Down II

1	Lysergik Funeral Procession 3:10
2	There's Something On My Side 5:21
3	The Man That Follows Hell 4:33
4	Stained Glass Cross 3:36
5	Ghosts Along the Mississippi 5:06
6	Learn From This Mistake 7:14
7	Beautifully Depressed 4:52
8	Where I'm Going 3:10
9	Doob Interlude 1:50
10	New Orleans Is A Dying Whore 4:15
11	The Seed 4:21
12	Lies, I Don't Know What They Say But... 6:21
13	Flambeaux's Jamming With Staug 0:59
14	Dog Tired 3:21
15	Landing On The Mountains Of Meggido 10:20

Barnes & Noble

While the first outing from this Phil Anselmo-fronted band sounded a little bit like it should've been subtitled "What I Did on My Vacation from Pantera," Down's sophomore disc proves the band has more chemistry (not to mention chemicals) running through its system than just about any other hard-rock group out there. Although Anselmo and partners can trace family trees to bands like Corrosion of Conformity and Eyehategod, best known for pure thrash fury, Down mixes things up a little more, pouring stoner-rock grooves over the creepy-crawly opener, "Lysergik Funeral Procession," and daubing vintage Deep Purple-derived organ tones across the measures of the eerie "Stained Glass Cross." As suggested by its subtitle -- A Bustle in Your Hedgerow -- the disc traffics pretty heavily in the sounds of the '70s, from the chugging southern-fried boogie of "Where I'm Going" to hazy, single-entendre pot paeans such as "The Seed." But you never totally feel like you've been hog-tied and thrown into the way-back machine, due to the utterly postmillennial aggro that Anselmo generates on the disc's more purposefully ugly tracks -- notably "New Orleans Is a Dying Whore," which the singer's hometown is exceedingly unlikely to choose as a theme for its next ad campaign. Then again, Down's music isn't designed to move a product: It's there to get the fists pumping -- and, under the right circumstances, get 'em flying as well. David Sprague

All Music Guide

"I do one thing/I do it well," Philip Anselmo hoarsely screams to start the "Symptom of the Universe"-inspired "The Man That Follows Hell," but the fact is he's sorely mistaken on one count. The erstwhile Pantera prowler does a heck of a lot more than only one thing, as evidenced by his numerous side projects, of which Down is the most prominent. On the supergroup's second album, Down II, his pipes generally show the range that has allowed the New Orleans native to reach demigod status among metal aficionados, gutturally blasting out tortured-soul lyrics that all seem to address his state of mind and body (legend has it the disc was recorded in a rural Louisiana swamp under the influence of quite a few narcotics). Pepper Keenan's shtick is a holdover from the last couple of Corrosion of Conformity discs, and except for the fact that Anselmo is a much better singer than Keenan and the material is far darker than he usually takes his main project lyrically, much of Down II could have appeared on a new Corrosion of Conformity album and few would have blinked an eye. A few tracks stand out, like the almost psychedelic "Beautifully Depressed," which revels in its contradiction, and the closing "Landing on the Mountains of Meggido," a nearly eight-minute epic which is reminiscent Led Zeppelin if they were truly evil and didn't just play the part on TV. Brian O'Neill