Phil Anselmo

Philip Anselmo (born June 30, 1968) is a heavy metal vocalist and musician. Although he is best known for his work as a vocalist and lyricist with the now defunct Pantera, Anselmo has been involved with numerous other musical projects in the realm of heavy metal.

Pantera

Anselmo replaced Terry Glaze as the lead vocalist for Pantera after Glaze was dropped in 1986. The story behind Anselmo's joining of the band vary, but a popular rumor is that Anselmo jumped on stage during a Pantera show at a New Orleans show during a Priest cover catching the eye of the Vinnie Paul. He made his recording debut on 1988's Power Metal. Though the band maintained a piece of their glam image and sound it had seemed coincidal that with the addition of Anselmo Pantera had instantly taken a slight change in their direction. Philip's vocals were cleaner than Glaze's and delivered with unrivaled energy and passion. With the addition of Anselmo, Power Metal had quickly become a major cult underground hit surpassing the success of Pantera's previous releases.

Related Topics:
Terry Glaze - 1986 - Vinnie Paul - 1988

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Soon afterwards Pantera lost their glam sound and image for the more classic metal and thrash inspired 1990s Cowboys from Hell. Phil's lyrics in this album was only an inkling of what was to come in later Pantera releases. At this point Pantera had gathered a signifigant following, and few fans of the genre began comparing Phil's high pitched screams on the album to the likes of Judas Priest's Rob Halford and Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson.

Related Topics:
Cowboys from Hell - Judas Priest - Rob Halford - Iron Maiden - Bruce Dickinson

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In 1992 Philip's lyrics and vocals on Vulgar Display of Power had become far more brutal and personal. Shaving his head and showing a change in attitude, Phil's hardcore and underground influences had suddanly become far more evident. Phil remains insistent that this album was Pantera's "actual debut" and finest release. The album became a huge success and is considered one of the most influential heavy metal albums of all time and certainly of the 1990's. Part of this was attributed to Philip's intensly aggressive unique style and stage precense unheard of or seen by a metal band at that time. Simply headbanging on stage and raising fists in the air had become dull and boring; replaced by backflips, hops, and sportsmenlike athleticism. Anselmo had become the aggressive voice of a band that roared with strength, a strength that the scene had desperatly needed at the time. With the extra force that came from Philip Anselmo's dynamic personality and vocal assualt Pantera changed the face of metal to come in 1992, following up with another aggressive assault in Far Beyond Driven in 1994.

Related Topics:
1992 - Vulgar Display of Power - 1990's - Far Beyond Driven

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While still fronting Pantera, Phil Anselmo joined forces with longtime friends and fellow New Orleans musicians Pepper Keenan, Jimmy Bower, Kirk Windstein and Todd Strange to form Down. Down was more blues-inspired, stoner metal than Pantera. Taking the influences of bands like Saint Vitus, Black Sabbath, and sludge, the Anselmo-fronted NOLA album sold half a million records, a feat considering the band had only played 13 shows and received barely any radio play or media promotion. It is considered by many close Phil fans to be one of his greatest achievements and gained a fanatic cult following that Anselmo labeled as The Brotherhood of Eternal Sleep or just simply the BROHES (pronounced "bros").

Related Topics:
New Orleans - Pepper Keenan - Jimmy Bower - Kirk Windstein - Todd Strange - Down - Stoner metal - Saint Vitus - Black Sabbath - The Brotherhood of Eternal Sleep

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Shortly after the release of The Great Southern Trendkill in 1996, Philip overdosed on stage, bringing the hidden truth of his heroin addiction to the masses. He was pronounced dead for four long minutes. He would go cold-turkey and continued playing with the band, not missing a single show, a testament to the man's strength and loyalty to his fans. Though the band carried on, this was considered by some followers of the band to be the beginning of Pantera's demise. It would be another five years before Philip and his peers got back together to record Reinventing The Steel. During this time Philip focused on various side projects, mainly featured as a guitarist in death and black metal bands, such as Necrophagia, Christ Inversion, Eibon and Viking Crown. This is also said to be around the time Anselmo put together the first pieces and recorded the first demos for what would later become Superjoint Ritual.

Related Topics:
The Great Southern Trendkill - 1996 - Reinventing The Steel - Death - Black metal - Necrophagia - Christ Inversion - Viking Crown - Superjoint Ritual

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Phil would continue to tour with Pantera for the next several years. As time continued to pass several rumors had popped up that Philip and Pantera were on the verge of collapse, though Philip and the band insisted that these were nothing more than rumors at that point in time. It is also rumored that around this point Anselmo began using heroin again, which was an addiction that supposedly went on and off again through the end of the of the 1990s.

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After Pantera took yet another break, Philip regrouped with Down and released Down II: A Bustle In Your Hedgerow with Pantera bandmate Rex Brown. The album achieved moderate success and Philip's friendship with the Osbournes landed his band as a headlining act for Ozzfest 2003. Though Phillip wished to continue touring with Down, Elektra Records cited that they were cutting off funding because they wished to see more of Pantera. According to Phil, his bandmates from Pantera were not interested in going back to the studio or touring at the time, because they were involving themselves in their own side-affairs. Because of this Phil put his effort into Superjoint Ritual with Jimmy Bower, Kevin Bond, Joe Fazzio and Hank Williams III. At first the band seemed like nothing more than another side-project combining the raw aggression and punk-flavor of old-school hardcore with the negativity and craftsmanship of brutal New Orleans sludge metal. Around this time Anselmo had also slipped back completely into heroin addiction. It was not until later on that year that Vinnie Paul and brother Dimebag Darrell exchanged harsh words with Anselmo, leading to the break-up of the band. The exact nature and reasons behind this is unknown to the public, but due to some of the words shared back and forth between both camps the brothers were tired of Anselmo jumping from side project to side project, nor were they pleased with Anselmo's drug habits. Vinnie Paul even stated that Anselmo was always holding Pantera back, never letting the band experiment or play the music that they wanted to play. Whatever the reason might have been, Pantera was now defunct and Anselmo was left with Superjoint Ritual.

Related Topics:
Rex Brown - Osbourne - Ozzfest 2003 - Elektra Records - Superjoint Ritual - Jimmy Bower - Kevin Bond - Joe Fazzio - Hank Williams III - Punk - Hardcore - Vinnie Paul - Dimebag Darrell

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