Down guitarist Kirk Windstein was recently interviewed on The Heavy Metal Sitdown and gave a progress report on the band’s next full-length album! Check out Kirk’s visit below.
Windstein said recording is well past the halfway mark, “The drums are all done. Pepper (Keenan) and I did the rhythm tracks. The bass is done. I’m not sure if Phil (Anselmo) started singing yet… that’s kind of on his time.”
Down’s hitting pause for now (side project tour commitments), and plan to dive back into finishing the album in November. Once vocals are in the bag, it’s on to mixing and almost done.
🗓️ Release? 2026.
📀 Label? Nuclear Blast.
This past April, Down signed with Nuclear Blast Records. The label said, “2026 can’t come soon enough.”
Singer Phil Anselmo’s take? “It’s a good label home and we’re ready to make some awesome recordings.”
Pepper Keenan added, “Having already been a part of the Nuclear Blast family with COC, it’s an honor to be here with my brothers in DOWN.” Jimmy Bower kept it simple: “It’s an honor to have them work our jams.”
Meanwhile, Down headlined Milwaukee Metal Fest back in May and wrapped a Western U.S. tour with Danzig.
Their last release was Down IV – Part Two, which was released in May 2014.
So what’s the new stuff sound like?
“It just sounds like DOWN,” Windstein told Concrete Spew earlier this year. “It sounds refreshing because we haven’t done it in so long… I think it sounds more old-school Down.”
Sounds like they’re not just back. Down’s dialed in!
