When vocalist Phil Anselmo and his Down bandmates came together to record "Down IV Part I -- Purple EP," they weren't looking to gain additional fans. They wanted to please those diehard fans who have supported them throughout the years.
"The thing about Down is when we do new records, the question that goes through our minds is, 'Are we going to break new ground?'" Anselmo said.
"For me, the pessimist I am, I say, 'No, we're not going to break new ground.' What we do have is a hardcore cult following that deserves, I guess, new music that we have been promising. Believe me, I made the mistake before of saying 'New Down will be coming out.' Trust me. Five years will go by and fans will be saying, 'Where the fuck is Down?' Either way, we did six songs, no bullshit, got it done, didn't second-guess ourselves, and it's for the Down audience. It's for the hardcore Down people. If we happen to gain new fans along the way, that's fine, that's great. That's more than mission accomplished. We did it for the hardcore fans."
Down -- which also includes C.O.C.'s Pepper Keenan on lead guitars, Crowbar guitarist Kirk Windstein, Eye Hate God drummer Jimmy Bowery and Crowbar bassist Pat Brundners -- self-produced the EP. Set for release on Sept. 18, the EP was recorded at Nodfertu's Lair, located at Anselmo's New Orleans home.
"My mindset going into making this record was to put absolutely no pressure on me," Anselmo said. "It's kind of the same way we approached our first demo back in 1991. I think everybody -- all of us -- took the same approach, not to overthink this. When Pepper, Kirk and Jim and now Pat and I get into the same room together, the music is going to sound like Down. It was really a no-pressure situation and I feel like we wrote a really true Down record."
The first single is a song called "Witchtripper." When asked why Down chose the track for radio, Anselmo said "Oh God, it's short and it's fucking called 'Witchtripper' for God's sake."
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