Down formed in 1991 in New Orleans, Louisiana, when a group of longtime friends from the city's tight-knit metal scene decided to join forces during downtime from their main projects. The band formed in 1991 with vocalist and songwriter Phil Anselmo of Pantera, guitarist Pepper Keenan of Corrosion of Conformity, second guitarist Kirk Windstein and bassist Todd Strange of Crowbar, and drummer Jimmy Bower of Eyehategod. Formed in the mid-90s when Pantera were on a brief break, the quartet's members had been longtime friends and decided to break up their downtime, hence the name. Rather than the extreme, over-the-top metal fans expected from members of Pantera and Corrosion of Conformity, the music contained more elements of classic rock than the members' usual bands, with a prime influence being Black Sabbath , giving the project a swampy, doom-laden Southern character all its own.
The band's breakthrough arrived with its debut album. NOLA was released on September 19, 1995 by EastWest Records, its title an abbreviation for New Orleans, Louisiana. The album debuted at number 55 on the Billboard 200 and eventually sold one million copies in America, going platinum. Tracks like "Stone the Crow" and "Bury Me in Smoke" became fan favorites, and the record was praised as a landmark achievement blending the talents of dedicated rock musicians into essential heavy metal listening. Down went on hiatus as members returned to their main bands, but reconvened in the early 2000s. The band wrote and recorded Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow in the songwriter's barn, releasing the album on March 26, 2002, where it debuted at number 44 on the Billboard 200 , this time with new bassist Rex Brown of Pantera in the lineup after original bassist Todd Strange departed in 1999.
The band's career arc has been defined by cycles of activity and hiatus as members balanced Down against Pantera, Corrosion of Conformity, Crowbar, and Eyehategod commitments. Newly signed to Warner Bros. Records, Down reformed in 2006 and spent a year writing an album, ultimately releasing Down III: Over the Under on September 25, 2007, which debuted at number 26 on the Billboard 200 to positive reviews. Down supported the album by touring with Heaven and Hell and Megadeth, and headlined its own tour starting at the end of September 2007. The band also toured as an opening act for Metallica during this period. Lineup changes continued into the next decade: on June 22, 2011, drummer Jimmy Bower announced that Rex Brown would not be returning to Down, with Pat Bruders named as his replacement . Rather than pursuing a full album, the band decided to forego writing a full length record and instead planned a series of EPs , resulting in Down IV Part I – The Purple EP in 2012 and Down IV Part II in 2014, with guitarist Bobby Landgraf later joining the touring lineup alongside Anselmo, Keenan, Windstein, Bower, and Bruders.
Down remains an active band decades after its formation, continuing to headline festivals and tours built around the enduring chemistry of its New Orleans-rooted members. The group headlined night one of the Milwaukee Metal Fest and followed that with a Western U.S. tour alongside Danzig , and in 2026 the band, with drummer Jimmy Bower and bassist Pat Bruders, returned to North American stages for a headlining tour with support from Helmet and Spirit in the Room . Members have also spoken about writing fresh material together after a long gap, with guitarist Kirk Windstein noting in 2024 that the new songs felt like "more old-school DOWN," reflecting they hadn't written together in that configuration for roughly twelve years . As pioneers of the New Orleans sludge and Southern metal sound, Down's legacy rests on proving that a "supergroup" of already-famous musicians could forge its own distinct identity rather than simply echoing its members' other bands.
For this archive, Down holds a modest but meaningful place among Wayne Dennon's captured catalog. Wayne photographed the band at one show back in 2007, right around the era of Over the Under and its accompanying tours, and the resulting images, 86 photos in total, have drawn considerable attention from visitors over the years, with the gallery viewed 57,842 times. That single night behind the lens captured a band deep into one of its most productive stretches, a fitting entry in the memorial collection of a photographer who spent his career documenting heavy music as it happened, one show at a time.
