Phil Anselmo: , The PANTERA Band Leed vocalists, says he has been booted from the band for not getting vaccinated.
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Philip Hansen “Phil” Anselmo (born June 30, 1968) is an American musician who is best known as the former lead singer of the heavy metal band Pantera. He is currently the frontman for the Louisiana-based metal supergroup Down. Philip Anselmo is also the owner of Housecore Records and has been a part of many other projects.
Biography
Early life
Anselmo was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and is of Italian and French heritage.[1] He belongs to the zodiac sign of the sensitive, emotional, good-hearted and altruist Cancer. He attended many schools, the last of which was Grace King High School located in the suburb of Metairie.[2] Anselmo’s father, Phil, owned and operated a restaurant in Metairie called
Pantera was an unsigned glam metal band, with three self-released albums to their name. In 1986, it was decided by the band to replace singer Terrence Lee, who was primarily a glam metal singer, because they were heading in a different direction musically. Seeking a new frontman to continue on this heavier path, the band was led to 18-year-old Anselmo. In 1987, after several meetings, Anselmo was added to the Pantera lineup. The band was so impressed with Anselmo that they re-recorded some of Terrence Lee’s vocals for their latest release. Anselmo relocated to Texas to record Power Metal, which was released in 1988 on the band’s own record label, Metal Magic Records. Following the release of Power Metal, the band dropped its glam image and adopted a more casual look. They were signed to a record label by a scout who was stranded due to a hurricane. The band saw the scout at the venue and was disheartened when he left mid-set. It turned out that the scout had left to phone the record label and to tell them to sign Pantera as soon as possible. Pantera recorded the album Cowboys from Hell in 1990, and a long tour began. The band documented portions of this tour on their first home video, Cowboys from Hell: The Videos, released in 1991.
In 1992, Pantera recorded Vulgar Display of Power. That same year, Pantera released a promo titled Hostile Mixes that contained four songs, three of which were remixes. The first two remixes were done by Justin K. Broadrick of Godflesh and the last by J. G. Thirlwell of Foetus. In 1994, Pantera released Far Beyond Driven, which debuted at #1 in the U.S.
In 1996, Pantera released their fifth studio album with Anselmo, titled The Great Southern Trendkill. Anselmo recorded the vocal tracks for this album in New Orleans while the other members recorded in Texas. In 1997, Pantera released their first and only official live album titled Official Live: 101 Proof. This album contained two new tracks–“I Can’t Hide” and “Where You Come From.” In 2000, Pantera released their sixth and final studio album, titled Reinventing the Steel. They toured to promote the album until late 2001. In 2003, Pantera released a best-of album, The Best of Pantera: Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboys’ Vulgar Hits! (titled Reinventing Hell: The Best of Pantera in Europe). The album featured songs from five studio albums with Anselmo, and also included three cover tracks, “Planet Caravan” and “Hole in the Sky,” written by Black Sabbath; and “Cat Scratch Fever,” written by Ted Nugent. A bonus DVD was also made, containing all the band’s music videos.
In 2002, Anselmo devoted much of his time to a longtime side project, Down (1995, 2002, 2006 – 2015) and Superjoint Ritual (2002, 2003, 2004) and the Abbott brothers of Pantera (guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul) formed Damageplan with former Halford guitarist Pat Lachman on vocals and Bob Zilla on bass in 2004. [10] [11]
On December 8, 2004, Dimebag Darrell was shot and killed while performing with Damageplan at the Alrosa Villa nightclub in Columbus, Ohio. After that tragedy, Pantera officially and permanently disbanded in 2005, leaving behind an amazing music history of 25 years that will live forever, with plenty of great songs in records and countless awesome concerts. At the request of Dimebag’s family, Anselmo did not attend his funeral. Anselmo in 2010 indicated that he was not turned away by the Abbott family as previously reported, but they were worried his presence would have caused a lot of drama because of his then drug addiction and thus did not attend. Anselmo also said that he regrets not attending and that nobody would have objected. [12]
In a lengthy and emotional video posted on the website community YouTube, Anselmo shares his sorrow and pain by the loss of his beloved friend,[13] and says he has written and recorded music dealing with the loss of Dimebag on the new Down record, Down III: Over the Under. The band has dedicated their song “Lifer” to Dimebag. Anselmo has since stated that he wishes to restart his friendship with Vinnie Paul, but Vinnie didn’t want to see again anyone who reminded him the glorious days because of the hurt of loss of his cherished brother. Due to Vinnie’s desire, Anselmo and Paul never met each other or spoke to one another since 2001. Unfortunately, Vinnie Paul died on June 22, 2018, by heart attack while sleeping. [14]
Down has been Anselmo’s main recording and touring band, since 2006.
Down is an American heavy metal band, formed in 1991, in New Orleans, Louisiana. The band consists of members and former members of Pantera, Corrosion of Conformity, Crowbar and Eyehategod.
Since its inception, Down has released four studio albums, one live album and has gone on hiatus twice to focus on the members’ respective bands.
NOLA, Down’s debut album, sold 1.000.000 records in America in 1995 and went platinum.
Superjoint Ritual
Main article: Superjoint Ritual
Superjoint Ritual was a New Orleans metal band formed by Anselmo, Joe Fazzio, and Jimmy Bower in the early 1990s, later to be joined by Hank Williams III, and Kevin Bond. Their style can be considered a mix of groove metal and hardcore punk. Bands like Venom, Slayer, Celtic Frost, Voivod, and Darkthrone have also been noted as influences. The name Superjoint Ritual comes from a lyric in the Darkthrone song, “The Pagan Winter”. According to Bower, Anselmo wrote 70-80% of the group’s music. During their time together they released two full length albums on Sanctuary Records, Use Once and Destroy in 2002 and A Lethal Dose of American Hatred in 2003.
Philip H. Anselmo and the Illegals
During 2011-2012, Anselmo wrote and recorded a solo album, titled Walk Through Exits Only. The album was released on July 16, 2013. He later put out another solo record titled “Choosing Mental Illness As A Virtue” which was released in 2018.
Active side projects
Arson Anthem
Main article: Arson Anthem
Arson Anthem is a Southern hardcore punk project that originated when Eyehategod singer Mike Williams moved into Anselmo’s spare apartment after losing all his possessions in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The two spent countless hours listening to Anselmo’s collection of early hardcore bands. They began jamming with Hank III and Collin Yeo, who were united by their desire to have a hardcore/crust punk band of their own.[15] The Arson Anthem lineup features Mike Williams on vocals, Phil Anselmo on guitar, Hank III on drums, and Collin Yeo on bass.
Defunct side projects
Christ Inversion
Christ Inversion was formed in 1994. The group was a short-lived black metal project formed by Anselmo where he played guitar under the name “Anton Crowley”. Most of their lyrics were based on horror films and Satanism. The band recorded two demos in 1994 and 1995 respectively and then disbanded without ever recording a full-length album. Many years later, songs from the first demo were put on an 8-track compilation and released through Anselmo’s own Housecore Records on October 28, 2008.
Southern Isolation
The band released a divine EP called Southern Isolation. It originally contained four songs, but was later re-released with a fifth bonus track. The band consisted of Stephanie Opal Weinstein on vocals and guitars, Anselmo on vocals, backing vocals and guitars, “Big” Ross Karpelman (of Clearlight) on keyboards, and Sid Montz (of Crowbar) on drums.
One rare track called “Faded” has been credited to Southern Isolation on the Manson Family Soundtrack, which is d
ue to be released on Anselmo’s Housecore label.
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