I know there’s tons of Pantera hate on here… Hopefully that doesn’t transcend to Down.
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/song-premiere-down-witchtripper-20120726
Good stuff!
I think they’ll be touring with my homies in WARBEAST, so I’ll likely catch 'em when they come out West. For the record, I’ve never had anything against Phil (though he seems to be the most hated of the Pantera gang). He’s always seemed like a pretty sincere and cool dude to me. Producing WARBEAST records and helping out Rigor Mortis along the way, only solidified my respect for the dude.
And I LOVE when he sings Sabbath songs.
DOWN kicks all of the ass. Corrosion of Conformity, Eyehategod, Pantera, Superjoint Ritual, Arson Anthem, and the mighty CROWBAR are all class A metal bands. DOWN is an excellent example of a supergroup.
I like Down equally as with Pantera, maybe Down a little more because I dig Pepper.
Phil used to be a big douchebag, but I think even he would admit that. Having one of your best friends killed in cold blood in front of hundreds can humble a man, plus he is a rock star after all.
Down are great live…that huge sound of Pepper and Kirk doing the guitar exchange is just massive…the first Down record,NOLA,remains an undisputed metal classic…
Phil has mayured with age…but still sounds like a WWE wrestler every time he opens his mouth…big time boxing enthusiast also…if you meet him you will find he would much rather talk boxing than music everytime…
Phil can be a bit of a fool, but Down are amazing, i love them, love the new song and can’t wait for the first EP. I love Pantera too, i think they have a wider range fanbase outside the States, where apparently it’s only NASCAR-loving beer-swillers from what i hear?
If Al J has done a complete 180 from awesome to shit the past few years Phil Anselmo has done the exact opposite. He was once a complete prick and has bounced from that tremendously since he got clean.
I’ve always liked his music projects. Didn’t care much for Down’s last album but these 2 songs are much better. Looking forward to his new solo album too.
I just listened to Misfortune Teller, also great. I really liked Superjoint Ritual, it’s a shame it’s finished, according to Phil anyway. I imagine his solo album will sound something like them anyway.
On the constant media portrayal of metal fans on the whole as uneducated lunkheads:
Anselmo: “We haven’t helped. There’s been a lot of things that have not helped us. I remember being flown into New York when MTV was going through some kind of change-up in the early 2000s, and they wanted me to be the host of ‘Headbangers Ball’. First of all, the name of the show sucks — it fucking sucks, it’s cheesy as fuck. Why don’t you just call it the ‘Extreme Music Hour’ or something like that and give it some fucking credibility — because honestly, there’s great musicians in heavy metal. Look at some of the great guitar players. . . But heavy metal has always gotten the meathead rap, and you know, hey, honestly I haven’t fucking helped. I’ve made more bad decisions than great decisions in my fucking life, and I regret a lot of things I’ve said onstage, a lot of actions I’ve done onstage, and a lot of trouble that I’ve got into, because all it does is bring bad publicity to heavy metal. It kind of makes us, heavy metallers, a sovereign state in a lot of ways. We might not get as much big-time praise from mainstream media, but let them call us meatheads, let them think we’re ignorant, and let them keep writing awful music — and I’ll keep calling it awful and we’ll just be even at that.”
It’s refreshing to hear Phil speak in such honest terms.
Yeah it’s poignant, though I admit that rock n roll in any form has never been intended to show any type of formality as, say, getting knighted by the Queen or even winning gold in the Olympics.
It’s loud, raucous, energetic, FUN music with attitude, originality and personality, from Little Richard to Lamb of God…Phil, along with countless others, just exhibits what envelops him in the moment and throws it out at the crowds with full force with every fucking thing they’ve got.
Dumb, smart, whatever. In the end, it can still sting at the end of the day.
full interview here, it’s a good one. I want to check out his autobiography when it comes out, he’s an interesting guy, he has a lot of his own demons to contend with, it should be a very interesting read.
http://thephoenix.com/boston/music/142259-phil-anselmo-pulls-no-punches-on-pantera-american
Interested to hear what his solo record will sound like…