Artist: Down
Title: Diary Of A Mad Band Live in Europe
Genre: Heavy Metal/Sludge Metal
Release Date: 1st October 2010
Label: Roadrunner
Album Review
‘Diary Of A Mad Band - Live in Europe’ is part of the package of DOWN - the New Orleans band featuring CORROSION OF CONFORMITY guitarist / vocalist Pepper Keenan, drummer Jimmy Bower (EYEHATEGOD, SUPERJOINT RITUAL guitarist), bassist Rex Brown (ex-PANTERA), guitarist Kirk Windstein (CROWBAR), and vocalist Philip Anselmo (SUPERJOINT RITUAL, ex-PANTERA) - was recorded in London and according to Phil Anselmo it’s “a semi-ugly glimpse into what would end up the perfect building blocks to a much more prosperous future! Raw, distorted, unpredictable, and with a freshly mended spine in tow, these shows were desperately important to us as a cohesive unit. Take this trip through the old days with us at your own risk, and don't forget to bring some aspirin!”
As to tapping onto the energy of the concert and relaying the atmosphere the editing on the live recording has been good - there is enough of interactions of Anselmo with audience and just enough of fan noise left to be heard but not obscuring the songs themselves. The sound feels slightly distant but not so much to miss hearing everything so you can even get a feeling as if you’re about a tenth or fifteenth row from the stage or even further. Songs that stood out for me were ‘Rehab’ - great heavy drumming and dark guitars that soon speed up and distort the hardcore punk tempo and atmosphere. Some songs i.e. ‘Bury Me In Smoke’ lose in the live versions regarding the strength of the sound, it goes mild, the guitars just don’t sound as aggressive and heavy hitting as in the original, in fact it in many ways even feels like a different song. The album starts abrasive as it should be but the ending somehow feels as if the steam was running out or the guys got stoned blind, and I wouldn’t be so sure about unpredictable. I still consider the guy’s original bands better than their new project.
There’s no doubt that the live albums are always a great idea for the connoisseur fans, or those who had been to the show and want to be reminded of their memories of it, those who some transcend their relevance from only the hard die fans further afield, some just don’t manage to do that. DOWN is much of a prominent band of Sludge Metal - to a degree it’s thanks to them that the genre spread around the USA, so there’s added interest to ‘Diary Of A Mad Band’. If you don’t belong to those categories, it’s an interesting album, worth a listen, though not so great as to be worth of rushing out there and getting it.
Tracklist
01.Losing All
02. Lifer
03. Lysergic Funeral Procession
04. Rehab
05. Temptation's Wings
06. Ghosts Along The Mississippi
07. Learn From This Mistake
08. Hail The Leaf
09. New Orleans Is A Dying Whore
10. Lies, I Don't Know What They Say But...
11. Underneath Everything
12. The Seed
13. Eyes Of The South
14. Jail
15. Stone The Crows
16. Bury Me In Smoke
Line-up
Phil Anselmo – vocal
Pepper Keenan – guitar
Kirk Windstein – guitar
Rex Brown – bass
Jimmy Bower – drums
Websites
http://www.down-nola.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/downnola
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 5
Sound: 4
Total: 4.5 / 10
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