Down is one of the best, and one of the coolest, metal bands working today. Its members are purebreds: Jimmy Bower of Eyehategod, Kirk Windstein of Crowbar, Pepper Keenan of Corrosion Of Conformity, Rex Brown of Pantera, and of course, also from Pantera, Philip Anselmo. Formed in New Orleans in ‘91, Down welds heavy metal together with soulful southern country blues, and there’s nothing quite like it out there.

Anselmo, like many musicians, is as talented as he is troubled. While he insists on being the indestructible machine all men should aspire to be, as fans we’ve been sincerely concerned for his well being, especially after seeing some of his recent interviews. However, when the man called- on time- Thursday, to chat with us during some downtime on Down’s tour with Metallica, we found him to be a personable, genuinely down to earth dude, and he helped us set the record straight and put some things in perspective.

Ultra Beatdown, the upcoming fourth release from those speed freaks known as DragonForce, delivers the goods. I’m not going to sit here and pretend that this album deserves a place next to the likes of South Of Heaven, or Vulgar Display Of Power, but if you like DragonForce (fast rifts, cheezy inaudible lyrics, and video game noises), you’ll love this album.

I’m about to prod one of my own sacred cows here, but I caught this interview with Phil Anselmo of Down / Superjoint Ritual / Pantera, and I just can’t turn a blind eye. The German interviewer starts off with a kinda amateur question: Why has Philip Anselmo changed so much? And with that, the Phil show begins. Try to guess what drugs Phil is on as he talks about the “regiment” of waking up at “9 AM in the morning” (to be clear of course), and the physical therapy for his “ass muscles” required after the back surgery he underwent in 2005.

It gets funnier every time I watch it. notice where the video edits occur; you can see that there are chunks of Phil rambling that had to be clipped out… I can only imagine what was left on the cutting room floor.

The tracks on this mix tell a story I’m sure you all recognize: Love. True. Love.

I’m not going to give you the track by track review of what each song is saying, because true love and the way it is expressed in various artforms is best interpreted by each individual. I hope you’ll be able to follow the story. I will, though, tell you why each song has special meaning to me.