BREAKING: DOWN announce long-awaited new album Volume V and unleash first single “Blood Oath”
- The Riff Collective
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
DOWN have officially announced their long-awaited new studio album, Volume V, set for release on November 20 via Nuclear Blast Records.
And yes, there is already a first taste. The New Orleans heavyweights have released “Blood Oath”, complete with an official video, and it takes only a few seconds to remove any doubt about who has entered the room.
The riffs arrive thick, hostile and unmistakably Southern, while Phil Anselmo sounds entirely at home roaring above them. As Pepper Keenan puts it:
“You’ll know it’s DOWN right off the fucking bat.”
He is not wrong.
Volume V reunites Anselmo, Keenan, Kirk Windstein, Jimmy Bower and Pat Bruders for ten new tracks created largely through face-to-face writing sessions at Anselmo’s Nodferatu’s Lair studio. The material took shape throughout 2025, with Keenan and Windstein recording their guitar parts together to preserve the natural chemistry at the centre of DOWN’s sound.
It will be the band’s first full-length studio album since Down III: Over the Under arrived in 2007, although they subsequently released the Down IV EPs in 2012 and 2014. Nearly two decades between albums is a considerable wait, even by DOWN standards.
“We were all excited about this,” says Anselmo. “There was a sense of lightness in the air. Everyone’s attitude was positive. There was more focus than ever. It just felt fresh again. The record is a journey. It’s classic DOWN, but it’s also unique.”
Windstein draws an even more tantalising comparison.
“To me, it’s the same vibe as our debut NOLA, but we’ve got another 35 years of experience as songwriters.”
Among the album’s ten songs is “Merciful Fate”, featuring King Diamond in a vocal duel with Anselmo, with additional contributions from Livia Zita. The closing track, “Twice-Told Tales”, is described as a heavy and hypnotic finale, while “Ozz” appears to carry a clear nod towards one of the band’s foundational influences.
Volume V was produced by Eddie Mapp and DOWN, mixed by Dave Fortman and mastered by Maor Appelbaum.
The album will be available digitally, on CD and across several double-vinyl editions. Pre-orders are available through DOWN’s official store.
Volume V tracklist:
The Myth
Merciful Fate
Turn Out The Light
The Message
Causeway Grief
Blood Oath
They Walk The Night
They Came From Dust
Ozz
Twice-Told Tales
Watch the official video for “Blood Oath”.
DOWN are finally back with a new album. The riffs, reassuringly, have not become any lighter during the wait.
The Riff Collective
Comments