IV - part 2

"The second in a planned series of EPs, Down IV - Part II is unlikely to shock devotees, but recent lineup changes seem to have rejuvenated the Louisiana quintet's approach, resulting in their strongest batch of material since 1995's widely adored debut album, NOLA. From the spiralling menace of opener Steeple to the more succinct riff worship of Hogshead Dogshead, this is the sound of a band playing to their strengths and revelling in refined collective chemistry. It reaches an apex of grit and groove on the sprawling voodoo squall of Conjure: eight and a half minutes of lumbering disquiet that evokes the true spirit of Tony Iommi's pioneering turbo-blues in a way that the last Black Sabbath album generally didn't".

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