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PHILIP ANSELMO: ‘Without VINNIE PAUL, There’s Not Any PANTERA Reunion At All’

Manos Spanos
Fuse News recently spoke to former PANTERA and current DOWN frontman Philip Anselmo. You can watch the report below. Asked about the persistent Internet rumors about the possibility of a PANTERA reunion with Zakk Wylde (BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, OZZY OSBOURNE) filling in for the late "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott on guitar, Anselmo said: "For me, really, I think it would mean a lot for [ex-PANTERA bassist] Rex [Brown] and [ex-PANTERA drummer] Vince [Paul Abbott] and myself to sit down and, I guess, bury the hatchet where we can be on more friendly terms. And, you know, I think it would mean a lot to the fans." He added: "Without Vince, there's not any PANTERA reunion at all; it's useless. But he damn well knows my door's wide open. He needs to bust out the keys and unlock his, man. I'm waiting, but I'm not holding my breath."
01 min read

PHILIP ANSELMO Talks About 20th-Anniversary Edition Of PANTERA’s ‘Far Beyond Driven’

Manos Spanos
The 20th-anniversary edition of PANTERA's "Far Beyond Driven"album will be in made available sometime in 2014. The seventh LP by PANTERA, "Far Beyond Driven"was released on March 22, 1994 through East West Records. Upon its release, it debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, making it the first extreme metal album to top the chart. "Considering its contents, it is the heaviest record to come in at No. 1, and yes, there is a fucking goddamn re-release coming up," former PANTERA singer Philip Anselmo tells Artisan News (see video below). "I don't know anything, really, about it other than, yes, it's gonna re-released with live footage from said show, but I can't name the show yet, because I think it's a fight between two different shows. And you never know. I'm trying to think of specialties or whatnot [that will be included as well]." Asked what he thinks made "Far Beyond Driven" so special,Anselmosaid: "The chemistry within PANTERA… In the early days, they were very guarded about what I said here and there. And then, finally, by'Vulgar Display Of Power', it was, like, 'Just let me handle the lyrics.' And then by 'Far Beyond Driven', I was saying anything I fucking wanted to fucking really fucking sing about, man." PANTERA manager Kimberly Zide Davis, who joinedConcrete Managementin 1994, and served as vice president of artist management until the organization ceased operations in 2003, was interviewed for Guitar World's January 2010 issue, which paid tribute to late PANTERA/DAMAGEPLAN guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott. During the chat she stated, "I wish there was more [previously unreleased material], but that's one thing about PANTERA; they didn't do extra material. What they did is what everybody got. They didn't do throwaway songs."
02 min read

PHILIP ANSELMO Credits His Girlfriend For Saving His Life

Manos Spanos
Keith Spera of The Times-Picayune recently conducted an interview with former PANTERA and current DOWN singer Philip Anselmo. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below. The Times-Picayune: You've got a book deal to write your autobiography in collaboration with true crime author Corey Mitchell. Anselmo: It's a book about my life. It's not just strictly a PANTERA book, although PANTERA was obviously a giant part of my life. It took a whole lot in the New Orleans area and throughout Louisiana, gigging and gigging … a whole lot happened, and had to happen, before I was even able to be in the same room with the great musicians that were in PANTERA. Obviously, after the break-up of the band and the death of Dimebag (Darrell Abbott, the former PANTERA guitarist who was shot to death in December 2004), a whole lot has happened. There's a tremendous story to tell there. I'm going to try to pick out the most humorous things, and the most crushing things. Touch on all of them. The Times-Picayune: So you'll talk about all your back problems and … Anselmo: Absolutely. And drugs, and everything. Hopefully it's educational for people that are going through the same thing. I'm also going to discuss how doctors are only doing half their jobs these days. They don't explain to the patient the repercussions of certain medicines that they dole out so portentously. I'm going to slam some doctors, but I'm going to be brutally honest about myself. There's an upside to everything. It's 2013. I'm 10 years clean from anything that resembles hard drugs. I haven't even tasted a sip of whiskey since 2001. Things change in a life. So there's plenty to tell. The Times-Picayune: Your longtime girlfriend, Kate, kind of helped save your life. Anselmo: She did. And she will get tons of credit in my book. We've been together 11 years now. Without her strength, it wouldn't have gone the way it did. Her steadiness, her rock-solid belief in me helped me pull through and do things correctly. She's gold, or platinum, or titanium, or tungsten. I'm more in love with her now than I ever have been. The Times-Picayune: Why, at this stage in your life, did you make a record that was so extreme? Most people, when they get a little older, tend to become more mellow. Anselmo: In DOWN, we've got everything from heavy metal songs to smooth rock songs to straight-up acoustic pieces. So right there, that covers a whole lot of ground. I keep up with the extreme heavy metal underground because I adore it. It's part of me. The extreme underground is the lifeblood of heavy metal and the future of heavy metal. There are a lot of cornerstone bands out there right now that are changing the game up, and they're really writing some awesome, innovative stuff. With extreme music, the leading genres would be black metal and death metal. But I didn't want to really belong to either one of those genres, because I think I've touched on both genres in the past with several of my side projects. I wanted to make an extreme record that was absolutely non-traditional. There is no wrong way to do music. Music is a vast, wide-open world of possibilities. I'm an explorer, and I'm going to keep on exploring.
03 min read

PHILIP ANSELMO: ‘I Feel Very Blessed To Have Had Such A Great, Insane Fanbase’

Manos Spanos
Steel For Brains recently conducted an interview with former PANTERA and current DOWN singer Philip Anselmo. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below. Steel For Brains: From the moment you knew this was what you wanted to — where you knew music was a part of your heart and soul — what's that journey been like for you up to this point? Anselmo: You know, honestly, I think if you look at anybody's life, everybody's gonna have ups and downs, highs, lows, etc., and all of that. Believe me, it's well documented that I've been there, and that is absolutely the case. But, right now…at this juncture in my career, I gotta say, you know, aside from the obvious lows that have been, once again, well documented in the past and very well known, right now I'm at a very sturdy place. I'm in a very comfortable-in-my-skin place, and I feel very, very blessed to have had such a great, insane fanbase. No matter what fucking band it's been a part of. It's the fans really,
05 min read

PHILIP ANSELMO: It Would Mean The World To Me If VINNIE PAUL Would Let Me Back Into His Life

Manos Spanos
Puff of the 99X radio station in Shreveport, Louisiana recently conducted an interview with former PANTERA and current DOWN vocalist Philip Anselmo. The chat is now available for streaming using the SoundCloudwidget below. Asked about the persistent Internet rumors about the possibility of a PANTERA reunion with Zakk Wylde (BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, OZZY OSBOURNE) filling in for the late "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott on guitar,Anselmo said: "This is something that… it started out as an Internet rumor, for sure. But rumors sometimes grow legs, so to speak. And with that, I've gotta say that I've actually spoken to Zakk Wylde about this, and he seems to be very open to the idea. And I know Rex [Brown, former PANTERA bassist] is open to the idea, to a certain degree. But right now Vinnie Paul [Abbott, former PANTERA drummer] is the captain of his own ship, and he's decided to keep, basically, a vow a silence forever concerning myself and Rex. You know, that's his decision, and I can't think for Vince, and I can't make decisions for Vince. But, really, as a music fan… forget reunion shows, forget making records or whatever… as a music fan, I hate reading about my favorite band not getting along; it hurts my heart. Because if I'm a fan of a band, that means I'm a fan of everybody in the band. So when I read, myself, about bands not getting along, it bothers me, really, as a fan." He continued: "Really, what I'm trying to say is one day, it would mean the world to me, and I'm sure to Rex, if Vince would let us back into his life, let us talk through our differences, and let the public know that at least we're speaking, at least we have some form of camaraderie again, and that we're on decent terms. Because right now, I think that it would mean a lot to all the PANTERA fans out there if we were to do that as well. And right now, it's just very difficult to gauge any of that, because things are the way they are. I believe that my door, Rex's door… our doors are open, and Vince's is locked, and that's just the way it is, and
03 min read

PHILIP ANSELMO: How I Joined PANTERA

Manos Spanos
In a brand new interview with the Phoenix New Times, former PANTERAand current DOWN vocalist Philip Anselmo was asked what the biggest correct choices were that he made as a young adult that if he hadn't made, PANTERA as we know it today would've never been a band. "Well, honestly, a lot of hard work," Anselmo began. "I was in a band in New Orleans by the age of 13, and doing my first gigs. Eventually I got into a band with older guys . . . I was always the youngest guy, somehow. "I'll put it like this: I used to come home from school, and practice JUDAS
05 min read

PHILIP ANSELMO: If PANTERA Were To Reunite For One Show…

Manos Spanos
Natalie Perez of Natalie's World recently conducted an interview with former PANTERA and current DOWN singer Philip Anselmo. You can now listen to the chat in the YouTube clip below. On where he would like the show to happen if PANTERA were to reunite for one night only: Anselmo: "Well, see, that's a complex question because, first of all, [latePANTERA guitarist] Dimebag is not alive anymore, and that fact is a gigantic thing. And really, there would have to be a lot of sitting down and going over a lot of very important elements between myself and the other members of PANTERA — choosing a guitar player [to play the gig] and whatnot. It's a completely hypothetical situation, really, [but] I guess, a knee-jerk reaction, or answer, to that question would be, why not where it all started? Why not play where everything began, really, which is Dallas, Texas. I don't see why any other city would make much sense. But still, once again, it's not fair to the East Coast or the West Coast, [because] PANTERA fans are everywhere. So that's a tough question for me to answer. But I guess… Hypothetically, I'd say Dallas, Texas." On whether fans can expect to hear more previously unreleased material from PANTERA in the future:
05 min read

PHILIP ANSELMO Says He Will Release More New Solo Music Before Year’s End

Manos Spanos
Even though he has just released his debut solo album, "Walk Through Exits Only", former PANTERA and current DOWN frontman Philip Anselmo tells Billboard.com that he is planning on making more new music available before the end of the year. "I know for a fact I do have two songs that I'll release strictly for the upcoming Housecore Horror (film) festival at the end of October in Austin, Texas," Anselmo says. "Those two songs, I think, musically flow together pretty fuckin' well. They're very sarcastic, very tongue-in-cheek. It's all part of the ol' Philip Anselmo fucked-up world — and I don't mean drunk or wasted. I mean just fuckin' crazy. It's crazy around here!" According to Anselmo, he worked on an estimated 15-17 songs for "Walk Through Exits Only", which was issued via Anselmo's own Housecore
03 min read

PHILIP ANSELMO: Entire ‘Walk Through Exits Only’ Album Available For Streaming

Manos Spanos
"Walk Through Exits Only", the his career-first solo album from Philip Anselmo, legendary frontman of PANTERA and DOWN, is available for streaming in its entirety below. Due on July 16 via Anselmo's ownHousecore Records (MRI/Megaforce), "Walk Through Exits Only" will be available digitally, on CD and on vinyl. Produced by Anselmo and Michael Thompson, and recorded over the past couple of years at Philip's New Orleans studio, Nodferatu's Lair, with his band THE ILLEGALS — guitarist Marzi Montazeri(ex-SUPERJOINT RITUAL) and drummer José Manuel Gonzales(WARBEAST) — "Walk Through Exits Only" is abrasive, aggressive, anthemic and 100% Anselmo. The album's eight songs are as unstrained as it gets, from "Battalion Of Zero" to "Usurper's Bastard Rant", to the album's title track that goes against the grain and right through the exits. Brash, brutal guitars cut through punishing percussion as Anselmoscreams with uncompromising ferocity and uncontainable fire. "Walk Through Exits Only" track listing:
07 min read

PHILIP ANSELMO’s ‘Technicians Of Distortion’ Solo Tour: Promotional Clip Posted Online

Manos Spanos
Philip Anselmo, legendary frontman of PANTERA and DOWN, will take to the road for his first-ever solo tour, dubbed "Technicians Of Distortion", which will kick off July 31 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. On this trek, Anselmo will be joined by his backup band THE ILLEGALS — guitarist Marzi Montazeri(ex-SUPERJOINT RITUAL), drummer José Manuel Gonzales(WARBEAST) and bassist Steve Taylor. A three-minute promotional clip for the tour can be seen below. Anselmo will release his career-first solo album, "Walk Through Exits Only", on July 16 via his own Housecore Records (MRI/Megaforce)."Walk Through Exits Only" will be available digitally, on CD and on vinyl.
07 min read