Five Reasons To Love Phil Anselmo
Happy Birthday to the hardest working man in metal.
Phil Anselmo – superhuman frontman of Pantera, Down, Viking Crown and Superjoint Ritual to name but a few – is celebrating his 47th birthday today. I’d like to imagine he’s spending it watching one of the 1000s of boxing videos he owns or setting fire to a church under his pseudonymous Anton Crowley persona.
I think pretty highly of Anselmo, especially in regard to his seemingly unstoppable work ethic and the fact that he completely flipped the table when it comes to metal. Constantly involving himself in innovative and interesting projects earns him a place in the genre hall of fame. That and the fact he’s shifted like five gazillion records.
In respect to his 47 years of service to heavy grooves here are my five favourite Anselmo featuring clips.
Pantera - Cowboys From Hell
Love it or loathe it this is the song that started everything. Cowboys From Hell was the band’s breakout single and features some of the best examples of low voice talking in an early 90s metal song ever.
Not better than the bit in Faith No More’s Land of Sunshine when Mike Patton recites lines from the Scientology personality test though.
For obvious reasons.
Down - Lifer (Live)
Since the tragically premature passing of Dimebag Darell Down are now Phil Anselmo’s main thing. The band are a sludgey, stoned supergroup of Southern metalheads who want do nothing more than rip. And rip they do.
Lifer was their first single and this clip from the 2010 film, Diary of a Mad Band, shows Down (some of whom are shirtless) kicking it out in full swing.
Hold on till the end for some excellent backstage bants with the boys. You won’t be disappointed.
Superjoint Ritual - The Alcoholik
The amazing Superjoint Ritual formed in 1993 as a kind of groove-metal supergroup. Anselmo joined with Eyehategod’s Joe Fazzio and ex-Crowbar guitarist Jimmy Bower to straight out lay the smack down on some hardcore punk / groove / black metal mayhem.
This video for The Alcoholik sees an overweight alcoholic (presumably the alcoholic of the song’s title) going about his business while the band go about theirs. The song features some of Anselmo’s best black metal screeching and the video marks what many believe to be his best hair day ever.
Pantera - 5 Minutes Alone
You may remember this song from coming home from school, turning on MTV 2 and being slightly in awe until you realised they would be playing this song at least 18 times a day for the next six years of your life.
Taken from their seminal album Far Beyond Driven this song features my personal favourite Pantera riff ever and is probably their most recognisable (and awesome) track. It leans towards hardcore but lays down a vibe that’s more Southern than KFC and almost twice as heavy as a boneless banquet.
The video is a super sharp, super glossy cut of the band playing their instruments in a cage. Wild.
Down - Stone The Crow
Stone The Crow‘s not the best Down song, but is one of my favourites. It’s tinged with that kind of faux-grunge, Nickelback thing but it came out in 1995 so actually, when you think about it, it makes you wonder whether real grunge was just faux Down all along.
Think about that.
The clip is set in a bar, it sees the band (some of whom are shirtless) playing, walking in slow motion, being friends, hanging out, doing their thing and generally being in Down. There’s nothing about that that I don’t like.
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