING ON THE MOUNTAINS OF MEGGIDO has a particularly unusual tone. It certainly has a creepy, gothic type of vibe to it. The lyrical imagery and the sparseness of the acoustic instruments and the tympanies give it a very haunted and very lonesome feel, which is exactly what you might expect to feel during Armageddon. Read those lyrics, read ALL of those lyrics for ALL of these songs and you’ll see the message. We dare you to go back and re-discover this album again. For all the critics and haters, this may be one of the finest moments in the DOWN catalog!! Go back and listen again
JOIN US (in an alternate dimension. Yeah, you’re gonna need a LOT of relaxers…) as we dive into the 2nd DOWN album and marvel at their uncanny ability to create the most delicious Skynyrd Fried Sabbath Crunch Casserole (with Riff Gravy) platter you’ve EVER experienced in your life.
Show Notes:
(00:00) – A spring release with an autumn vibe: DOWN II: A Bustle In Your Hedgerow (#paradise & #gold) / #blackalbumreference / BUY OUR SHIT: www.metalnerdery.com/merch / Check out our shit: world.wide.web.metalnerdery.com / Come find us on the socials / #stretchmarks / Production credits / The producer’s role and the artist’s role / #relaxers in abundance (most probably, yes!) #itsDOWN
(06:21) – DOWN II: The “flow” and feel of this one vs NOLA / What were YOU into in 2002?/#riffcasseroll (with an extra crispy DOWN crust) / #broadstroke / Jamming with some dudes and getting hammered…for 28 days! #goodtimes #redcirclemagic
(13:48) – The personnel of DOWN / The “Roxy” and a shameless #blackalbumreference / The Tracks: Lysergik Funeral Procession (#alberthofmann) and the sound of a modernized Black Sabbath / There’s Something On My Side (it’s called Stoner Skynyrd gravy to go with your Southern Fried Sabbath) / www.metalnerdery.com/podcast for a little “something extra” to tickle your brain / #relaxers
(21:54) – The Man that Follows Hell (is probably out of relaxers) / Stained Glass Cross (Southern Fried Sabbath with a side of Hammond organ #70sVibe / Ghosts Along The Mississippi (#readthoselyrics) DOWN (Now with a full ½ of Pantera) / Learn From This Mistake #nightnighttime
(29:16) – The Beautifully Depressed #iwillsaythis / Where I’m going (check out the Interview with Phil Anselmo at Loyola University in NOLA for context #justsayno #dontdenythepowerof ) #rollanotherbowl with Ron and head on DOWN to the Doobinterlude (and HAIL to Jimmy Bower! Master of VIBE!)
(35:53) – New Orleans is a Dying Whore (#crunchyballriffs now with extra #balls) / ***THE POWER OF THE RIFF COMPELLS ME!!!*** The Seed #rollanotherbowl / The “style” of a left turn in Canahhdahh / #cancerboogers / Lies, I don’t know what they say but… (#idiot #welldeserved) DOWN II is definitely a “relaxer” album / Did DOWN Time Travel back to the 70’s to record DOWN II? / Flambeaux’s jamming with St. Aug (#ridiculous consumption of multiple #relaxers) and theories as to the song’s title / Dog Tired
(46:11) – Landing on the Mountains of Meggido (***check out also En Minor, which is tangentionally related***) #metalnerderyASMR and Careless Whispering and that Black Dog / Coming to the Main Stage, it’s Tympani!! / What’s in the future realm for DOWN? / #butbutbut / DOWN IV: Parts 3&4? / ***MERRY CHRIST MASS*** #dontdenythepowerof #Christmas #krampus and French Satan #nuts #neverforget