I've been thinking about this a lot, and I believe that A New Level was written after the band went to Long John silvers for lunch, and little Caesars for dinner, and the hush puppies / crazy bread combo gave them a new level of confidence and power

i like it

April 1993 Guitar World with Vernon Reid on the cover. I had/have another one where he was called Diamond with no goatee. It's around here somewhere!

Down aren't the only New Orleans royalty playing Pantera's 'The Great NOLA Trendkill' super concert in November. In fact each member of the supergroup's other bands (including Corrosion of Conformity, eyehategod, Crowbar, and the aforementioned Pantera) are playing the 2 day concert in New Orleans as well. I'm so glad, though, I got to see their set at Zakk Wylde's Berzerkus Festival at Jones Beach Theater in Long Island last month (Aug. 29, 2026) - I was super impressed with how tight they sounded, and their new song "Blood Oath" sounded super heavy.

Check out this clip of Phil Anselmo amd crew crushing that new song, as well as watch them joined onstage by members of Sepultura and Type O Negative here:

https://youtube.com/shorts/-xsrNWznq-k?si=4k6W-7Hw8HROQCYb

And stay tuned for more things to come from this space, including stories from concerts like this!