DOWN Announces August/September 2026 North American Tour With HELMET, SPIRIT IN THE ROOM

DOWN, the long-running heavy metal supergroup featuring vocalist Philip H. Anselmo, guitarists Pepper Keenan and Kirk Windstein, drummer Jimmy Bower and bassist Pat Bruders, will return to North American stages this summer for a two-week headlining tour with support provided by HELMET and SPIRIT IN THE ROOM. The "Strap It Down" trek will begin in Atlanta, Georgia on August 15 and close in Shakopee, Minnesota on September 4 with a special previously announced performance as direct support to SLAYER. The journey also includes slots on the 2026 installment of Zakk Wylde's "Berzerkus" festival featuring LAMB OF GOD, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY and others on August 28 in Scranton, Pennsylvania and August 29 in Wantagh, New York.

Artist presales begin Wednesday, May 27 at 12:00 p.m. ET (PW: DOWN2026). Knotfest.com and BLABBERMOUTH.NET presales begin Thursday, May 28 at 12:00 p.m. ET. General on-sale date is Friday, May 29 at 10:00 a.m. local time.

Limited DOWN VIP ticketless packages will be available, featuring a soundcheck experience, meet-and-greet, photo opportunity, signed poster, and exclusive merch item. Visit down-nola.com/tour to secure yours. See all confirmed dates below.

DOWN with HELMET, SPIRIT IN THE ROOM:

Aug. 15 - The Eastern - Atlanta, GA
Aug. 16 - Piedmont Hall - Greensboro, NC
Aug. 19 - House Of Blues - Cleveland, OH
Aug. 20 - Stage AE - Pittsburgh, PA
Aug. 22 - Royal Oak Music Theatre - Royal Oak, MI
Aug. 23 - HISTORY - Toronto, ON
Aug. 25 - MTELUS - Montreal, QC
Aug. 26 - The Palladium - Worcester, MA
Aug. 28 - The Pavilion @ Montage Mountain - Scranton, PA * (Berzerkus Fest)
Aug. 29 - Northwell @ Jones Beach Theater - Wantagh, NY * (Berzerkus Fest)
Aug. 30 - The Fillmore Silver Spring - Silver Spring, MD
Sep. 01 - Bogart's - Cincinnati, OH
Sep. 02 - Ramova Theatre - Chicago, IL
Sep. 04 - Mystic Lake Amphitheater - Shakopee, MN * (w/ SLAYER, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, HATEBREED)

Additional DOWN shows:

Oct. 03 - Aftershock – Sacramento, CA
Oct. 24 - Sick New World Texas – Fort Worth, TX
Dec. 05 - Decibel Metal And Beer Fest – Denver, CO

* No HELMET, SPIRIT IN THE ROOM

DOWN's special cover of Dr. John's "Right Place, Wrong Time", initially released in video form to celebrate Mardi Gras earlier this year, is currently available on all streaming platforms.

In a recent interview with Metal Nation, Windstein spoke about the progress of the recording sessions for DOWN's long-awaited new album. Kirk said: "It's done. It's been recorded. The process of trying to find… 'Cause we kind of self-produced it, so it's not that we're looking for a producer. The work is done. We just need to find the right person to mix it properly. So that's what we're looking at right now. But we're hoping to have a release by October or something, I would think."

Windstein also talked about the songwriting chemistry between him and his bandmates. He said: "It's been amazing. It really clicked — when we started writing for this new record, it was like we were back in the '90s or something, writing the 'NOLA' record [debut DOWN album]. It's, like, everybody's got ideas. One guy's got a riff and then somebody's got something that works with that riff. We also have a situation where Jimmy Bower, who plays guitar in EYEHATEGOD, he really started out as a drummer. I always joke with him — it's not even a joke; it's true — I'm, like, 'Dude, you're a way better drummer than you are a guitar player. But you're perfect for EYEHATEGOD,' which is the only band he plays [guitar] in. But Jimmy can write killer riffs. Our bass player Pat does. And the thing a lot of people don't know is how much Phil Anselmo is such a great songwriter and arranger, really, but he's a great riff writer. And I think three of the 10 songs on the record are pretty much his songs; every part is his. And we're, like, 'This is great.' We add a little something to it here and there."

Last fall, Windstein told "The Jasta Show", that the new DOWN album was shaping up to be "a killer, killer record."

As for his expectations for the LP, Windstein said: "It's either gonna totally be this huge thing or just flop. But if you're a DOWN fan, I don't see how you can not like it."

In August 2025, Kirk confirmed to Geoff of the Gas Masks & Hand Grenades podcast that DOWN was originally going to release a covers LP next. "It started out that way," Kirk said. "And that was the talk for quite a while, and it was kind of, like, well, if we're gonna learn all these really obscure songs, in the time it's gonna take us to learn all these fucking things and kind of make 'em our own, we could probably write originals. So we got together in January of 2024. Went to Phil's [rehearsal and recording studio]. Pepper, myself, Jimmy and Pat had gotten together and come up with a few ideas, and Phil had some stuff. We went out for three days and came back, came home, and by the time we were done, we had seven songs — not perfectly arranged."

Elaborating on the songwriting and recording process for the new DOWN material, Kirk said: "When we got together to write, the chemistry is just undeniable. It's just magic. We've known each other so long, we've jammed together for so long. And Pepper and I did something — [it was] kind of his idea, but I thought it was a pretty brilliant idea. Jimmy doesn't play to a click track, so it's harder [to keep time], especially when you're not looking at him. So, he said, 'You know what? Let's track the fucking guitars together. Let's not do one guy, then one guy. Let's pick out one section, let's make it through the whole fucking verse, and if one of us fucks up, we stop, go back and start it again.' So we're doing it, just playing together and shit. So it's got more of a live feel, because Pat and Jimmy laid the drums and bass down together, and now we're doing guitars together with the rhythm tracks and shit."

He added: "DOWN's one of the few bands — of course we use Pro Tools [recording software], but we don't do click tracks and fix shit. It's real music."

Earlier in August 2025, Kirk told The Five Count radio show in Mankato, Minnesota about the upcoming DOWN LP: "We couldn't be more excited about the material we have. The songs are extremely strong and they're very old school. They're put together really well, arranged really well, great riffs. We're real excited about it and I think the fans will be equally as excited."

In April 2025, it was announced that DOWN had signed with Nuclear Blast Records. At the time, the label said in a statement: "Nuclear Blast is proud to be in the trenches with NOLA legends DOWN as their partner in their long overdue return to the metal world. In addition, we are excited to bring some of their key past catalog releases back into the spotlight, especially on the vinyl side. There are so many longtime DOWN fans at Nuclear Blast who are excited to be working with one of their all-time favorite bands. 2026 can't come soon enough!"

DOWN headlined night one of last year's edition of the Milwaukee Metal Fest in May. The show followed the band's Western U.S. tour with DANZIG.

In April 2024, Windstein, who is also the frontman of CROWBAR, told Concrete Spew about the musical direction of the new DOWN material: "It just sounds like DOWN. I mean, it sounds refreshing because we haven't done it in so long, gotten together with me and the guys and done it in — fuck — 12 years or something. So it sounds like DOWN, I think, to me, it sounds more old-school DOWN. And the reason I say that is I think we got to a point where… Like, the 'NOLA' record is so simple, and it just wrote itself; it was so simple. And that's how this is coming about, which is great."

He continued: "We're not overthinking it. We're not trying to make things too complex. Phillip's not trying to write so many lyrics and things. We just kind of got away — I hate to say 'got away', 'cause anything we do is DOWN, but, to me, we kind of got a little bit… We needed to go back and look at each other and just go, 'Let's just get in a room and do it like we did from the beginning.' And that's what it feels like to me. It's very magical. The ideas and the working together, just bounce off of one another, it's a natural thing."

In August 2020, DOWN celebrated the 25th anniversary of "NOLA" with a special livestreamed event. Dubbed "The Quarter Century Throwdown", the high-production, multi-camera event took place using cutting-edge streaming technology to create a one-of-a-kind virtual concert experience.

A founding member of DOWN, Windstein left the band in 2013 in order to focus on CROWBAR and his family life. He was replaced by Bobby Landgraf, DOWN's former guitar tech who was previously in GAHDZILLA MOTOR COMPANY, a 1990s outfit also featuring Jason McMaster (DANGEROUS TOYS, WATCHTOWER),and HONKY.

Windstein announced his return to DOWN in 2019, with the band confirming a number of festival appearances for 2020 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of "NOLA", all of which were later canceled or postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic which swept the globe.

The supergroup hasn't issued any new original material since the arrival of the "Down IV – Part Two" EP in May 2014.

"Down IV – Part Two" sold around 10,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release in May 2014 to debut at position No. 23 on The Billboard 200 chart.

The band's previous EP, "Down IV Part I – The Purple EP", opened with around 12,000 units in September 2012 to land at No. 35.

"Down IV – Part Two" was recorded at Nodferatu's Lair — Anselmo's home studio — and produced by Michael Thompson. It was released via Down Records/ADA Music.

DOWN press photo credit: MetalDave Media