Credit: Music Towers

Donnington Park
Saturday 10 June

“Are you having a good time?!?” Phil Anselmo bellows, blinking against the sun. “I got up this morning, took a huge hit of weed, a mouthful of Barcardi, and rolled out on to this here stage”. Down have come to Download to give it some Southern pride.

Possibly the least-well-kept-secret-act ever (every journalist, security guard and festival go’er with eyesight strong enough to spot the Down t-shirts in the merchandise stands knew they were opening the main stage today), Down really should be hours later and with a much longer set than a mere 30 minutes. Considering they’ve got half of the legendary Pantera on vocals and bass, Kirk Windstein of sludge pioneers Crowbar and Pepper “James Hetfield considers him one of the best guitar players on the planet” Keenan on guitars, and Jimmy Bower (if it’s Southern and sludge, he drummed it) there’s enough sheer metallic power in them to second headline the main stage, not just open it.

Dedicating “Lifer” to Dimebag Darrell, Anselmo and his New Orleans supergroup power through song-after-song of Southern Fried doom metal. Whether it’s the gathering rumble of “Lysergik Funeral Procession” or the chugging monsterousness of “Hail the Leaf”, Down are the dark side of the Rebel Flag, cooked in marijuana fumes and powered solely with Jack and Jaeger.

Repeatedly berating the lack of time they’ve been given, Anselmo makes what time they do have count. While they might lack the time to unleash titanic songs like “Learn From This Mistake” (which when played on their recent UK tour was akin to a waking up bourbon-soaked in a voodoo-motel with a head filled with regrets from the best break-up fuck you never had) they still find the time to bludgeon the appreciative crowd with “New Orleans Is A Dying Whore”

Closing with “Bury Me In Smoke”, Pepper Keenan clambers down to play closer to the baying fans. In sheer talent-per-minute-onstage terms, Down have produced one of the best performances of any Download.

Following on from such a stellar performance would tax anyone, but Anselmo favourites (he’s joined them onstage many times, but sadly not today), Satyricon do their best. As much as their 2002 release, Volcano, is a genuine black metal classic, it’s somewhat hard to take Satyricon entirely seriously as they sweat under all their black leather in the midday sun. But it would be po-faced to sneer too much when they’re still arguably one of the more interesting bands to crawl out of the black metal pit of Norway in recent years. Recent crossover hit (insofar as a song about Demon Lords taking over the Earth could ever be considered crossing-over with anything) “K.I.N.G” has thousands thrusting their clenched fists into the air like a horde of Satanic Vikings.