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Rating: Down, or: the Phil Anselmo you don't expect.
New Orleans is the den of the tight alliance forged on the banks of the Mississippi, land of bluesmen, but also of pure southern rock of the Seventies, between two of the most notorious bands in the U.S. metal scene of the early '90s: Corrosion of Conformity and Pantera. And it is the leaders of these bands, Anselmo and Pepper Keenan, who are directing the operations of what was supposed to be just a side project, but over the years, it is revealing itself to be their favored child, the one from which they can still draw inspiration and strength to move forward despite the disappointments of the last decade.
Built on a solid Sabbathian base, Nola is an album that will not disappoint fans of hard-hitting rock, composed of riffs intertwined with other riffs, with an unmistakably Southern flavor (not by chance... Eyes of the South) and thus with references to Lynyrd Skynyrd and, by contrast, even to the Led Zeppelin of the 3rd and 4th albums. There is no lack of a good dose of originality, however, because a voice like that of Anselmo over riffs in the vein of Jimmy Page/Tommi Yommi had never been heard elsewhere, and the result is an album appreciated more by fans of the old glories of the legendary 70's than by the die-hards of CoC and Pantera.
Lifer, Temptation's Wings, Losing All... Pepper doesn't deviate from the same matrix, but he is capable of igniting Anselmo's voice like it no longer happens in either Pantera (now disbanded) or Superjoint Ritual. But it is probably Stone the Crow, along with the swampy atmosphere of Jail, the track destined to be remembered as one of the highest peaks of the careers of this band's members. An irresistible melody accompanies us, throughout the duration of the track, from one corner to the other of the beloved/hated New Orleans, leaving us almost with a bittersweet taste when it ends. Splendid.
Get this album, or even its 2002 sequel, if the doctor prescribes you a guitar riff treatment.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Temptation's Wings (04:24)
I feel the pressure, it lightens
to judge this spirit of mine
to be like the judgement
to be the king that is left behind
to hell with I miss you
I said I 'd do it alone
ripping apart from you
a broken vision to call my own
I gave my life to reason
so now I'm watching my life go
my wit is falling apart
I can't shake temptations wings
I can't shake temptations wings
I bury my head with frustration
and I look at others and wonder why(?)
I'm feeding my cancer
A broken vision that stole my sight
I gave my life to reason,
So now I'm watching my life go -
My wit is falling apart
I can't shake Temptation Wings!
temptations wings...
temptations wings got me pale
why?
02 Lifer (04:36)
free at last, I'm the past,
undone in unknown prison,
I'm holding on. Peace and need?
A mouth to feed?
I'm standing way on
the other side. I'm staring
right back at myself,
and through it's frozen image,
I'm laughing right back
at my health - Lifelong
Arms in knots, never spot,
My blood is fading
on the world. Stealing keys?
Soul to me?
and to the BrotheRhood with what
writes the pain.
I'm staring
right back at myself,
and through it's frozen image,
I'm laughing right back
at my health - Lifelong
I'm a lifer.
I'm staring
right back at myself,
and through it's frozen image,
I'm laughing right back
at my health
I'm a lifer.
03 Pillars of Eternity (03:57)
Crumbling world falls through my hands
In my mouth taste bitter sands.
Grass is burning, pulse is slow.
Drip by drip my backwards growth... crawl.
Fade to hate.
And I'll die within my fade
Wine, song, women, birth
This deflowered mother earth
Planting, plowing, how she grieves.
The seeds that grow these dying trees
Fade to hate
And I'll die within my fade
Fade to hate
And I'll die within my fade
05 Hail the Leaf (03:28)
That brave river, I can't sail.
Because of that lone feeling,
That I might fail.
So {fuck it.}
I just smoke-
Let me feel stoned
6th hour.
I still fail to rise,
And I cower in
Reality's eyes, so I
Just smoke-
Let me feel stoned
{let that paranoia cut
My head off.
I'm low down
Crying shame today}
Smoke-
Stoned
I have fallen
Scattered the wave
Alone I'm crying
Broken shade
So I just smoke-
Let me feel stoned
I can't feel you
You can't brave(the river?)
No more sadness no more pain
Not what feeds you but what raves
No more sadness no more....
06 Underneath Everything (04:46)
Woe to me, battered man
raise the monolith
deitize my spirit rise
like days the world forgets - down the
drain - laid to lame
a fool-ass hearty bliss
borderline suicide,
celebrate before my death
your promised land divide,
that's why the world lies.
I give up.
That's enough. I give up.
I'm underneath my life.
dog in heat, beware the street
its there you'll meet your end
poverty is not for me,
but I'll take her back again
to prove a point,
to laugh it off, to cross you off my path,
grip the night, pull the cord,
a much inspired wrath.
your promised land divide,
that's where the world lies.
I give up.
That's enough. I give up.
I'm underneath my life.
carry me back from the war
and from the lord.
10 Stone the Crow (04:42)
A bout of deep depression.
Can't seem to move it forward.
My lying eyes lie awake.
Not sure what I am after.
I never died before.
Can't live what happened yesterday.
I never stoned the crow, no.
Flip through endless stories.
A life of hand-written pain.
No one can share this hurt that is mine, mine, mine.
I never died before.
Can't be what happened yesterday.
I shouldn't stone the crow, no.
Ride on!
Same old city, same old pain
No matter how I try,
No matter what I say
I'm blamed
I'm Shamed
I'm judged unfairly
So now I've died before
it feels as bad as yesterday
i never stoned the crow
You to have died before
i'm not as stoned as yesterday
I never stoned the crow, stoned the crow no, no...
13 Bury Me in Smoke (07:04)
Windows are closing key is locked away
No chance was given to find myself today...
My time of aging... wonder when I'll die...
But When My Time Will Come I Know The Reason WHYYYY!!!
I have to Risk It... Alone it keeps me safe and in my home
I have to use it... To keep me satisfied until Im gone
Dont regret the rules I broke... When I Die Bury Me in smoke!
Under the world I wait for my fate
My bodies lying benesth my blissful state
My time of aging wonder when Ill die
But when my time will come, I know the reason why
I have to risk it... alone it keeps me safe and in my home
I have to use it... to keep me satisfied until im gone
Dont regret the rules I broke, When I die bury me in smoke
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Other reviews
By Cobray_
Listening to their album is like getting hit with a 5cm sawed-off shotgun blast, with everything it entails.
Anselmo’s voice is ugly, hoarse, perfect for creating the atmosphere that saturates the album’s songs.
