For five years we have waited for Anselmo to gather again the band and to drown us in New Orleans mud. Five years during which the people of Louisiana lived the nightmare of Hurricane Katrina, and the metal scene lost the unforgettable Dimebag Darrel. And here they are - Phil, Pepper, Rex, Jimmy and Kirk are back in line and bring the spirit of the smoky southern pubs, of the dust and the sun, of the air and the smell of grass, of beer, of forged of lead rock. “Over the Under” is not the best thing Down have recorded, but it is real, honest and hearty. Down are of these bands that do not need to be introduced. You play it, listen to it and either you shit yourself out of joy or you pass to the next CD. The songs are heavy, almost doomish rock and even if they are not as explosive as the tracks of the insane 1995 debut, there still is enough power in them to slap you on the brain and make you go for beer. Pure, genuine rockandroll played for pleasure, sung with heart. Pepper Keenan and Kirk Windstein do not rival to break solos; they hold riffs, alternate melodies and pull both the strings of their guitars and the other ones, invisible in our chests. And Phil sings like he has sung ever, with a clean, thick and powerful voice, filled with pain and strength and tells his sincere lyrics. However, there is missing this percussion load where every single song thrusts in the soul, refuses to come out, squeezes and inspires. The first few songs pass somehow unnoticeably and even if they do not sound redundant and in every one of them you will find a riff, a melody, a passage or a scream that sounds close to you, there is nothing special you could discern them... but in one moment the rough bricks with steel veins start to hit one after another. “Beneath the Tides” is a masculine song with melodic chorus, “His Majesty the Desert” reminds of “Jail”, “In the Thrall” is the headbang hymn, and “Nothing in Return” is the fucking tombstone - epic, lyrical, melancholic, filled with Sabbath-like heaviness and despair. You know what we are talking about - men’s emotions, southern heavy rock of the NOLA wave, alcohol, marijuana, freedom, Anselmo. Down.