Rex Brown has finally confirmed he's left Down permanently.
Rumours had been circulating for weeks after the bassist described himself as being "in the doghouse" as far as bandmate and former Pantera colleague Phil Anselmo was concerned.
He hadn't appeared on the band’s most recent tour and guitarist Pepper Keenan admitted he wasn't sure how to describe Brown's current status.
Last week drummer
Jimmy Bower said the split was permanent – and now Brown himself has confirmed Down will continue with
Crowbar's
Patrick Bruders in his place, while he concentrates on new band
Kill Devil Hill.
Brown tells 8countnews: "I'm officially out of the band. Things came to a head and they're better off doing what they're doing with Patrick."
"I kind of lost my passion after a while. There were some other problems that we had to address – and it just turned out better that we parted ways."
Kill Devil Hill last month played their first live show. The band, featuring former Heaven And Hell and Black Sabbath drummer Vinny Appice, is described by Brown as: "what I'm going right now."
Anselmo recently reported that "Rex needs to address some personal things in his life. When he addresses the extremity of these things, it's going to take him away from music and touring and stuff like that. We all support him. We love him, we're still very close to him and we speak with him all the time."
Bowers added: "We just wish him to find peace with himself and be healthy – and we weren't seeing that for Down. I know he's having fun doing Kill Devil Hill and he gave Pat his blessing, so it was on good terms. But he will not be back."
Thanks for the report to RockNewsDesk.com.
