The NOLA legends land the December cover the same weekend they play Texas — and their first album in over a decade is four weeks out.
By Theon — The Superfan, CelebnMusic247
DOWN have waited a long time for a month like this one. DOWN Volume V, the New Orleans supergroup’s first full studio album since Down IV – Part Two in 2014, arrives November 20 via Nuclear Blast Records — and the band will spend the run-up on the December 2026 cover of Decibel Magazine.
The timing is not subtle. DOWN play Sick New World Texas in Fort Worth today (Saturday, October 24), capping a fall that already saw them wrap the Strap It Down North American headline tour with a direct-support slot for Slayer in Shakopee, Minnesota. Then November turns into a homecoming: a Volume V listening party at Tipitina’s in New Orleans on November 19, and the album’s official release show the next two nights at Lakefront Arena as part of The Great NOLA Trendkill — a two-day festival, November 20–21, topped by Pantera playing their first New Orleans show in 30 years, alongside Black Label Society, Corrosion Of Conformity, Power Trip, Crowbar and Eyehategod.
DOWN Volume V Was Built the Old Way
Per the release, the bulk of DOWN Volume V came out of two writing sessions at Philip H. Anselmo’s home studio, Nodferatu’s Lair — the band’s de facto clubhouse since the Down II days. Songs were written face-to-face, on the spot, and guitarists Pepper Keenan and Kirk Windstein recorded their parts simultaneously, chasing the punch of the band’s early records.
The two singles out so far suggest it worked. Consequence called lead single “Blood Oath” a “nasty doom grinder,” and Revolver described it as “thick” — a death-marching groove with Anselmo’s vocals carrying what the magazine called “midnight creepin’ lyrics.” Second single “The Myth,” which opens the album, drew Metal Injection’s praise as a tribute-stacked romp. The full track listing runs ten songs: “The Myth,” “Merciful Fate,” “Turn Out The Light,” “The Message,” “Causeway Grief,” “Blood Oath,” “They Walk The Night,” “They Came From Dust,” “Ozz” and “Twice-Told Tales.”
Volume V lands on CD, digital and 2xLP in a stack of color variants — several, including the Orange + Red Galaxy EU exclusive and both band exclusives, are already sold out ahead of release. Preorders are live at down.bfan.link/volume-v, and the December Decibel issue is available through the magazine now.
After New Orleans, DOWN headline day two of the Decibel Magazine Metal & Beer Fest in Denver on December 5 — their first Denver appearance in over twelve years — and they are already on the books for Boardwalk Rock in Ocean City, Maryland on May 16, 2027, a festival CelebnMusic247 covered when its 2027 lineup dropped this week.
The lineup remains the one that has carried the band for over three decades: Anselmo on vocals, Keenan and Windstein on guitars, Jimmy Bower on drums and Pat Bruders on bass — five New Orleans lifers whose day bands (Pantera, Corrosion Of Conformity, Crowbar, Eyehategod) read like a syllabus for Southern metal.
The 247 Take — Supergroups are supposed to be side projects. DOWN were never that — they are the main band for an entire regional sound, and a Decibel cover, a hometown arena release weekend and a first album in twelve years landing in the same month is what a victory lap looks like when the band actually earned it.
More music news at CelebnMusic247.com.
Sources: Earsplit PR release, “DOWN Featured On December 2026 Cover Of Decibel Magazine” (October 23, 2026)
