Review Summary: Note: Pantera fans – expect the unexpected.
Down are really the only Phil Anselmo 'side-project' worth listening to. I'm not going to list all of his other projects but the only one I've ever been remotely interested in, aside of Down, is Superjoint Ritual and even that wasn't great. Having released their third album last year and toured a hell of a lot it seems that for the moment, Down is the main focus for Mr. Anselmo and rightly so.
This side-project (which to be fair isn't really a side-project anymore but an established band with three successful albums) kicked off with their debut NOLA in 1995. I'll admit that I was a little surprised on my first listen because, 1) It wasn't anything like Pantera (The reason I picked up the album was because Phil was on vocals) and 2) It's pretty diverse. Here we have a mixture of slow crushing behemoths (Bury Me In Smoke) up tempo rockers (Losing All) and even an instrumental (Pray for Locusts). There is never a dull moment to be heard.
'Pray for Locusts' is a beautiful acoustic track composed by Anselmo and is not something you'd find on a Pantera album. In fact, nothing on this album sounds anything like Pantera. NOLA comes off as more of an homage to the classic heavy metal band Black Sabbath with it's sludgy, thick riffs which are found on tracks such as 'Bury me in Smoke' and 'Eyes of the South'. The latter of the two even begins with an old school jam session that gradually builds for about a minute before transitioning into a bouncy riff courtesy of guitar duo, Kirk Windstein and Pepper Keenan, who really shine throughout. Windstein impresses the most though, considering how different his band, Crowbar, are from Down. Listen to samples from both bands and you'll see what I mean (for the uninitiated). One other song that deserves a special mention (don't worry, I'm not going to go into detail about every song) is 'Stone the Crows'. Perhaps not a ballad, but the nearest Down will ever get to writing one. A very bluesy rock tune with a rhythm section you'll be humming for weeks and an epic chorus which sounds even better in a live setting.
NOLA encompasses everything that it takes to be a classic, from the inspired and passionate vocal performance from Phil to the never too technical but always interesting guitar work. The production is clear to hear and never feels overdone or stripped of it's raw energy, giving the drums a real edge sounding exactly how drums SHOULD sound. No over produced nonsense here. Also, for those listening to a Metal/Hard Rock album for the first time, this would be a great place to start. Plenty of variety, not to extreme but also an example of how great the genre can be. So basically what I'm trying to say is this. It's fantastic. Buy it.
