Phil Anselmo facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Phil Anselmo
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Anselmo performing with Pantera in 2022
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Philip Hansen Anselmo |
| Born | June 30, 1968 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
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| Occupation(s) |
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| Years active | 1981–present |
| Labels | Housecore |
Philip Hansen Anselmo (born June 30, 1968) is an American heavy metal musician best known as the lead singer for Pantera, Down, and Superjoint, amongst other musical projects. He is the owner of Housecore Records.
Anselmo is regarded as one of the greatest frontmen in metal history, known for being particularly animated and donning a machismo attitude that became emblematic of the general theme of Pantera. Earlier in his career with the band, Anselmo took considerable inspiration from heavy metal vocalists such as Rob Halford, singing in full head voice. However, he later became recognized for a more abrasive style of vocals.
Contents
Early life
Anselmo was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and is of Danish, Italian and French heritage. He attended many schools across Louisiana and Texas, the last of which was Grace King High School in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie, which he dropped out of during 12th grade. Anselmo's father, Phil, owned and operated a restaurant in Metairie called Anselmo's, which closed following Hurricane Katrina. In his teenage years, Anselmo worked on a shrimp boat with his stepfather.
Career
In 1981, Anselmo co-formed his first band called Samhain (not to be confused with Glenn Danzig's band of the same name) together with friends from around the area, performing vocal and guitar duties. In 1985, he joined the band Rapid Phaze who would later rename themselves to Razor White, after one of the songs Anselmo wrote. While they did have some original material, they mainly played cover songs of popular rock and metal bands. Around this time, Anselmo quit high school to concentrate on his musical career. After about a year-plus with the band, he became frustrated with Razor White's direction and began to explore other options.
Pantera
Pantera released four albums via Metal Magic Records, but did not garner much attention, because the band was not signed with a major record label at the time. Seeking a new frontman to continue down a heavier path, the band's original singer Terry Glaze, who was primarily a glam metal vocalist, left the band. In 1987, after several meetings, then-19-year old Anselmo was officially added to the Pantera lineup. Anselmo relocated to Texas to record Pantera's fourth album, Power Metal, which was released in 1988.
Following the release of Power Metal, the band dropped its glam image and adopted a more casual look. In 1989, after being rejected "28 times by every major label on the face of the Earth", Pantera signed to Atco Records, and released their fifth album, Cowboys from Hell, in the following year, which paved the way towards the band's stardom and defined a new style of metal known as groove metal. As a tour unfolded to promote the band's latest album, there was documented portions of this tour on their first home video, Cowboys from Hell: The Videos, released in 1991.
In 1992, Pantera released their sixth studio album, V***** Display of Power, which featured an even heavier sound than its predecessor. In 1994, they released Far Beyond Driven, which debuted at No. 1 in the United States.
In 1996, Pantera released their eighth studio album, The Great Southern Trendkill. Due to growing tensions between Anselmo and the rest of the band, he 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 the two new tracks, "I Can't Hide" and "Where You Come From". In 2000, Pantera released their ninth and final studio album, Reinventing the Steel. After touring to promote the album, Pantera went on hiatus in 2001. In 2003, Pantera released their first compilation album, The Best of Pantera: Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboys' V***** Hits! (alternatively 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. A bonus DVD was also made, containing all of the band's music videos. Later that year, Pantera disbanded over communication problems and accusations that Anselmo had neglected the band.
In July 2022, it was announced that Anselmo would be joining bassist Rex Brown, along with Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante (as the respective fill-ins for Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul), for Pantera's first world tour in 22 years in 2023.
Post-Pantera
Following the disbandment, Anselmo devoted much of his time to a longtime side project, Superjoint Ritual.
The soundtrack of the 1997 Jim Van Bebber film The Manson Family contains music from several of Anselmo's bands. Anselmo appears in the YouTube comedy series Metal Grasshopper with comedian Dave Hill, in which he instructs Hill on how to "be" metal.
Down
Down is a heavy metal supergroup 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 three studio albums (NOLA, A Bustle in Your Hedgerow, Over the Under), two EPs, one live album, and has gone on hiatus twice to focus on the members' respective bands.
Superjoint/Superjoint Ritual
Superjoint Ritual is 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 sludge metal and hardcore punk. According to Bower, Anselmo wrote 70–80% of the group's music. During their time together they have released three full-length albums via Sanctuary Records, Use Once and Destroy in 2002, A Lethal Dose of American Hatred in 2003, and Caught Up in the Gears of Application in 2016.
Side projects
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 Williams III and Collin Yeo, who were united by their desire to have a hardcore/crust punk band of their own. The Arson Anthem lineup features Mike Williams on vocals, Anselmo on guitar, Hank Williams III on drums, and Collin Yeo on bass.
Christ Inversion
Christ Inversion was formed in 1994. The group was a short-lived black metal/sludge metal project formed by Anselmo, where he played guitar under the alias "Anton Crowley", it also featured Wayne Fabra on vocals, best known for being part of Necrophagia and for playing drums in Graveyard Rodeo. Most of their lyrics were based on horror films. 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 eight-track compilation and released through Anselmo's own Housecore Records on October 28, 2008. The second demo was also planned to see a re-release, however this never surfaced.
Southern Isolation
The band released one EP called Southern Isolation. It originally contained four songs but was later re-released with a fifth bonus track. The band consisted of Anselmo's then-girlfriend 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.
Viking Crown
In the mid-1990s, Anselmo began to record for several side projects under the alias "Anton Crowley", most notably with Viking Crown. Viking Crown was a short-lived and essentially solo side project by Anselmo. The members of the band were Anselmo (as Anton Crowley) on guitars, bass and drums; Killjoy on vocals; and Opal Enthroned (Stephanie Opal Weinstein) on keyboards. On their first album Unorthodox Steps of Ritual, Anselmo played every instrument and laid down his own vocals. The band never performed live.
Eibon
Eibon was a short-lived supergroup, which Anselmo participated in from 1998 to 2000. The group featured Killjoy, Fenriz, Satyr, and Maniac. The project has been put on indefinite hiatus, and to date, it has only released only a single track, Mirror Soul Jesus, which appeared on the Moonfog 2000: A Different Perspective compilation in 2000. The band was on Satyr's record label Moonfog Productions.
Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals
During 2011–2012, Anselmo wrote and recorded a solo album, Walk Through Exits Only, with his backing band The Illegals. It was released on July 16, 2013. In October 2017, the second album, Choosing Mental Illness as a Virtue, was announced, originally due in December but postponed to January 26, 2018. The first song off the second album, "Choosing Mental Illness", was made available for streaming. The next song, "The Ignorant Point", was released on December 13, 2017. Exclaim! gave the album a rating of 8 out of 10.
The band consists of Anselmo on vocals, Stephen Taylor on rhythm guitar, Joey Gonzalez on drums, Mike DeLeon on lead guitar and Derek Engemann on bass.
Scour
It was announced in May 2016, that Anselmo would be fronting a new band, Scour, with members John Jarvis, Derek Engemann, Chase Fraser, and Jesse Schobel. The band's self-titled debut EP was released in July 2016 via Anselmo's label Housecore Records, featuring six songs all under three minutes in length.
The band is stylistically black metal, with the exception of Anselmo's use of lower growling instead of the higher, raspier vocals commonly associated with the genre. Blabbermouth.net described the band's sound as black metal mixed with elements of grindcore, punk, and thrash.
Scour's second EP, Red, was released in September 2017. The title track and the song "Piles" were made available for streaming ahead of the release of the EP.
Scour released their third EP, titled Black, on November 27, 2020.
En Minor
In a September 27, 2017 interview with Jimmy Cabbs' 5150 interview series, Anselmo announced a new project called En Minor, which he said is influenced by the artists of the classic 1980s gothic rock period. The band released a single on August 2, 2019, containing the tracks "On the Floor" and "There's a Long Way to Go".
The first full-length album, When the Cold Truth Has Worn Its Miserable Welcome Out, was released via Anselmo's own record label Housecore in the US and via Season of Mist in Europe in September 2020.
Housecore Records
Anselmo started his own record label called Housecore Records sometime in 2001. After gaining permission from Pantera's label, Elektra, he merged Housecore with his longtime friend and bandmate Killjoy's label, Baphomet Records. The newly named "Baphomet/Housecore Records" secured distribution deals with Relapse Records in August 2001. After only three releases, Anselmo and Killjoy severed business ties, thus returning Anselmo's label to its original name, Housecore Records. Housecore is now actively releasing material by Anselmo and by bands he is producing and supporting.
Influences
Anselmo has a wide range of musical influences from classic rock to black metal. He was mainly influenced by bands such as Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Black Flag, Agnostic Front, Hellhammer and Venom, and singers Rob Halford, David Lee Roth, Dee Snider, Ronnie James Dio, Ozzy Osbourne, Roger Miret and Henry Rollins. He pays tribute to two of his favorite bands in the lyrics of the Pantera song "G***n Electric" from the album Reinventing the Steel. Anselmo stated that his main vocal influence had been Judas Priest singer Rob Halford before he decided to focus on the exploration of his own technique.
Anselmo mentioned that he is a massive fan of hardcore punk, especially '80s hardcore.
In 2016, Anselmo said the favorite of recent concerts he had attended included Morrissey, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and Stevie Wonder. Wonder performed the entirety of his classic 1976 album Songs in the Key of Life, which Anselmo described as "like watching a living, breathing miracle right before your eyes."
Personal life
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On October 31, 2001, Anselmo married his longtime girlfriend, Stephanie Opal Weinstein. That same year, the couple created an all-acoustic duo called Southern Isolation and released an eponymous four-song EP.
As of 2011, Anselmo lives in rural Louisiana, and is in a relationship with Kate Richardson, who also helps with the running of his record label, Housecore Records. He is an atheist.
Interests
Anselmo owns an extensive collection of several thousand horror films, and possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of horror films and horror culture. Together with Steve Joseph, Ross Karpelman, and Jay Gracianette, Anselmo started a Halloween-themed attraction called House of Shock. Initially it began in Jay Gracianette's backyard, but was later moved to a large warehouse outside New Orleans that has been converted into an interactive haunted house with over three hundred volunteer workers. The attraction has raised money for the Children's Hospital of New Orleans, the Parish Police Bullet Proof Vest Fund, and the Greater New Orleans Riding Rehabilitation Center. Anselmo played the role of a part-time actor when his schedule permitted, however Anselmo is no longer involved with House of Shock.
In 2013, Anselmo founded Housecore Horror Film Festival which groups horror films and metal bands throughout the event.
Anselmo has an interest in the sport of boxing. He owns hundreds of fight DVDs and used to take a boxing trainer on tour with him. He has written articles as a columnist for the Boxing Insider website. Also a fan of the NFL team New Orleans Saints, Anselmo has interviewed Saints player Jeremy Shockey and has helped to coach a youth team at the request of Saints team ambassador Michael Lewis during a visit to the team's practice facility.
Discography (selection)
- With Pantera
- Power Metal (1988)
- Cowboys from Hell (1990)
- V***** Display of Power (1992)
- Far Beyond Driven (1994)
- The Great Southern Trendkill (1996)
- Reinventing the Steel (2000)
- With Down
- NOLA (1995)
- Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow (2002)
- Down III: Over the Under (2007)
- Down IV – Part I (2012)
- Down IV – Part II (2014)
- With Superjoint / Superjoint Ritual
- Use Once and Destroy (2002)
- A Lethal Dose of American Hatred (2003)
- Caught Up in the Gears of Application (2016)
- Solo albums
- Walk Through Exits Only (2013)
- Choosing Mental Illness as a Virtue (2018)
See also
In Spanish: Phil Anselmo para niños
