Philip Anselmo, legendary frontman of Pantera and Down, will release his career-first solo album, Walk Through Exits Only, on July 16 via his own Housecore Records.
The album was produced by Anselmo and Michael Thompson, and recorded over the past couple of years at his New Orleans studio, Nodferatu’s Lair, with his band The Illegals - Marzi Montazeri/guitar, and drummer Jose Manuel “Blue” Gonzales.
“It wasn’t about doing a paint-by-numbers thrash or heavy metal record,” Anselmo explained about the project. “It’s an angry album that only I could do. I don’t see anybody else out there screaming about the same shit I’m screaming about. On this album, there isn’t any wordplay, there isn’t any hidden message, it’s all right there in front of you.”
Anselmo and the Illegals will support the new album with a major North American tour planned for this summer. Anselmo, who is up for Best Vocalist at this year’s Revolver Golden Gods awards, will make a special appearance at that event on May 2nd.
Can’t wait, i’m a huge fan of Phil, i love Pantera, Down and Superjoint Ritual, and i’ve heard some of his other stuff (that split EP with Warbeast was great), i;m looking forward to his book and his album. I think he’s hugely talented but never seems to get much praise. He’s done and said a lot of stupid shit, but he’s a great singer, lyricist and performer and has made some great music. I’m surprised he, and Pantera are so widely disliked by some of the people on the forum, i never really got the dislike for him
Cheers, just d/l’d it. How is it? I watched the Bedridden video earlier, it was pretty good. I liked the Warbeast/Phil split EP but the album sounds much harsher from the samples i heard. I’m not 100% sure if i’ll enjoy it, which would be a first for something Anselmo’s done. It just seems like it might be a bit too crazy for my poor ears.
It’s very New Orleans-y-ish with the hyped up agro sludgy whateverness. I’ve never been into any of that Acid Bath, Eyehategod and so forth, and this doesn’t change it for me.
I like Phil and Joey and wish everyone well on this project (I’m sure I’ll be seeing them on tour since they always team up with Warbeast) but the music just ain’t for me.
Yeah, never been bothered with any of that stuff myself, love Down and Superjoint Ritual though, and Pantera, this seems closer to Superjoint Ritual than anything else.
*5 tracks in now, i like it a lot more than i expected. I’m gonna order it, i think.
^
I don’t think I can properly judge that as he’s doing the screaming shouting thing and I don’t know how it measures up to other screaming shouting stuff he’s done.
I REALLY like Phil’s voice when he actually SINGS. I think he has a wonderful voice and I wish he would use it more often.
I am always left in awe of the man when he does Black Sabbath songs. I wish he’d spend less time being hardcore and badass and focus more on being smooth and swanky. I’d buy his stuff if he’d fag it up some more and just croon a couple songs like an OG mutha instead of proving what a Tuff McGruff he is.
I liked it okay. It’s gonna need a few more spins, probably a grower. Didn’t hit me as badass as the first Superjoint did. His voice live has been a roller coaster, when I saw Down in 2011 he was starting to do a little bit of harsher vocals here and there and he sounded GREAT. Then like 6 months later the live videos coming out he sounded like total shit again. On here he sounds surprisingly solid. It’s a different kind of metal vocals than he’s done in the past but it sounds good, not strained or anything. The previews I’d heard made it sound like the guitarist was going for a dimebag ripoff thing but i didn’t get that at all listening to the full thing.
I REALLY like Phil’s voice when he actually SINGS. I think he has a wonderful voice and I wish he would use it more often.
I think he has a great voice for actual singing as well, i was a little put off when i read an interview with him a while ago when he said something along the lines of “Some people think i have a “nice” voice when i try to sing. Those people will not like my solo album”. I love the evil, sinister multitracked vocals he does too, i think he’s a great frontman.
I am always left in awe of the man when he does Black Sabbath songs. I wish he’d spend less time being hardcore and badass and focus more on being smooth and swanky. I’d buy his stuff if he’d fag it up some more and just croon a couple songs like an OG mutha instead of proving what a Tuff McGruff he is.
You’ve probably heard it, but it’s always a good time to listen to it again, his collaboration with Tony Iommi. This one’s pretty Sabbathy;
it’ll be interesting to see if he can pull off this shit live. will probably sound good for a couple months then bad again, like when he does the pantera covers every year. last ones i saw sounded rough.
glad he put this out though. he hasn’t done a heavy album like this in 10 years.
When i heard the samples on Amazon i thought there’d be no way they could play it live, it sounded too stop/starty and just unmusical. Listening to the actual alum last night i liked it a lot better, you don’t really get a feel for that kind of music with short samples i suppose.
I’d always hoped for more Superjoint, which isn’t gonna happen, so this will do instead [:)]
im loving this stuff. its all a part of the clear growth he has gone through. now im even more excited for the next DOWN EP.
How did you like Down IV/Purple EP? I thought it was excellent, really enjoyed it. I listened to the solo album again on Friday night, whew, that’s some craaaaazy sheeeit. Very good though. I’ll also be interested to see how they do it live, it’s so nuts. The timings are insane and all the stop/starts.
wonder how his upcoming autobiography will be. he got lost in the same drug spirals al did, only he actually pulled himself out of it way better than al did. he still drinks sometimes, but isn’t a mess every interview like jourgensen.
[reply]im loving this stuff. its all a part of the clear growth he has gone through. now im even more excited for the next DOWN EP.
How did you like Down IV/Purple EP? I thought it was excellent, really enjoyed it. I listened to the solo album again on Friday night, whew, that’s some craaaaazy sheeeit. Very good though. I’ll also be interested to see how they do it live, it’s so nuts. The timings are insane and all the stop/starts.[/reply]
well, i am a picky ass when it comes to DOWN. i LOVE the first 2 albums, and i was very let down with the third. so when i heard they were going for an EP style deal, i figured it would be more solid (less filler), and i was right. the only problem i ended up having with Purple is that it is just too damn short. but Phil has been doing his due diligence recently, and making me all excited for his new stuff.
in fact, im going to throw on NOLA right now. haha.
Haha, i love Down III, very different from the 1st 2, i like them all. Did you get the live CD/DVD? I thought it was great, very well put together. Plenty of Phil making a tit of himself [:)]