Down - IV part II (EP 2014)

as it was for the first part of this EP series I got mixed feeling about this second part. on one hand Down still is a really good band with a strong personnality and their songs really have something, on the other hand I'm a bit disapointed because it's good but nos as much as it was on their albums. some songs are excellent, while some  other would have been more fitted for B-sides or bonus tracks. or would have needed some editing, for exemple the two long jam like tracks on this one ("conjure" and "bacchanalia"). three songs out of the six are ok but a bit below Down average. and the first song, "steeple", is an excellent epic heavy metal song with great singing and very fine Keenanesque lead guitar works very. this one, "steeple", is worthy of becoming a Down classic. but this Ep won't stay as one of the best Down record for me.

their website.

Down-Down IV part I EP (2012)

With Blasting Days I usually deal with less known bands, and Down certainly don't need blogs to spread the word for them. But well...  I really like this band for years now, so I make an exception. They just released Down IV part I, the first of the four EPs they would release until December and before their next album. Another 6 good songs by down. That's a good thing. But...
But I'm a bit disappointed by this EP. one reason is that there is absolutely no surprise on the EP and the songs are not very different, mid-tempo all the time, no fast songs, no acoustic or whatever, no diversity. It sounds a bit like business as usual, the excitement and freshness that was so present in Down II seems far away. Down is still a really good bands writing good songs, but is not as special as it was. I hope the next EP will bring something different from this one...

Down website

addition : I discovered there is an  explanation to the lack of diversity on this record. The band choose to gather the old school heavy metal songs on this one, the more modern heavy ones on the second, the third will be more "bluesy, acoustic" and the fourth will be  "doomy & apocalyptic, bury me in smoke like". OK. But I still think mixing these different Down aspects in each of the EPs would have made a better listening experience. But that being said, I'm impatient to hear the other ones, especially the third and fourth ones.